Terminology

Rollers...

Trainer...

 

A power meter is a gizmo that attaches to your chainstay and measures power output in watts. It is usally used in conjunction with a cyclocomputer/heartrate monitor. Some stationary trainers have them built in.

 

That girl on the rollers has obviously had a lot of practice. Riding those with no hands is extremely difficult (and for me, dangerous); I've tried on mine.

 

There are rollers in that picture?

 

Also, the rollers I have have skate wheels on the side as bumpers making it much less likely that you will roll off the side. The platform supporting the rollers can move independently from the main frame allowing you to be able to stand up, and even sprint. This is difficult on normal rollers because the bike wants to lurch forward off of the rollers.

These are the rollers I have.

Inside Ride, Inc.: Home of E-Motion Rollers - Home

 

I would bust my a** on those roller things. No thank you....looks way too hard to balance!

 

My one experience with rollers I did go off the side, the wheels did not have enough momentum to make me go anywhere so they spun in place for a fraction of a second until friction with the floor stopped them, this does not make for a pleasant smell and leaves a nice black spot on the floor.

 

they are not as hard as they look, just start out in a doorway so you can brace yourself if you do start to lose your balance. I was up and balanced in less than a minute, well at least until I got cocky and tried to see how fast I could go which resulted in the above post of mine.

 

Rollers really aren't that tough once you get the hang of them. Like the above poster mentioned, the hardest part is getting started. Once you have the wheels moving, they hold themselves up the same way the do when you are riding on the street. Ever take a wheel by itself and spin in while holding onto the skewer? You know how it is really tough to then turn the wheel horizontal? That is what keeps you up on the rollers and what keeps you up when you are on the street. Moving forward really has nothing to do with balancing on a bike, just getting the wheels spinning is what does it. Maybe a scientist here can tell us if it is centripetal or centrifugal force... I can never remember which one of those is which. I think it is centripetal though.

 

Rollers are among the best thing you can purchase for training indoors:

a) They greatly increase your aerobic capacity -- if you feel fit on a bike on the road, jump on some rollers for 30 minutes and see how you feel -- since you have to continuously pedal in order to maintain balance, there is no rest. Made a huge difference in my training.

b) They greatly increase your bike handling abilities for probably obvious reasons. Since using rollers I am much more confident on the bike, and my track stands out on the road have become solid.

c) They provide excellent training during cold/wet winter months -- rig a fan up in front of you though, as you will get very warm without the benefit of air moving past you.

d) Yes, they can be difficult to get used to -- the best way is to put them in a hallway where you have walls 1-2ft beside you on both sides. You can reach out with one hand and steady yourself while you get the feel of it. Will take you a few days to get confident -- don't do it for more than 5 minutes at a time when first learning. Very small movements of the handlebars translate to rapid side to side movement of the front wheel -- get the feel of it.

To the person who asked what happens when you come off the rollers and are headed for the TV -- I am sure that was tongue in cheek -- but note, unless the combined weight of your wheels (leaving centrifugal force out of it for simplicity) is greater than the combined weight of you plus the bike, you're not going anywhere, not even an inch -- the wheels stop pretty much instantly when they touch the floor.

Overall, best training device I ever purchased.

Ron
Cychosis

 

I have a stationary trainer and I'm not a fan! I may have to give rollers a try.

 

I can't recall if this was answered already or not but they do have parabolic rollers wich are tapered larger on both ends to help keep you in the center and reduce flying off. They also make mini-rollers for those who are up for a real challenge and are cramped for space. The mini's are roughly half the width of the regular rollers, therefore they are twice as scary. I have recently seen on of the trainers that actually pivots so you can stand up and crank because the bike is allowed to swing back and forth.

 

I have never tried rollers. But, I have also heard of beginners starting in a doorway. On the rollers, that way if you start to go down; you bang your head on the doorframe, get wedged between the bike and the wall, scrape the trim with your chainring and possibly bend or break your frame. Or you could practice in the nice soft grass. Like I said I have never used them, so my opinion doesn't hold any value.

I have a Cyclops 2. Good trainer, solid. But I hate, hate, hate riding a trainer. I do not know how people do it. I get 2 minutes in and my brain starts to dribble out of my ears. Luckily i live in NC, and only cannot ride when the roads are frozen, maybe a total of one mo. per yr. Before that I lived in Fl. No problems.


Edit: I guess I could be more helpful. Some things to consider when training inside. The sweat will not get blown away, and you will sweat a lot more inside. The sweat is very corrosive and will drip right on your top tube, and probably your cables. They will rust quickly. Make sure you protect them with a towel, or a guard that you can buy.

Another thing. I use a cheap wheel and tire for the trainer because it wears out the tire much faster than the road, I'm not sure why. So if you have $50+ tires on your road bike, you may want to get a $10 tire for the trainer. I don't know if rollers have the same effect on tires.

BTW, nice rollers hophead!!

Luck.

 

The hoods are the covers on the brake handles. Drops are the bottom of the bars.