Hahahahaha, no

it's not the speed, it's the distance of your head to the ground. A fall is a fall.
or, the kitchen cabinet or whatever is nearby that you may fall into/onto. Depends on your setup.
I had a friend who fell riding rollers in his detached garage in deep of winter...lay unconscious for three minutes with no one around. his HRM recorded incident at least.
if one is not proficient at riding rollers there is no reason not too. ventilation becomes more of an issue though.

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

If you need a helmet to ride rollers, you should definitely just buy a trainer

already embarrassed myself on rollers once! so yes...trainer...lol

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Anne Barnes
ABBikefit, Ltd
FIST/SICI/FIST DOWN DEEP
X/Y Coordinator
abbikefit@gmail.com

I do not.
If I fall off, i would not hit my head on anything other than the floor or the stool.
When I first started, I was between a tight door way for many hours before I moved to an open area.

All depends on your set up. There is certainly good reason for a helmet if you're not confident.

I am reasonably comfortable on the rollers, but I still fell and broke some ribs a few years back. As others mention it depends on the setup/area around where you are riding. My rollers were set up inside a weightlifting rack and when I fell my torso landed on a stack of weight plates. Both painful and embarrassing, I could see where a more significant injury could occur. I had just finished some intervals and was relatively sweaty. Instead of reaching out and grabbing the rack to dismount, I leaned my shoulder into it for balance - something I had done countless times. No shirt, wet skin, metal rack = me slipping right off and ending up on the ground very quickly. I still occasionally ride rollers(still without a helmet), but I used the incident to help justify a KICKR for "safer" indoor training.

The very first time you try them? Sure, if that piece of mind will help you give them a go. If I felt like I needed a helmet every time I rode them though, I would get a trainer (as others have said).

I have a trainer and rollers - I have yet to master the rollers. I'm with you on the "a fall is a fall."

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maybe she's born with it, maybe it's chlorine
If you're injured and need some sympathy, PM me and I'm very happy to write back.
disclaimer: PhD not MD

No. But should have. Fell asleep one time at the wheel sort to speak, took off like a rocket off my Kreitler USA edition, hit the table then the railing at the steps, it hurt. Sold them, bought a Performance $99 cheapo trainer which I use to this day. I don't "trainer" much in the winter--but hit an all time record this winter with I think 21 rides indoors. I'd have to check but that is my closest number that sticks in my mind...

I just put the battle gear on & ride outside. 25 F, 30, 35...whatever. If the roads are dry, I'll go out even if it is butt arse cold. Although, below 35 I'd likely don the XC skis & hit the mountain trails instead.

The rollers are so much easier in a narrow doorway

Have you tried that yet?

No. Never have. Falling off my rollers once (or was it twice) hasn't left we with any regrets.

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To breathe, to feel, to know I'm alive.

Hi
Dr

No helmet but I have 10s of thousands of miles on Rollers.
And yes I have fell off a few times normally Spin ups at 140 plus RPMs.
I never recommend a door way for a newbie.
A sturdy high back chair on your non dominant side the back facing you or your trainer
Saddle a little ahead of your crank.
Set up is also critical your front tire should be on top or a little behind the center of the front roller.
If your on 650c wheels I would take it one more step , sturdy chair and nice soft couch
On your dominant side for a soft and funny landing.
I gave a little girl a set of rollers she hated them now she uses them like me
for easy recovery days without hills or cars or Strava Segments just hours of Netflix.
PS please don’t check my Grammar
Jere B

When I used rollers, I liked to have the space around the rollers completely clear, so that I’m just falling on a flat surface, and not something awkward like a chair, or a doorframe. I did not feel the need to use a helmet, seemed like overkill, though maybe it would have been a good idea, I don’t know. I did fall a few times, but in my experience it’s not very dramatic, since the bike is not moving. If you ever fell when you were coming to a stop the first time you used clipless pedals and forgot to unclip, it’s about like that. It usually happens slowly enough that there’s enough time to get your hands out in front of you. Also, I used rollers on a hardwood floor, which has a little more give than falling on pavement. If you were really concerned you could cover the floor with foam tiles, or even some nice thick mats. I would probably do that over a helmet. Hot enough riding indoors as it is.

^This. I learned to ride rollers almost 50 years ago. I've fallen 3 times. Never hit my head. A doorway is great if you're falling to the side, but can pull your shoulder if you come off with forward motion. Don't ask... I prefer to have a wall to my right.

Also, use as high a gear as you can until you're comfortable on the rollers. Your cadence will be lower than usual and that will reduce bounce. The higher gear will also spin the wheels faster, providing more gyroscopic effect and that stabilizes you a bit more, too.

Don't have rollers. But I'd use a helmet if I did. I've know some people to have 'spectacular' falls on rollers. Sure, they've all walked away with nothing more than a bruised ego (and a good story), but you can easily see the potential for a head impact on any number of nearby things (floor included).

I'd imagine that many will say 'no' simply because it sounds 'silly' to wear a helmet indoors, but the reality is that falls are more likely on indoor trainers and the outcomes can be just as bad as the road.

If your friend feels safer wearing a helmet and hasn't mastered it... why not?

As a roller rider I can tell you it gets better and you'll figure out what works for you as you spend more time on them.

A general rule of thumb, the faster you spin in a bigger gear, the more stable it is.

But by the logic, we should wear a helmet any time we stand up.

Some of the folks in this forum should be wearing a helmet all day, every day

I thought this thread was about getting used to wearing a helmet for a long period of time on the trainer because it can get hot and your neck hurts due to helmet's weight.
I check a lot of athletes' instagrams and none of them wear helmets when they are on the trainer.

Only if doing a warm-up on the rollers at the race site, since technically if you're riding on the race site without a helmet, you can be DQd...

Hell, we used to have roller races around here, and one of the events was a beer relay (chug a beer, and then ride 500m, then tag your next teamate), and we didn't wear a helmet for that either (We were allowed a spotter, not to hold you up, but to catch you if it went squirrely and the shorter races use a a T-bar stablizer for the fork, because you'd be riding upwards of 60km/h)...

A few have fork stands that can be attached, or alternatively go straight to the Sportcrafters omnium style ones, that are designed with only small rear drums. You'll lose the learning to ride-on-ice skill, but enjoy a more floaty indoor ride sensation.

First at trying them yes. After that half hour was over I had the hang of it, and no never again. But I also use rollers in a doorway where a fall would be absorbed by my shoulder.

The better way to say it is that is isn't the forward speed, but the distance and the vertical speed. If you fall when you are running, you fall slowly. If you catch an edge when snowboarding, you can get whipped down pretty quick, thus helmets. If you fall when trying to clip in on a bike, you probably don't need a helmet. But if you fall while on rollers, you can come down pretty quick.

No helmet.

A few years ago a buddy showed up to the group ride with a significant bruise.
When asked what happened he said he fell off his rollers. How? He tried riding with eyes closed. WTF??!

He explained that he was "generalizing" a swim drill, where you swim with eyes closed and see if your stroke is balanced and symmetrical enough to get you down the lane w/out veering into the lane lines.

He wanted to see if his pedal stroke on the bike was symmetrical.