hazben1

First I realize my question is not exactly bicycle mechanics. But' it is bike related and from reading many of the posts I can see the caliber of mechanics posting here and know you'll are the right ones to ask.

I am considering mounting some roller blade wheels on the legs of my rollers in an effort to make my rollers similar to the e-motion rollers. I have looked on the internet and have a pretty good idea how I am going to do it. The one question I am not sure about is whether I should just drill a hole thru the leg and put a nut on the other side and not have the bolt/axle screwed into the leg. Or would I do better if I tapped the leg and also put a nut on the other side so the bolt/axle is threaded into both the leg and the nut. The leg is 2" wide by 1/4" thick flat bar. Would it be that much stronger if it threaded into both? Is having it that sturdy needed in this type of application? I don't mind going to the extra work of tapping if it makes the wheel mounting that much sturdier.

Bill Kapaun

What's the diameter of the bolt?
I'd want my FB thickness AT LEAST equal to the bolt dia. Preferably a bit more.
Maye thread the FB AND weld a nut on the back?

fietsbob

Ah E-Motion Rollers ? Inside Ride I see they added them so your front wheel wont go off the edge of the roller ..

Tacx changed the shape of the roller Itself https://www.tacx.com/en/products/trainers/antares so there is a re-centering tendency ..

I would measure the ID of the Bearing in the Skate wheel .. what is It?

Fabricate a bracket that bolts on either side of the roller axle since it has to clear that one . can't drill directly into It.

Tube butt welded onto Flat Bar. Thread tube with a bolt to keep the bearing on it .. pretty simple Machine Shop Project.

ibis_ti

No, he's talking about adding wheels on the sides/bottom so the whole roller assembly can move back and forth giving it free-motion, not the front ones. Threading the hole is probably marginally stronger. You need to make sure you drill straight though.

I actually just bolted on some fixed casters and that worked really well and I didn't need to touch the frame at all. It's not as low as bolting the wheels to the legs though.

You can add the front rollers and platform too.

woodcraft

I pondered similar set up, but have round legs on the rollers.

I punted & also got fixed casters that can screw to the bottom of the frame.

Haven't mounted those yet.

I think it's that I hesitate to lose the foldability of the rollers (in the living room).

Maybe the plywood base can fold as well.


What about using two pieces of flat stock that would screw to either side of the frame, & hold the wheel between?

CharlyAlfaRomeo

Threading the flat bar isn't going to add much any strength, the bolt takes 100% of the load either way. Just use a nut on the other side of the frame and make sure you get at least two threads past the nut. Welding the nut on won't add any strength either.

Use grade 8 bolts if you're still worried about the strength but I wouldn't even bother. I've been building equipment for the oil patch for 10 year FWIW.

Andrew R Stewart 

So I'm missing the point of this effort. I always thought that the main purpose of riding rollers was to improve one's pedaling/movements to reduce the bikes rocking and shifting around. So now this effort is to allow the rollers to move under the bike? Reducing the feedback of what it takes to feel how your movements affect the bike's stability? While I would be interested in riding such rollers I suspect that my classic ones will keep me happy. (if riding rollers can ever be describes with "happy" as the term). Andy.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

I believe the E-Motion rollers are supposed to make it easier to stand up and pedal.

Andrew R Stewart 

Which sort of shows my point. becoming proficient at roller riding will improve one's form and bike handling. Case in point to the above. have you noticed how far back some riders move their bikes when starting to stand? One of the handling/group etiquette rules we were taught, third way sometimes, was to not throw one/s bike backward while standing. Makes your drafting partner pretty upset. When you stand on rollers you'll scoot off the back if you stand with poor form.

I know I'm flying in the face of this thread but the old ways, having worked for decades, do have a real reason to be achieved. Andy.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

I hear you, it's a cheat for sure.

woodcraft

Swivel casters on your rollers.

hazben1

Axle diameter is 1/4". I would of thought it would be thicker than that. I guess it gets its' strength from having 4 rollers on each foot.

hazben1

I like the idea of attaching the casters to the frame and not having to drill the legs. How did you attach the casters to the frame? As far as drilling the holes I have a drill press so being straight should not be an issue.

hazben1

Andy, I was of the same mind for quite a while and, rollers certainly have helped my bike handling skills. The reason I am considering this now is at times I want to put in longer efforts (2+hrs) and I get pretty sore. If I was able to get out of the saddle and stretch every 10-15 minutes it would feel a lot more comfortable. As of yet I have been unable to master getting out of the saddle while on rollers.

CharlyAlfaRomeo

The shear strength of a single Grade 5 1/4" bolt is north of 3500 lbs as indicated here.

You only need more than one wheel for stability.

hazben1

Thanks for all the great responses. After reading these I wonder if I could mount casters on a board and essential have the frame setting on these casters. This way maybe I could use my rollers as they currently are set up for shorter efforts. Then set the rollers on these casters which are mounted on plywood when I want to put in longer efforts. Obviously the casters would have to be high enough to raise the legs far enough up to clear the plywood. This way I would not have to drill holes in the legs. Best of both worlds? Any thoughts?

ibis_ti

Here's a link:
https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...r-rollers.html

This was an early version. Using real roller blade wheels with bearings was a huge improvement.

I've since gotten a TruTrainer and I'm not even sure I'll add the free motion to it....maybe just the platform and front bumper wheels.

fietsbob

Had to guess.. drawn out plans would have been clearer .. finally tied it in with someone else's project .

alcjphil

On rollerblades, the axle is supported at both ends, so a 1/4" axle is more than sufficient. However if you are only supporting one side, the bolts may bend

evrythngsgngrn

My minoura rollers legs were actually just screwed in, so I just remove the legs and screwed some angle iron in where the legs were, with the roller blade wheels on the other side of the angle iron. The rollers had six feet so I ended up with six wheels. The base I made out of 2x4's and 2x6's with hinges on it so that I could fold the base to store just like the rollers. I pretty much used @bianchi10 's video of his homemade base as a reference, but due to the legs being removable I didn't need to do any mods to the frame. I used them for quite awhile, but lately have been using them with the legs.

Edit: The wheels I used were these, from Lee Valley:
Lee Valley Tools - Important Announcement

They ended up being cheaper (here anyway) than any of the actual rollerblade wheels in sports stores.

Edit 2: Adding his video...