Trainer/ roller advice

I'm looking to buy a trainer or roller for the winter months. I've talked with two different guys from my local bike shop. One swears by rollers, the other a trainer.

I've only been riding since this summer, but I'm hooked and hope to maybe enter some races or maybe a triathlon next summer.

I'm leaning toward getting rollers and have found what I think is a good deal/price on a Minoura Action Mag Roller for $179.00. It also has mag resistance which seems to offer some of the benefits found with a trainer.

Some trainers on-line are priced about half of that, but I'm concerned they won't last or work very well.

Any advice or thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Cycle trainers can be real bad for your frame if it´s made of ali , steel and carbon are ok , but you can´t fall off as you can with rollers also rollers are big and bulky to store .
Road racers tend to warm up on trainers , track racers on rollers.
Anything made by Trax or Elite will be well made so don´t worry about that side of it , but the choice of types can confuse , see if you can try both types before you buy as it´s your legs . If you want to get out of the saddle then it´s got to be a trainer .

__________________
' too old to rock 'n' roll : too young to die '

el... thanks for the information. I think since I'm pretty new to riding, I'm mostly worried about keeping my legs in some sort of shape over the cold winter months. I plan to ride until the snow plows start working.

Will most bike shops allow you to test a trainer or roller?

Thanks again for your advice.

Rollers can help give you with a good spin/form. You can get similar benefits with a trainer and one-legged drills though.

When I was shopping for trainers, I went to my LBS and they let me try out a Cycleops Fluid & Kurt Kenetics trainer. I ended up with a set of rollers because a customer came in and gave them his old set saying "i'm done with cycling, so here, give these away."

I took 'em

The guys at the shop even helped me try it out by holding me from two sides while tried to mount, dismount, and stay on (first time on rollers for me). When I brought it home, I just put it in a doorway and used my shoulders/elbows when needed to stay on (heh heh, you can pretend you're in a massively crowded crit). Took about a week before I felt comfortable enough to move it into open space.

I'll admit I came off the rollers a few times... for stupid reasons.

Once when I was watching TV and lost my attention.
Once when I was reaching with my remote to change TV channels.

Needless to say, I've stopped watching TV while on the rollers and just listen to music!

In both instances, as soon as I came off, I just tipped over & didn't damage anything. Since I ride in an apartment with people below me, I suspect they heard those crashes. Thankfully, I had a training mat underneath the rollers, so they never hear anything when I'm just spinning. Also protects the hardwood floor.

makataack,

Thanks for the info.... have lots of room in my basement, so space and noise not an issue.... I'm a bit worried about falling off rollers, but am worried trainer will put more wear and tear on my bike.


any advice from you on the minoura rollers? or others?

Thanks

I guess the wear and tear from a frame in a trainer comes mostly from any flex along the rear triangle as you do hard stuff like get off the saddle to sprint (seated or off) or simulate climbing when in a high gear. If you're just spinning like you would on rollers, I suspect the wear is minimal.

Since my roller drums are larger diameter than the drums on any trainers I've seen, I think I get less wear on my tires... but that's offset by the fact that both tires are now spinning/wearing.

Also, a side benefit for my rollers is that my computer still works since the sensor is clipped to the front fork. If you wanted your computer to work with a trainer, you'd have to make sure your sensor is clipped to the chainstay or something. That won't work with my wireless computer! Of course, either way, the speed reading is a bit meaningless... I only use it for the "ATM" or automatic timed ride feature. Of course, this runs down the computer & transmitter battery for a feature that I could get with my stopwatch!

I don't know much about the minoura rollers. I have a friend with them, but they haven't been on them regularly. The ones I got are made from a company called "Kreitler" but I don't know what model I have, other than the they have all aluminum drums, so I assume they're the "Alloy" model. The LBS guys said it's a great deal, especially since they're free... but they're almost $600 dollars new according to Colorado Cyclist with a fan resistance unit, that I didn't get with my set. I don't know if the bulk of the price is from the fan unit or what... but the next closest price is $300 for a set that aren't all aluminum.

Anyway, I suspect mine are from a few years back... and they have some scratches and gouges on the aluminum drums (no doubt from storage/dirty tires/etc that the previous owner made). Either way, they seem indestructable... very simple construction. Trainers are obviously more complicated devices (and fluid trainers used to have a terrible reputation for messy failures).

Good luck!

free kreitler rollers!! they are absolutely the best out there! if they've got alu end-caps, then they go for ~$450 w/o fan unit. plastic end-caps w/ alu drums are about $300.

if you want to practice your out of the saddle stuff, kreitler makes a fork mount that will go over the front of the rollers to hold you steady. (of course, no front wheel = computer sensor no workie.)

or, if you're like a friend of mine from college, just go out of the saddle on the rollers!! this is not recommended for most riders, this is the guy that i mentioned in a rollers thread that did a track-stand next to the rollers, bunny-hopped sideways onto the rollers and then got going . . .

personally i never left the doorway, even when i was able to ride rollers w/o hands.

Rollers by far my friend. You actually have to ride your bike. Trainers are just totally boring in my opinion. You can get resistance accessories too. You can do time trials! You can do all sorts of interval training, and you'll notice that you will be a much better rider come spring!!!

Sidney... Thanks for the advice... I think the Minoura rollers I've found for 180.00 seem like a good deal... it has a mag unit included. Hoping to get better over the winter....

thanks again.

It appears everyone is leaning towards rollers.
Has anyone had expereince with the Cycleops Fluid 2 trainer?

This might help:

http://www.fitwerx.com/NewFiles/Flui...rShootout.html

If I had only one choice, I 'd go rollers. First, they give you a better workout; it's easy to "jog" with trainers, but, if you do that with rollers, you're on the floor. Second, you can buy an attachment for rollers to hook into your front fork, so, that turns your rollers into a trainer. The biggest drawback is not being able to read while training, as it gets boring if you go for long stretches (heck, even on short ones), but, that's what a walkman is for -- just put it into your back jersey pocket and go.

Good luck, and get a sweatguard, no matter what.

Retribe