Thread: Frequent Flats
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Old 08-31-12, 02:56 PM
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Andrew R Stewart 
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Rollers load a tire differently then a trainer stand. First is that almost no torque is transmitted through tire/drum. A tiny bit to drive the ft wheel but that's pretty minor. Second the rear wheel is sitting on two drums doubling the contact patch. Third the tire/drum pressure is based on your weight, just like on the road, not by an additional device (the hand cranking the roller against the tire). And fourth traditional roller drums are larger in diameter then most trainer stand rollers.

There is a stress factor in how deep the pressure roller presses into the tire casing and how small a diameter the pressure roller is. Tire failure will come FAR faster with deeper indentation (roller pressure) and smaller roller diameters. Car tire manufacturers learned this a long time ago. There is a lot of distruction testing of car tires run against rollers and the failure will happen sooner then the same tire being used on a "flat surface" (road).

But the real reason to ride rollers has nothing to do with tire life and everything to do with ballance, skill, fluidity, smoothness, spin. Trainers kill good form, rollers reinforce good form. But trainers are easy on the mind and rollers require actually learning, so guess why they're so much more popular... Andy
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