Road Cycling - Rollers or trainers for indoor training ?

Anyone have any idea which one is actually better for training indoors ? Is it possible to do interval workouts on rollers ? or is that sorta reserved for indoor trainers ? I am leaning more towards rollers for the benefit of bike handling skills.. but i am apprehensive since i dont really like trainers, but not sure if rollers would be right for training as well.

Thanks in advance

Tony,
firstly welcome to the forums.

I have both, and well, they really have different applications
IMHO.
I like the rollers, once you get past the challenge of riding
them (if you need some advice PM me). They are absolutely
the thing if you want to work on cadence and handling
skills. Prior to getting rollers I couldn't ride no hands, after
1 month on rollers that was easy (still can't do that on rollers
tho). You can use em for intervals but there is little or no
resistance on rollers, that said the smaller diameter the roller
the more resistance. I would NOT recommend any resistance
units until your really comfortable on the rollers. They're hard
enough without em. No increased stress on your frame with
rollers. I also don't get bored on rollers as easily (you really
do have to pay attention at least initially).
The trainer (stationary) is ideal for intervals, I have a Cyclops
fluid2 (squared), infinitely variable unit. I don't have to set a
thing, its all controlled by the RPM of the unit. Pedal Hard, and
it will kick back, easy spin and it lets up (but not a whole lot!).
you can work on out of the seat sprints which I most emphatically
advise you NOT do on rollers. The stationary units put alot of stress on frames,
so I'd suggest using a beater or old bike on it and not my best racing frame.
hope this helps,
let us know what you choose,

Marty

Hi and welcome.

There have been a number of discussions on this topic within the past year, and you may find it helpful to search "rollers" and "trainers" for these pretty exhaustive discourses.

I personally hate either one, but attempt to use a trainer when I can't get out.

Thanks for the reply's on this, I think im leaning more towards the rollers myself. I have been able to ride no hands since i was like 10 =) maybe rollers will come easy for me who knows. I have seen fork stands i believe they call them in magazines and the such where you can use them with rollers to sorta be like a trainer too. I just want to make sure i can get atleast somesort of a workout after the first week or two on the rollers. They seem to be rather inexpensive compared to trainers. There are a few trainers ive seen on the market but not sure shich ones to consider besides the expensive ones. Does it take much for rollers to be good units ?

Tony,
Lets see if I can shed some light on this
I got my rollers off of e-bay for less than $50. they are
made by Minoura and have aluminium rollers as opposed to
polycarbonate rollers. According to my research the big
differences between the two are (other than cost)
Al : quieter, smoother, and according to one source
easier to dent, higher tolerance for being round.
Poly: better road feel to the roller.
Does this make a differnce? I don't know.
Yes there are some very expensive rollers (Kreitler
comes to mind), is there a difference in terms of training
benefits between roller brands? I don't think so.
The smaller Diameter rollers offer more resistance
(and there are track rollers that are 12 inches wide!).
I like the idea of having a resistance type unit available
to use in conjunction with Fork stand, that way you can
get the best of both worlds.
I don't know a whole lot about different trainers,
but the ones we have are a fluid model and they're
quiter than the mag or wind trainers.
again, hope this helps
Marty