Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - "Goldsprints" racing...Rollers Vs. Trainers

So I've been looking into building my own setup like this and I have seen both Rollers with lockdown and Trainers used...Who has been on both and has a definitive opinion on it one way or another?


Also, if anybody has experience building these setups, please, give me your insights! I need all the help I can get with this!

So I've been looking into building my own setup like this and I have seen both Rollers with lockdown and Trainers used...Who has been on both and has a definitive opinion on it one way or another?


Also, if anybody has experience building these setups, please, give me your insights! I need all the help I can get with this!

not a culture guru but I have never heard of a goldsprint on a
trainer, if you mean this kind:

http://www.sport-tiedje.de/minoura/heimtrainer/vfs_gr_detail.jpg

Yeah, i saw a video from an event in Japan where they were on trainers.


I am really interested in building a rig for goldsprints...Need help with the software end though. I can get the rollers, build the lockdown mechanism. I just need the sensors/software and figure out how to set it up.

Yeah, i saw a video from an event in Japan where they were on trainers.


I am really interested in building a rig for goldsprints...Need help with the software end though. I can get the rollers, build the lockdown mechanism. I just need the sensors/software and figure out how to set it up.

2 local guys here started doing these locally a few years ago, but the name "Goldsprint" comes from a Hometrainer contest done yearly in Zurich. A brewery sponsors it and even releases a beer for the occasion. They did it as part of the CMWC's in Zurich in 1999 and now have become quite popular.

The problem they had originally was trying to run computer sensors off small (relative to bicycle wheel diameter) rollers. The rpm's were way to fast and they couldn't get a reading. They have since refined the appropriate program and they run the sensors to a laptop. You can buy set-up's off them I believe.

A cheaper DIY alternative would be to attach a larger diameter wheel to the outside of the rollers and use the sensors off those....that way a regular bike computer could read them. You would need risers for the rollers, but that is easier than writing a program to work....well for us less tech savvy folks anyway. Put 2 stationary cameras on the computers...run em to a big screen and away you go.

Check out www.opensprints.com. They provide an outline on how to build your own setup (a little tech/ee know-how helps) and have (work-in-progress) software that interprets the results and shows the two bikes' locations on a map, etc. One of these days I'll build one myself...