baribari

Can anyone tell me how many watts they got with rollers?

I have 4" Minoura rollers, and I feel the resistance isn't enough... but I'm probably getting around 150 at 26 MPH.

If I go any faster the noise increases exponentially and the floor starts to vibrate, sadly.

datlas 

Try dropping your tire pressure down to 50PSI.

baribari

I had considered that, but it seems like my rear tire is already getting pretty worn down from roller riding even at normal pressure. It's basically got a flat spot. But there's no cords showing... I will give lower pressure a try.

datlas 

BTW some people just put a towel or some other cloth object against one of the drums to create a little bit of friction. You could also try that. I just drop my tire pressure and put the bike in a bigger gear to get more resistance.

If you have lots of money to burn, get a Kreitler headwind unit to add on to your rollers. That adds resistance and keeps you cool.

But too pricey for a cheapskate like me.

baribari

A towel would work... that's brilliant. I remember the towel I used to catch sweat before once got stuck under the roller and that made it pretty hard to pedal.

Minoura makes a resistance unit, but I already paid too much for the rollers to begin with...

DaveWC

I average around 250w on my rollers. It's less than a comparable effort would get on the road. They are made by Trutrainer, 4.5" diameter rollers. I go at a cadence of 90rpm.

Gluteus

230-240 watts with 50-12 gear, on 85 mm rollers at around 90 rpm cadence.
For hard intervals (VO2), rollers are not the ideal tool.

baribari

How fast is 90 RPM on the top gear?... I don't know what my cadence is exactly, but it's a typical cruising speed in max gear (50-12)... I can't imagine I was doing a 230+ effort though.

carpediemracing 

Try putting the rollers on a gym mat type thing to quiet them down. You want pockets of air between the roller and the floor. On rollers, without resistance (and the headwind unit sounds like a quiet vacuum cleaner, and the mag units aren't much better) you need to have relatively high speeds to increase resistance. Rollers are best for low-steady efforts, working on pedal stroke.

Fortunately for me I'm pretty weak so a 150-170 watt effort is plenty for me, which is about 22-25 mph on my rollers (4.5" Kreitlers). I've seen as high as 600-800 watts but that's accelerating up to max speed (50+ mph) and I can only do it in bursts.

I actually just bought 3"? rollers to try a higher resistance set, but most of the time when I train indoors I'm on a trainer.

With rollers the faster you go the smoother it gets. Most people mistakenly use a lower gear because it's easier. You should start in the big ring for pretty much all your riding.

To work on form you can focus on pedaling while being smooth enough that the roller band doesn't bounce. The band should look like it's not spinning at all. You can also work on your bike handling - bumping a wall, leaning on it, drinking/shifting without looking down, shifting into the small ring and back into the big one (hint: ease up on pedals), riding one handed (hint: hold bars next to stem, which is the most stable way to ride your bike - when you start on rollers that's where you should be holding the bars), riding no handed (hint: lean back and steer with your hips, which you should do anyway but this just amplifies the technique), riding as slow as possible (I have no tips), riding as fast as possible (goal: 200 rpm or higher), dismounting without getting off the bike, mounting without getting off the bike, etc. I can't do the trick stuff but I can do all the basics.

Working on this you won't get "fit" per se but you'll have excellent form and have a much broader base for the upcoming season. Combined with either trainer rides or outdoor rides you should do fine.

Gluteus

29 mph

bsektzer

On 3" Kreitler rollers, a 50 x 13 at a ~108 cadence produces about 38 mph and around 250W according to the Garmin data from a recent session. For some reason I don't understand, roughly equivalent efforts (at least in terms of watts) on the road make my legs feel more 'used' than on the rollers. Maybe be it's because I'm typically at a lower cadence on the road or because my road rides are longer in duration or some combination of the above. But the difference is quite noticeable.

alpha_bravo

The best way to increase resistance would be to get smaller drums. I think getting a 3" model would be a better choice if you're spinning out the 4".

bikepro

Rollers are not intended for resistance type training. Their purpose is to develop a smooth cadence and balance. If you want resistance/power training, a trainer with fluid or magnetic resistance is what you need. Of course, since your bike is locked into a trainer, they do little to help you develop a smooth cadence -- thus, having both is not a bad idea.

baribari

I spend most of my time on the rollers riding with no hands... so balance isn't really an issue. But I can't imagine I could keep myself entertained for 30 minutes to an hour on a static trainer. I already have to watch TV with the rollers to do so. Plus I don't want to buy one.

bsektzer

There are more than a few options for adding resistance to rollers, smaller diameter rollers, magnetic units, and fans to name a few. I agree that fluid trainers probably do a better job of simulating road conditions, but the shear boredom of the things makes them less than an ideal solution for off season training since I can't bring myself to stay on one long enough to do myself much good. Bur that's just me, Everybody has there own threshold of boredom, so it's pretty much a personal choice. For those of you that advocate plucking up the "courage" to endure the elements, good luck with that. I suspect advancing years may change your perspective.

Looigi

FWIW, I have an older set of Minoura rollers (~12 years) that has a resistance unit that bolts on to side rail and attaches via a belt to the rear-most roller. I've never used it so don't know how much resistance it adds.

Here it is on their website. https://www.minourausa.com/english/tr...mag4000-e.html