Shooting off Rollers

[Fruitbat]

This post actually stems from the thread about riding no hands.

Out of interest, I can ride no-hands on my rollers, useful when you get real sweaty and want to take your t-shirt off. Hey, it's a gift.

Anyway, the point of my post is that if your wheels come off the rollers (no matter how "fast" you're going) you don't shoot forward, it's a myth.

The bike "shoots" forward about two inches, then you slowly fall over to the left/right and hurt your hip and elbow. Then you shout for your girlfriend/wife/mother/brother/husband/dog to help you unclip yourself. They laugh at you.

Where people think all this forward motion comes from is a mystery. Sort of like Wiley Coyote when he spins his legs and then zooms off after the Road Runner.

F.

p.s. I'm new to these forums, if this point has previously been made, please feel free to flame me.

 

[Roadie_scum]

I tend to agree, but it does depend on the weight and speed of your wheels. I saw a guy at track training doing efforts on rollers indoors. He was using heavy deep dish wheels, going flat chat. Slipped off and shot foward into a table - about 1.5m away. Very, very, very funny. And hard to keep doing my own efforts after I'd seen it. Admittedly, you don't normally have that much momentum in your wheels cos you're not normally putting out the power of a state level track sprinter mid-effort on deep dishes. So you don't normally shoot forward that far.

 

[gclark8]

Reminds me of that German movie, "Girls on top",

cheers
g

 

[VeloFlash]

Originally posted by Fruitbat
This post actually stems from the thread about riding no hands.

Out of interest, I can ride no-hands on my rollers, useful when you get real sweaty and want to take your t-shirt off. Hey, it's a gift.

Anyway, the point of my post is that if your wheels come off the rollers (no matter how "fast" you're going) you don't shoot forward, it's a myth.

The bike "shoots" forward about two inches, then you slowly fall over to the left/right and hurt your hip and elbow. Then you shout for your girlfriend/wife/mother/brother/husband/dog to help you unclip yourself. They laugh at you.

Where people think all this forward motion comes from is a mystery. Sort of like Wiley Coyote when he spins his legs and then zooms off after the Road Runner.

F.

p.s. I'm new to these forums, if this point has previously been made, please feel free to flame me.

Riding no hands on rollers is not a gift. It is a natural progression drawn from experience, confidence, having a true frame and wheels and ensuring your rollers are precisely level. If you can ride no hands on that particular bike (some bikes you can't) then you will have no problems in time on the rollers.

You can shoot forward if the wheels come off the rollers. It is all related to a reaction time to stop pedalling. On a track bike, which Roadie_Scum mentions, it is more likely because of the fixed gear. If you are still pedalling when that rear wheel hits the real ground, you will shoot forward - guaranteed.

 

[johndan]

I haven't actually shot of my rollers yet, but I've gone off the sides a few times, usually while testing to see if I'm good enough yet to ride no-hands--apparently I'm not gifted.

But, hey, I'm making progress. Last week, I was riding rollers because it was storming outside. When I was coming out of an interval, I leaned down to shift out of the big ring (I'm riding an old bike with downtube shifters). The chain jumped off the chainring. I was suddenly pedaling at 30 mph (very, very briefly) with no resistance. I managed to straighten up, unclip, and put a foot down on the roller framework without falling.

My wife, on the other side of the room working at her computer, merely tilted her head and lifted her eyebrows. I couldn't tell if she was impressed or disappointed. (I think she and my daughter have a betting pool on how long it's going to be before I crash and burn on them.)

- Johndan

 

[taras0000]

I've shot off the rollers, albight on my figed gear, and you will go forward, but it's easy to stop quickly. at mountainbike comps i've seen "momentum races" where guys on their monutain bikes pedal as fast as they can adn then bunny hop of the rollers and see who rolls the farthest. kinda fun to watch
had a teamate sprint on rollers, go off the side and shoot out the front door at a residence we were staying at, again on a fixie.

