Looking at picking up a set of rollers for winter training. I’ve never owned any before.
I’m leaning towards kreitler. This is my first year riding, so I’m not worried about needing headroom, power wise. I can always get the headwind fan or a flywheel or two for further resistance in the future.
But as far as learning to ride rollers-are the larger drums easier to ride on, skill wise? Or are the smaller ones?
Or are other, cheaper rollers just as usable? Will, I, as a noob cyclist, be able to determine any qualitative differences? If so, how would they manifest?
I’m leaning towards rollers and against a trainer because I can’t afford a fancy one with erg mode, and conventional wisdom says rollers are more mentally involving, which is a plus for me. Especially since I only have one bike, and don’t want to deal with a second wheel for a trainer
rollers are a great winter option. The challenge is the basic ones with no resistance don’t offer enough of a workout of the kind that are key to raising overall bike fitness. They are great for form, pedal stroke, and aerobic rides, but that’s it. They work best in tandem with a regular bike trainer, such as a KK Road where you alternate back and forth between the two.
Bigger drums mean “easier” riding
Quality does matter as with anything. You’ll be dripping sweat on these things and they are spinning at reasonably high RPM for extended periods of time. The rollers need to be strong and have great bearings.
Some of the newer roller options such as the eMotion Inside Ride units are a BIG step up and possibly cover all the bases. But they are expensive - at $700+. However, if just starting out, this is not a bad way to go as you cover off rollers and the need for a regular resistance type of trainer.
Learning to ride the regular rollers ( the eMotion units are much easier), is a bit tricky. The learning curve is very steep. In that it seems next to IMPOSSIBLE at first but if you keep working at it, it comes. With apologies for flogging the bog. Here’s a bit of a primer - http://stevefleck.blogspot.ca/2010/01/rolling-with-rollers.html
Kreitler is the gold standard with regular rollers.
Looking at picking up a set of rollers for winter training. I’ve never owned any before.
I’m leaning towards kreitler. This is my first year riding, so I’m not worried about needing headroom, power wise. I can always get the headwind fan or a flywheel or two for further resistance in the future.
But as far as learning to ride rollers-are the larger drums easier to ride on, skill wise? Or are the smaller ones?
Or are other, cheaper rollers just as usable? Will, I, as a noob cyclist, be able to determine any qualitative differences? If so, how would they manifest?
I’m leaning towards rollers and against a trainer because I can’t afford a fancy one with erg mode, and conventional wisdom says rollers are more mentally involving, which is a plus for me. Especially since I only have one bike, and don’t want to deal with a second wheel for a trainer
pricey, but I’m a one and done buyer. you can’t lose with these. e*motion
pricey, but I’m a one and done buyer. you can’t lose with these. e*motion
Wow, and I thought the Krietler’s were expensive.
I have the Kreitlers. I bought them in 2006 and they are still going strong after many hours of use and sweat. If the OP is considering them, I’d highly recommend them with the smallest drums possible (2.25"). I’ve even added the “Killer Head Wind” for extra resistance and the fork stand for when I want to ride in aero and not pay attention to balance (which is almost exclusively these days).
I bought some cheapo rollers on Craigslist and they’ve worked out really well, but as has been previously said, not much challenge. I train mostly on my fluid trainer and add a roller ride here and there as a recovery option or when I have a long workout where rollers will help fight the trainer boredom.
It is a lot more fun to use emotion-type rollers (sometimes called “free motion rollers”) but it does take some of the skill out of it. If you want that type of set-up though, there is no need to fork out $750. Some bungee cords, rollerblade wheels and a few 2x4s or some plywood scraps can build up a frame to let any set or rollers slide back and forth. I built my frame for about $40 and some old roller skates that I had lying around. There are lots of videos showing how other people have done the same sort of thing. Here are some examples:
It is a lot more fun to use emotion-type rollers (sometimes called “free motion rollers”) but it does take some of the skill out of it. If you want that type of set-up though, there is no need to fork out $750. Some bungee cords, rollerblade wheels and a few 2x4s or some plywood scraps can build up a frame to let any set or rollers slide back and forth. I built my frame for about $40 and some old roller skates that I had lying around. There are lots of videos showing how other people have done the same sort of thing. Here are some examples:
As someone else said, smaller diameter=requires more watts to spin. I don’t imagine learning to ride them is any different. My experience: I’m on my second set of the cheapest Nashbar/Performance rollers, the first lasted a decade. I’m sure Kreitlers would have lasted longer, but we’ll find out in another couple decades if I’ve come out ahead or behind by buying the cheap ones. I’d guess riding them in a 53x11 requires under 300 watts, so you can’t do short interval training on them. But they’re fine riding up to moderately hard, and I seem to be able to ride them longer than the trainer.
