Questions about rollers

Well, I dusted off my Nashbar rollers today and rode on my road bike for a short time. I forgot how fun/difficult it is. I do have a few questions though, since I can’t seem to find any kind of manual for it.

  1. I noticed there are three holes that the front (I assume the single barrel goes up front) roller can be bolted into. Each hole would make the front roller further or close to the back rollers. I think when I put the roller in the hole that would be farthers from the back roller I felt more stable. (Could be my imagination though) So how do I determine which one to put the roller into? I guess what I’m saying is that both the first and second holes worked for my 700c wheels. It just seemed liked the first hole was less unstable.

  2. If I put the barrel on the first (making it the furthest from the back rollers) will this stretch out the rubber band prematurely?

  3. Do the rubber bands ever need replacing? If so, where do I get one? I noticed on Nashbar’s web page they doesn’t sell just the rubber bands. (I guess I could call them to confirm this)

  4. Do I ever need to do any maintenance to the unit or rollers?

  5. How in the hell does anyone ride on these on their tri-bikes? I was literally holding on for dear life on my road bike. I wouldn’t even think about going down into the aero-bars.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all the help.

Jeff

I read somewhere that one of the Postal guys could juggle while pedaling with one leg! I am able (finally) to get down into an aero position, but it took a while, and I still come off of the rollers every once in a while.

Come off the rollers every once in a while? Do you mean ending up in a bloody pile on the floor?

I have heard stories of people who can ride up to their rollers, track stand, bunny hop onto the rollers, ride, bunny hop off, and ride away.

I have heard stories of people who can ride up to their rollers, track stand, bunny hop onto the rollers, ride, bunny hop off, and ride away.

Now that is something I would love to see a video of. Trackstanding on rollers is not to bad if you can do it on the road, but bunny hoping, never tried that.

Reverend Dr. Jay

Track stand? NEWBIE QUESTION ALERT

how does one do a track stand?

What? You will never fall :wink: Place the rollers in a doorway or as I do next to a counter. Relax that death grip. I am sure you can ride the white line on the road right. Well this pretty much no different. Look a few feet out and not down. That should help. Try some different gears. Some people have problems starting when the gear is too easy. Also learn to ride relaxed, arms bent, hands loose… If you are tense, any movement becomes amplified and you get in trouble. If you get into trouble, slam those brakes as hard as possible, then just reach out to the doorway/counter. No problem. Really. Now if you can’t do that, just fall. That sounds obvious, but it isn’t. Don’t fight it, just lay down. Fighting it will get you in that bloody mess.

I used to be able to ride with no-hands and take my shirt off - of course it was a different bike with laid back geometry and much younger. Used to also practice sprinting and maxed out the computer at 60+ mph somewhere around 200rpm cadence (not that much resistance on some rollers). So what happens when you come off at that speed? Nothing much, two little burn marks on the carpet and you just lay the bike down or grab the doorway/counter again. The bike doesn’t go but about 2-3 feet, however the chain ring did slam the front roller pretty good :frowning:

i cheated with mine

i bought the support stand for them.

dumb me, i should have spent the money on a trainer instead.

it does make life a lot easier though to ride aero :wink:

-kevin

The front roller should be directly under the front axle.

Here’s a one of my typical roller workouts for you.

warmup 10 minutes HR 120

two times through:

5 minutes HR 135

5 minutes HR 130

5 minutes HR 140

5 minutes HR 130

Cooldown 10 minutes HR 120

Total workout 60 minutes

Here’s a pic of my roller setup:

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/355_rider/winter.htm

I train indoors on rollers. I have the old American Classics with six small drums and a conventional 3 drum set as well. I have always heard that the front wheel’s hub should be ever so slightly behind the middle of the front roller. Moving the roller forward, or the front hub backwards, makes the rollers less stable on my rollers with my bikes.

Anyone use resitance with their rollers? Either the smaller drums or a fan/mag resitance unit? I like the effect alot. It ispretty close to riding on the road and seems to force smooth and consitant pedalling even more than regular rollers. DavidK

I ride the TACX sporttrack with a cross section of 80mm. Would these be considered small or average size rollers?

They feel comparable but does anyone know if riding these would be equal resistance to riding outdoors?

Yes I use resistance, I consider it a must, otherwise you can out pedal the rollers. A fan unit and a fly wheel in the back also provides some resistance to acceleration.

There is a picture of the setup at my website here: http://www.angelfire.com/retro/355_rider/winter.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/355_rider/pics/kreitler.jpg

http://www.angelfire.com/retro/355_rider/pics/mr.kreitler.jpg

(5) Practice, practice, practice. Once you can ride on the drops moving to aero bars is easy. Just relax. Next is without hands… real zen.

  1. How in the hell does anyone ride on these on their tri-bikes? I was literally holding on for dear life on my road bike. I wouldn’t even think about going down into the aero-bars.

Anyway, thanks in advance for all the help.

Jeff