Did you guys forget to send a pair of rollers to Summer? :-)

I was going to say the same thing but bit my tongue...then you posted it. :)

I spent a few years around that weight and I've been several more not far below it. I've bunny hopped over plenty potholes, and one or two kerbs. I've never once considered the bunny hop more risky than the obstacle it avoided. I don't do bunny hops for fun. I do them as a last minute emergency means of reducing/eliminating impacts. Under what circumstance would a bunny hop increase risk, regardless of your weight?

With explanations:

Even a modest bunny hop:
There's been times on a group ride or riding solo you come across an obstacle that may cause a puncture or crash if your wheel hits it. Pot hole, rock, dead hooker........whatever. I had someone not call a freaking crater out on a Sunday stroll group ride once and was able to hop it. I can't bunny hop well at all. But I guess fear of my front wheel disappearing into a cavern suddenly gave me the ability to do so.

Not a track stand, but even a super slow roll:
It is SO annoying on a group ride when you roll to an intersection or stop light and immediately people start unclipping to put a foot down when we're going to be able to roll. Slow down, and balance as you move forward maybe an inch or so at a time. I can sympathize downhill, but flat or uphill folks need to stop immediately being lazy and putting feet down before even knowing if the group will be stopping for a bit for the road to clear.

Not bike handling, but a request about choosing a group ride:
A lot of tri folks are super strong. Can hold let's say 250w for like 2 hours nonstop. But, doesn't mean you can hold even 300's for short periods of time. Don't show up to the A-group, try to pass everyone down hill, and then almost drop off the back uphill. It's annoying AF to constantly have someone filtering back and forth because they can't handle the surges. Go do the B-group, or work on handling the surges and come back later. I wouldn't show up to your fastest tri-bike ride and expect to hold 250w nonstop for hours and keep up or do weird stuff to not fall off.

In a group/paceline.........a note on freehub noise:
If I can hear a bunch of freehub noises, lots of people are WRONG. Use your body position to alter your speed using the wind. Keep it in a gear that makes sense and keep the feet turning over such that your movement in the group is very smooth. Not all this freehub noise and then on the gas, freehub noise, on the gas BS.

You keep conflating improving confidence and comfort with being "skills". They're not skills. They're feelings.

Feelings that are gained while riding.

It's not that I can't comprehend. It's that you're trying to say one thing (skills) while then saying another (feelings), and you don't seem aware of what either thing actually are in the context of riding a bicycle (hint: you don't need rollers for either).

Nothing you've said above can't be gained from simply riding. There's no "stability muscles" that are worked on when riding rollers that aren't worked on by riding on the road (or simply rolling out of bed and walking to the toilet).

No, there's never an "only:" way. But you asserted rollers are necessary for skills.

Now you assert they're necessary for feelings.

Yet the fact remains that one need not ever touch a set of rollers in the first place.

And you keep skipping all around that very simple point.

Ha!

It's funny how specific actual racing skills can be.

Agreed 100%- straight line riding, being able to look over both shoulders while keeping a smooth line, drinking without weaving, controlled braking/stopping, tight turns, smooth mount and dismount. I took one-to-one coaching for skills as I came as a total newbie to clipless pedals AND to cycling generally, even though I am married to a cyclist (possibly because I am married to a cyclist). I didn't witness anybody on my (only 2) tri bike courses who looked "out of control" but I certainly saw a lot of people drafting (probably not on purpose is my guess) and not staying over to the right, sitting on the left, riding shoulder to shoulder, and if we are talking about ME during my Oly last weekend, stopping to eat and drink because I hadn't really gotten the hang of it and didn't want to endanger anyone. I have been working REALLY hard to get that controlled one-hand riding that lets me eat and drink and will definitely say it has been a challenge, but a game-changer, and if you do it really well, don't forget how tricky it can be for us beginners.

I forgot to address the rollers thing.............trackies are fixed gear and the rollers lends itself well to the way you have to ride a fixed gear bike and not send yourself flying over the handlebars or crashing out on the track. You can't sprint or apply power on a fixed gear bike on a track the exact way you do on a road bike. Almost none of it outside of perhaps doing tasks no-hands on a road bike are applicable to rollers.

I'm guessing before fluid trainers and mag trainers existed for a road bike, road bike users adopted the track rollers to be able to do something indoors instead of using a stationary bike.

No I asserted that by doing rollers you improve your handling skills and thus make you “feel” better on the bike and more confident. Which translates to better riding. Whether a feeling or a skill you seem hung up on that. And that’s cool, you have your process, I’ll have mine.

