Rollers



Buckeyes

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Dec 17, 2009
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I started riding last year when I moved from Lake Tahoe to Columbus for school (so I would definitely consider myself a newbie). I immediately fell in love with the sport and recently bought my first set of rollers for winter training. I went with rollers because I get bored somewhat fast and they looked entertaining. After a couple of weeks I am proficient in riding them but seem to need at least an hour and a half to get good exercise because there is no real resistance (lets face it, it's still indoor training which leads to boredom eventually). Any thoughts on a training with rollers or different things I could do to make indoor rides more interesting, fun or more difficult?
 
There are resistance units which can be added to roller sets to increase the workload, but yeah.... not much more fun than a trainer.

A shag carpet remnant placed underneath the rollers to put a slight drag on them would also be a cheap way to get more resistance.
 
Resistance depends on a few things the most important being drum diameter the smaller the drum the more resistance. Then there is the type of tire you use and the air pressure you use Armadillos seem to create more resistance but they will eventually break down and they are more expensive. A high number of teeth on your big ring (52 or higher) and an 11 tooth cog on your rear cassette helps. I use 3.5 inch aluminum drums from Performance if I could get 3.25 or 3 at the same price I would. Resistance is a good thing on rollers if you can convert them to home made free motion rollers they would be even more useful and fun to ride.
 
wiredued said:
if you can convert them to home made free motion rollers they would be even more useful and fun to ride.

Could you explain the free motion part and a link to a home made version?
Thanks
 
They have alot of different designs on You Tube now this one looked simple and inexpensive. It alows you to get out of the saddle when you need to without the rear wheel leaving the pocket.[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAvVcNxGlR0[/ame]
 
Buckeyes said:
Any thoughts on a training with rollers or different things I could do to make indoor rides more interesting, fun or more difficult?

Fold up an old towel in half once or twice and stick it under one of rear drums. For more resistance, fold again. Although I've found it increases the heat on aluminum drums and contributes to tire wear, it's a cheap and easy way to go if you want to add resistance.
 
Thanks for the you tube info. I'm gonna modify my rollers, add some resistance, and place a couple of mattresses beside me for the test sprint.
 
My dad has a set of rollers he uses. I can't remember the company that makes them, but they are big rollers, about 6" drums. But, he uses an inertia wheel coming off the back roller (to help with coasting i think) and then runs a fan off the front roller. The more the fan is open, the more resistance. And the added effect of you get cooled off
 
I've used rollers for many years, and would have a few comments:
First of all, that YouTube free motion thing looks like a great idea! I'll be noodling on a best way to do that. Mounting the rollers inside another frame, allowing relative motion of the roller unit with the floor, would seem to help in the transients (i.e. acceleration, standing, etc.). Good idea there.
Second, yes - I would suggest adding some type of load to the rollers, but I would never do the towel or carpet thing. This is just me - those ideas just seem to kludgey to me. You'll be creating dust, wearing things out quickly, constant replacement, carpet particles flying everywhere, static electricity, .... yuk.
There are many choices of load units for rollers - mainly magnetic & wind.
I have Kreitlers, and use the squirrel cage fan unit for resistance.
I would seriously recommend adding an element of inertia to the rollers too. You want to replicate the inertia you have while moving down the road, while stationary on the rollers. So, you're basically exchanging rotating inertia in the form of a flywheel for the linear inertia you have while moving. Kreitler offers flywheels, which help in replicating a real pedal stroke immensely!
I sometimes use two at once, although that setup (with the fan) is quite a load.
You could you the same by adding evenly distributed weights around the outer circumference of your wheels too. You'd have to come up with a simple way of putting them on and taking them off, though. Or, just have one set of roller-specific wheels with permanently attached weights.
The Kreitler setup (fan + single flywheel) offers a resistance like about a 10 mph headwind or so. That's with the fan opening (resistance adjustment) set at zero. It can be opened up to create greater drag. The resistance settings that Kreitler puts on the outside of the fan adjustment are inaccurate, being under-estimated.
Before I had the Kreitlers, I had a cheaper plastic drum set, and used a magnetic resistance unit, which I found to be OK.
If you have a cheaper roller set (plastic drums, etc.) I would HIGHLY recommend replacing it with Kreitlers when it wears out.

Good luck, and have fun !!
 
Okay, there's lots of talk about adding resistance to rollers on this thread. I have 80mm rollers (3.15 inches) and I don't seem to have a problem getting enough resistance out of them. I have checked the setup and the rollers free-wheel no problem, so I know they are not pinched in between the frames. Does this mean I've been on the couch too long?? :p
 
I just finished modifying a set of Performance aluminum drum rollers. I installed old rollerblade wheels on the 6 legs and 2 on the top of the rail on the centerline of the front roller. I bungied the frame to the wall behind me and a set of weights in front of me just to test it out. I can get out of the saddle and sprint and jump around and coast and rock back and forth like I'm dying on a hill and no problems. Never fell off and I'm not even good on rollers.
I basically copied the set up in the you tube video. Now that I know that it works I will build the frame and invest in better wheels that don't have flat spots. I sold my Real Axiom trainer and am bored with Kurt and 1up.
Regarding resistance; if you modify your rollers then you'll want more resistance for out of saddle efforts.
By the way. The rollers were about $120.00, the wheels were cannibalized from my daughters rollerblades, and the bolts cost $8.00. 1 hour of thinking and 2 hours of fabrication.
 
Thanks for all the input it's been helpful. I ended up buying myself a fan unit and have to say it really makes a difference. Having the option of more resistance is nice when I'm having a good day but it also allows me to crank it down when I'm feeling lazy. I know this is probably above my
head but what would a flywheel do and is it worth purchasing?
 
Bike4Him said:
I just finished modifying a set of Performance aluminum drum rollers. I installed old rollerblade wheels on the 6 legs and 2 on the top of the rail on the centerline of the front roller. I bungied the frame to the wall behind me and a set of weights in front of me just to test it out. I can get out of the saddle and sprint and jump around and coast and rock back and forth like I'm dying on a hill and no problems. Never fell off and I'm not even good on rollers.
I basically copied the set up in the you tube video. Now that I know that it works I will build the frame and invest in better wheels that don't have flat spots. I sold my Real Axiom trainer and am bored with Kurt and 1up.
Regarding resistance; if you modify your rollers then you'll want more resistance for out of saddle efforts.
By the way. The rollers were about $120.00, the wheels were cannibalized from my daughters rollerblades, and the bolts cost $8.00. 1 hour of thinking and 2 hours of fabrication.

when you build the frame can you take some pictures? I'm pretty handy with woodworking and can build something, but I'd like to see what others have done. Also, anyone know where I can see pics of a rig similar to above? It's basically a wooden frame around the rollers, and the rollers are on wheels?

I have a set of old Weyless rollers that are in great shape, bearing-wise, but they're heavy as hell.
 
reddDesign said:
when you build the frame can you take some pictures? I'm pretty handy with woodworking and can build something, but I'd like to see what others have done. Also, anyone know where I can see pics of a rig similar to above? It's basically a wooden frame around the rollers, and the rollers are on wheels?

I have a set of old Weyless rollers that are in great shape, bearing-wise, but they're heavy as hell.

I'll post some photos. The best look is from the earlier post with the you tube video.
The way I installed the wheels is very clean and I'll finish the frame next week.
Really easier than I thought and very inexpensive if you have rollers.