 

[moggie]

Does any one get an electric shock when they first get off ther rollers> Ive tried every thing but always get one. Moggie

 

[taras0000]

THe electric shock is a side effect of the plastic rollers. you will always get that shock. combo of rubber and plastic makes static electricity. use it to your advantage. when you want to get off the rollers, call someone over to "give you a hand" and shock them.

 

[Rod White]

Guys

I was in my local bike store this morning talking to the guys about rollers and he said his son had shot off the front of the roller and riden off into the back shed which implied he had travelled some distance (from the side of the house to the shed).

This is one of the reason he used to convince me not to go for rollers but for a mag trainer (not purchased yet, still thinking).

So perhaps from what I've read here is that it may be an issue with fixed wheel track bikes but not freewheels (so long as you can stop pedaling as soon as you feel you have come off the bike).

Since you guys use rollers, do you like them better than resistance indoor trainers (mag,fluid/wind) ?

Can you do sprint/intervals on a roller or do you have to use a mag trainer ?

Rod

 

[Roadie_scum]

Originally posted by Rod White
Since you guys use rollers, do you like them better than resistance indoor trainers (mag,fluid/wind) ?

Can you do sprint/intervals on a roller or do you have to use a mag trainer ?

Rod

I have mag rollers and I think they're great - can still adjust the resistance on them. I also have a mag trainer, which i use sometimes for super hard intervals where I'll be losing form/concentration towards the end, but you can get to a reasonable (very hard) intensity on rollers once you're comfortable with them. Rollers feel way more like riding a bike on the road too, so they're definitely my preference for warmups.

 

[starship]

Originally posted by VeloFlash
Riding no hands on rollers is not a gift. It is a natural progression drawn from experience, confidence, having a true frame and wheels and ensuring your rollers are precisely level. If you can ride no hands on that particular bike (some bikes you can't) then you will have no problems in time on the rollers.

You can shoot forward if the wheels come off the rollers. It is all related to a reaction time to stop pedalling. On a track bike, which Roadie_Scum mentions, it is more likely because of the fixed gear. If you are still pedalling when that rear wheel hits the real ground, you will shoot forward - guaranteed.

WHICH BIKES can you NOT ride no hands? Why do I ask? I ride all day no hands on my old Varsity, but my Cannondale R800 goes crazy!

 

[johndan]

Originally posted by Rod White
Guys

[...]

This is one of the reason he used to convince me not to go for rollers but for a mag trainer (not purchased yet, still thinking).

[...]
Since you guys use rollers, do you like them better than resistance indoor trainers (mag,fluid/wind) ?

Rollers and trainers each have somewhat different purposes, as far as I can tell (which may not be very far...). Trainers allow you to focus on increasing leg strength (some models even allow adjusting resistance while riding); they also don't require as much finesse in terms of smooth cadence and pedalling. Rollers require you to pay a lot of attention to how smooth your pedal stroke is, particularly at high rpms. So if you're interested in focusing on increasing leg strength, I'd go with a trainer; if you want to focus on the mechanics of smooth and fast form, go with rollers.

 

[Roadie_scum]

Originally posted by johndan
Rollers and trainers each have somewhat different purposes, as far as I can tell (which may not be very far...). Trainers allow you to focus on increasing leg strength (some models even allow adjusting resistance while riding); they also don't require as much finesse in terms of smooth cadence and pedalling. Rollers require you to pay a lot of attention to how smooth your pedal stroke is, particularly at high rpms. So if you're interested in focusing on increasing leg strength, I'd go with a trainer; if you want to focus on the mechanics of smooth and fast form, go with rollers.

Unless you ride your trainer at a very strange (low) cadence, which would be non-specific and poor training, they will not increase leg strength. It's true that you need to be smoother and more confident to ride on rollers; whether or not you can do hard efforts on them is limited by skill, whether they have adjustable resistance, and gearing.