But really at the end of the day just ride your damn bike. Whether on rollers, whether on trainer to get stronger, whether in a parking lot working on skills, whether in a grass field to get comfortable being pushed around, whether in a strong paceline...just about anything on your bike will make you a better rider from my POV. Obviously you differ.

There’s a thousand ways you can improve you handling skills, we just differ on what rollers allow you to do. By your basic admittance rollers let you ride rollers, at its basic level, is balancing yourself to not fall off. They force you to find balance and control point which is important on riding a bike. So maybe it’s not an “necesssary” skill it’s also an setup that does work. It’s also something I don’t put AG athletes on, as non-draft triathlon doesn’t require that type of attention and close combat control. DL athletes yes just as I make them do other more specific handling skills than a regular triathlete.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

Hmmm...the OP just said Bunny Hop. So I wasn't thinking of bunny hopping an obstacle or up the curb but rather straight up...unless there's some new lingo for that.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

I thought the entire point of being able to bunny hop was to avoid obstacles, whether intentional ones as in cyclocross or MTB or to avoid road furniture, potholes, etc on the road. I presume that's why the OP thinks it's a worthwhile skill.

My recollection of bunny hopping is from being a stupid kid that rode his bike to school and guys put pegs on their bikes for no other reason than they thought they were cool.

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

Yes and it’s interesting what you can do when “practicing” it vs what you can actually do when you see a big ass pot hole ahead and you have to clear it. To me it seems more when your required to do it and actually do it, it’s simpler than “practicing it”. You just do it on the road vs thinking about every aspect of it when your practicing it. But it’s a good skill to atleast know how to do so you can do it on the roads.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

You can't? I'm a track racer, and I never considered it be different.

Yep. I've never done any serious practice. I've occasionally experimented when, say, I would encounter a little patch of rough tarmac that I could ride over or around easily but tried hopping it regardless to get a feel for it. On occasions when I've actually needed to hop something to avoid a real risk of damage or a crash, it's always worked out so far. I still wouldn't fancy having to jump a person, fallen bike or a high kerb at speed. I doubt very much I'd manage that!

To me at least.......it looks different as a spectator. For some reason the roadies look like they sway the bike more.

Also, you can tell us, but I thought on the track since it's fixed gear that certain road-going pedaling habits could cause you to crash. Like a roadie having the tendency to constantly free-wheel with the legs sitting still.

AND....no matter how many times you state this you will still be wrong! Swimmers don’t reach their potential by simply swimming, runners don’t reach their potential by simply running, and cyclists don’t reach their potential by simply riding. Your mind set is the number one reason for repetitive stress injuries, and if true this thread would not have started. Many (most) on this forum know riders who ride multiple times a week, for multiple years, and still can’t look behind, or properly get a bottle without losing control of their bikes. So no, simply riding is not the answer.

Riding rollers teach you to ride straight without swerving side to side all.over the place. Riding rollers teach you how to not swerve when you grab your water bottle, eat, etc.
Riding rollers teaches you to pay attention 100% of the time. In all 3 cases, if you don't do that on rollers, you end up shooting across the room, on your ass, or some combo therof.

All three things are SORELY lacking in the average triathlete. I always laugh when I read people talking about how they are scared to ride outside because of cars. Me, I'm scared to ride in closed courses because they are plugged with triathletes who can't ride straight on a flat, straight, road since all they do is train locked in place on a smart trainer.

Adde d benefit: Rollers also teach you smoother pedal stroke, which helps everybody from beginner to advanced.

+1 on taking some contact.
+1million on not panicking, in pretty much any situation. Losing your shit will never help the situation.

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My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com

Getting your ass on some tight singletrack will teach you more about bike handling than rollers.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Yes the concept he has come to would mean there’s zero skills to work on that would translate other than just “riding” your bike.

Riding in a grass field working on contact would only help you ride in a grass field bumping people apparently. That process is used to make riders more comfortable and improve their handling skills that then translate onto the road, etc. everything can’t be done in a “riding” situation only. There’s a progression that makes the whole process better and safer for everyone involved.

Rollers aren’t the necessary item it’s the bike handling that rollers works on that is necessary. So if you work on bike handling in X way vs Y way that’s great but the end result is it’s all working on getting your handling skills better.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

One requires a larger investment because your buying another bike, but yes mtb/cx are great for handling skills.

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Brooks Doughtie, M.S.
Exercise Physiology
-USAT Level II

1) Mounting and riding 50m within (pick a number) ...of seconds. Without falling off.
2) Dismounting, riding 50m into dismount area and dismounting without falling over.
3) Repeat after me...... Ride on the right, pass on the left. (10 times?)