Indoor Mag Trainer Vs Rollers

autoboy

i have always used an adjustable minora indoor trainer for the back wheel (even though it likes to eat perfactly good tyres) but the other night some of the guys were swearing by Rollers for indoor work and since i have never used rollers i was wondering if anyone had an opinion on which is better?????

RalleighOke

There has been quite a few opinions on this topic.

Try these links to see a few suggestions.

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showth...ghlight=rollers

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showth...ghlight=rollers

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showth...ghlight=rollers

http://www.cyclingforums.com/showth...ghlight=rollers

Hope it helps

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"pain is temporary, pride is forever"

Mouse Potato

I'm a beginner, but I've got both since want to train during the week but basically only ever see the sun through my office window during winter.

The rollers are much more entertaining because I have to pay attention to stay on the darn contraption (I'm not worried about injuring myself, but I wouldn't want to damage my nice timber floors ) and if anyone was watching me they'd be highly entertained too! The main thing that surprised me was the high level of resistance compared to my mag trainer (a Tacx Cycleforce One). The effort required on the rollers feels similar to about the 5th level of resistance on the mag trainer. I guess it's because my bike has a long frame, so I've got the rollers at maximum extension (they certainly spin more freely when the band isn't pulled so tight). That would normally suit a large road bike which would presumably have a large, powerful rider, but I'm only little.

The mag trainer is great when I want to do something while watching telly, or while reading, or surfing the internet (or following the TdF online). I need to have something else to do because it's incredibly boring, even when doing intervals.

But I still spend much more time on the mag trainer than on the rollers. (Oh, and rollers eat tyres too.)

autoboy

Thankyou so much for that advice it has helped imesly, i am now thinking it might be worth havign a look at purchasign a set. I to get terribly bored on the mag trainer and find that on many occasion the rain and wind outside are more inviting than an a couple of hours bored out of my mind.

I am fasinated on the idea of surfing the net, i have tried to read but found it very difficult to concentrate on the page, might you or anyone else have a few pointers and just how are you able to surf the net on the trainer?

Jonny

Try sticking your bike into the hardest gear and keep the cadence up for an hour. That takes some strength and provides a good workout.

If thats too easy get a resistance unit for ya rollers. You can get them for Tacx rollers and minoura rollers.

cheers

Jonny

Mouse Potato

I use a notebook computer opened up so that it would be almost fully flat if you put it on a table, except that I have it close to vertical on a heavy-duty music stand which I've got next to the front wheel. (The screen part is vertical, but the keyboard part is at a bit of an angle for easier typing and mouse pointer moving.)

The music stand has a tripod at its base, and the wheel sits between the ends of two of the tripod's legs. Height and tilt are adjustable, which not only lets me put it in a nice position for reading and using from the bike, but lets me adjust it for when I'm doing other exercise (e.g. on the treadmill, wrestling with the gym combo, etc.). It works quite well regardless of whether I'm holding the bars normally, sitting back fully upright, or slouched over resting on my elbows aerobar-ishly. The screen's a bit closer than I like it in that last position, but I'm going to try putting castors on the stand's base so I can just push it back a bit, then move it forward again when I sit up.

I use the notebook's touchpad instead of a conventional mouse (I'd really prefer a touch screen but there are too many other things to spend my money on! ). Normally I *hate* touchpads, but external meece just don't work well (I tried a cordless one at first).

You don't need much processing power for surfing the net, so if you don't have a notebook computer you should be able to pick up a suitable one very cheaply. The main thing to look out for is a nice, decent-resolution screen (e.g. XGA, which is 1024x768, but notebooks have had that since 1996-97).

Apart from surfing the net, the arrangement works well for reading e-books too. Most e-book readers let you set font size which makes them more training-friendly than printed books. But I've put printed books on the music stand to read too.

I bought the music stand second-hand on eBay for around $50.00. New, depending on what brand you get, they range from around $100 to $300+ (you definitely need a heavy-duty one).

autoboy

Hey, what a great idea, i just recently bought a slimline VAIO notebook (i love toys) i think i need to go and find myself a nice music stand now and give this a go.

Thankyou very much for the input i had never even considered this, i love it.