Rollers are great for learning bike handling because they don’t forgive even the slightest bit of sketchiness. The fore-aft motion of the free motion set up evens out the bumps in your pedaling making it possible to let your mind wander, sprint out of the saddle, take a drink, etc. and doesn’t clamp your wheels in place like a stationary trainer. The trade-off is you lose the biggest benefit of training on rollers. Using a home-made frame can let you mix-up your workouts- sometimes with free motion, other times without.
I work at a cycling training center and have access to just about every type of trainer made. My vote for best winter setup is a set of used rollers and a fluid trainer. Look for rollers on CL or ebay or the travel track rollers at Performance go on sale for under $100 from time to time.
The fluid trainer is for power and sprint workouts the rollers are for steady miles and recovery. Pair that with a powermeter and you are all set for training year round.
I have a set of traditional rollers and E-Motion rollers. If you have the money the E-motions are the Sh*t. Paired with a power meter of your choice it is the best way to spend time training indoors. The front to back movement does take some of the skill out of riding the rollers, but not much. You can always play the game of how little can you make them move while riding. It is fun and kills some time. The movement makes them more comfortable to ride for long periods (not magic but better) it also makes standing and sprinting easier.
Looking at picking up a set of rollers for winter training. I’ve never owned any before.
I’m leaning towards kreitler. This is my first year riding, so I’m not worried about needing headroom, power wise. I can always get the headwind fan or a flywheel or two for further resistance in the future.
But as far as learning to ride rollers-are the larger drums easier to ride on, skill wise? Or are the smaller ones?
Or are other, cheaper rollers just as usable? Will, I, as a noob cyclist, be able to determine any qualitative differences? If so, how would they manifest?
I’m leaning towards rollers and against a trainer because I can’t afford a fancy one with erg mode, and conventional wisdom says rollers are more mentally involving, which is a plus for me. Especially since I only have one bike, and don’t want to deal with a second wheel for a trainer
pricey, but I’m a one and done buyer. you can’t lose with these. e*motion
+1 emotion make my workouts WAY more engaging and fun.
Bought a set of Minoura rollers and resistance unit five years ago, and they still work great. With exception of sprint workouts, i can do anything else i do outaide, including vo2 max and threshold efforts
I have a total cheapo set of rollers (Travel Trac maybe) and they’ve been fine. I only use them for recovery or aerobic rides when I want a change from the fluid trainer. They’re great for that and for technique, anything else not so much.
Another vote for the emotion. I can’t even think of a better trainer. Pair it with their new (still in beta) resistance unit and you have the best indoor trainer money can buy. The motion part makes riding so much easier, standing up, sprinting, etc. I think the biggest advantage of having the free motion is you won’t feel the same saddle pressure you do when riding stationary = less saddle soreness. That’s one of the main issues many complain when moving their riding indoor. I no longer use my regular trainer since I got the emotion (2+ yrs) and most of my riding done indoor.
If you decide to get it, you can get $100 off using coupon MIRRA_100
I bought a set of Minoura rollers with large drums 20 years ago. Rode them faithfully 3-4 x per week in winter months for about 15 years The only issue I ever had (besides crashing a few times the first few weeks) were the bearings loosening. I popped them out and then siliconed them back in. Have been using a KK with my tri bike the last few years but plan to start alternating by using my new road bike on the rollers for LSD rides and tri bike on KK for intervals. I believe they do help develop balance and bike skills especially if you use a bike with down tube shifters.
As someone else said, smaller diameter=requires more watts to spin. I don’t imagine learning to ride them is any different. My experience: I’m on my second set of the cheapest Nashbar/Performance rollers, the first lasted a decade. I’m sure Kreitlers would have lasted longer, but we’ll find out in another couple decades if I’ve come out ahead or behind by buying the cheap ones. I’d guess riding them in a 53x11 requires under 300 watts, so you can’t do short interval training on them. But they’re fine riding up to moderately hard, and I seem to be able to ride them longer than the trainer.
I had cheap rollers by Minoura or maybe Nashbar about 25 years ago and they were loud. a few years later I found a set of Kreitlers in the trash near my home (seriously - New York City is weird sometimes!!!) and they seemed much quieter.
But all this was a long time ago, so probably even the cheap ones are quieter nowadays.
If I had much more space in my home I’d keep the rollers, but I don’t, and I got rid of them eventually and just kept my trainer.
If you enjoy them, it’s fine, but if you’re just using them for technique I think once you’ve mastered them in a thoughtful way they don’t do much. I got to the point where I could ride them no-handed (road bike) and also out of the saddle (road bike) and there didn’t see more to learn. So I stopped using them for several years, then hopped on again when teaching someone else to use them. The skills came right back - I could balance immediately and within 10 minutes could ride no-handed. Though I have pretty good pedaling mechanics.
I’ll finish by saying that some people find rollers more enjoyable than trainers due to the need to be in touch with technique.
Bu the way I got rid of my emotion rollers and got a cheap set of Performance rollers with no resistance. With Gaorskins on, I still get around 230W of resistance out of them which is enough for many rides at my size…for harder intervals at 250-350W I have a CT.