Considering buying rollers from a friend. Fortunately, I have two friends selling two different rollers. Since I only have a little bit of experience with rollers, I would like your opinion.
Option A: Minoura AC-Pro rollers for $125.
HeavyFoldableAluminum drumsNo mag-resistance
Option B: McLain Rollers for $50.
LighterNon-FoldingPVC drums (less noisy!?!?)No mag-resistance
Thanks.
buy both try them and classified the other set.
Whatever you decide, be sure to video any friends learning on them and post it…usually great stuff.
Considering buying rollers from a friend. Fortunately, I have two friends selling two different rollers. Since I only have a little bit of experience with rollers, I would like your opinion.
Option A: Minoura AC-Pro rollers for $125.
HeavyFoldableAluminum drumsNo mag-resistance
Option B: McLain Rollers for $50.
LighterNon-FoldingPVC drums (less noisy!?!?)No mag-resistance
Thanks.
Go with the second one for $50. Some folks really don’t like rollers once they try them. So $50 seems like a good price to try them out. Then if you find you like them, you can upgrade to some eMotion rollers and never use a trainer again. 
Well the plan was to try do make some DIY e-motion rollers out of whichever set I get.
Well the plan was to try do make some DIY e-motion rollers out of whichever set I get.
Then get the first one.
Having warped my PVC rollers by being dumb*, I’d recommend the aluminum ones. The aluminum ones also have the advantage that you can ride and leave them in direct sunlight. Also, foldability is key.
*Don’t put a folded towel under PVC rollers - they get really hot and warp when you stop
What is the diameter of the drums?
A smaller diameter (2.25 inches) will be a lot harder than larger (4 inches) and will negate the need for any extra resistance device. If they are both the same, go for the aluminum.
I purchased a set from a friend about 5 years ago for $15 (CCR brand, can’t find reference to them anywhere). I didn’t realize at the time that there were different drum sizes, and the 2.25 inches that are on mine make for a tough workout. Coasting time to stop is less than 2 seconds!
Whatever you decide to go with, persevere. Half the battle with rollers is psychological, you just convince yourself that you’ll fall if you let go of the bars, but once you’ve done it, you’ll realize it’s not that bad!
I have aluminum rollers and can speak from experience that they are very durable. Not so sure of the PVC.
I wouldn’t go the e-motion route as I think it kind of defeats one of the benefits of rollers in that they smooth
out your pedal stroke. E-motion are too easy to ride.
Suffer through the learning curve of the rollers and you will love them. At least love them as much as you can love riding indoors.
The McLain Rollers are 4.5" diameter and the Minoura are 105mm diameter (4.1"). So, no real difference there, I guess it just depends aluminum or PVC. Is there a difference in ride quality?
The McLain Rollers are 4.5" diameter and the Minoura are 105mm diameter (4.1"). So, no real difference there, I guess it just depends aluminum or PVC. Is there a difference in ride quality?
i’ve had both pvc and currently alum
the alum are definitely smoother at 30mph… but the alum also have a mag resitance unit on them so i rarely see those speeds anymore. the pvc cycleops ones i had would vibrate/resonate when i got up to those speeds, which with no resistance was frequent.
why are they selling them?
I have aluminum rollers and can speak from experience that they are very durable. Not so sure of the PVC.
I wouldn’t go the e-motion route as I think it kind of defeats one of the benefits of rollers in that they smooth
out your pedal stroke. E-motion are too easy to ride.
Suffer through the learning curve of the rollers and you will love them. At least love them as much as you can love riding indoors.
Say what? I would love for you to explain why you think that
A. a “smooth” pedal stroke is ideal.
B. Why the emotion rollers are easier than “regular” rollers.
Considering buying rollers from a friend. Fortunately, I have two friends selling two different rollers. Since I only have a little bit of experience with rollers, I would like your opinion.
Option A: Minoura AC-Pro rollers for $125.
HeavyFoldableAluminum drumsNo mag-resistance
Option B: McLain Rollers for $50.
LighterNon-FoldingPVC drums (less noisy!?!?)No mag-resistance
Thanks.
minoura makes a magnetic unit you can attach to the rollers.
I’ve only used the aluminum, so can’t compare. I would imagine the durability of the PVC is more of an issue than the quality of the ride, as mentioned above. Similar to riding outdoors, your ride quality on rollers is still dependent on tire/psi/saddle choice etc. since your bike is not rigidly anchored at the skewer like a conventional trainer.
I meant that the regular rollers are better for smoothing out your pedal stroke.
You need to be more conscious of your technique on them.
I find that you don’t have to focus as much on the e-motion rollers.
Serious question, what are the supposed benefits of using rollers
.
What’s your FTP? Depending on the answer, neither of those will work well for you without additional resistance. With my 3" krietler’s and a 50-11 @~100+RPM its ~300W. I can’t do an FTP-like test on those rollers, as its not super comfortable for me to “spin” that fast on the rollers. For harder efforts I use the 2.25"dia drums.
FTP from a few months ago was 300W. I’ll have a regular trainer as well, so if I need to do some big gear FTP-like work, I can hop on that.
Serious question, what are the supposed benefits of using rollers
Balance, form, smoothing out your spin. They will also give feedback as to which leg is causing you not to have a round pedal stroke by seeing which run of the belt vibrates. If the belt is on the left side of the frame the lower run of the belt corresponds to your right leg and so forth. Rollers improve virtually all aspects of ones riding skills. PVC drums will eventually warp btw.
Based on the Kreitler data, at 100RPM and a 50-11 gear ratio, you’ll be @~220W. Does that make sense for you? I wouldn’t think so, but if you just want to experiment with rollers, its an inexpensive experiment.