sniks

trainers or rollers
which do you prefer?



its so cold and so dark so early and I'm getting fat!
need to buy one but which one



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shants

It's a bit of a difficult question to answer, as each has a somewhat different use. I'd have to say that my preference is for a set of rollers with a resistance unit. You can reap both the balance and spin benefits of rollers and the strength and endurance features of a trainer.

dirtyphotons

or a bike with gears on it.

goldenskeletons

i've never ridden a trainer, but i know my propensity for ADD. rollers force you to concentrate! sort of.

i really like rollers though.

humancongereel

how do trainers work with track bikes? i know shants has said he has one he was able to rig up for a track bike, but i'm not sure how they are in general.

shants

even on an extremely high gear, rollers sans unit offer very little resistance. it's very easy to top out (cadence-wise) on any gear on a set of rollers.

dijos

I only own rollers, but I'd probably use them more if they weren't so scary.

Doctor Who

I have both and I usually prefer to use the trainer. I get a better workout and even though I can be pretty ADD at times, so long as I have some music on or a video on, I can get a 1-3 hour workout in. It takes a lot of determination to go past 1.5 hours on a trainer or rollers even, but it's not the hardest thing to do.

If you only own a fixed-gear, I would definitely get a turbo trainer. Just by virtue of being able to adjust the resistance, and thus do hard workouts, is reason enough to go that route.

dmotoguy

hmm i did some 500+watt intervals on my tacx ecotrac rollers a few days ago, 2.5" diameter i believe.. it was 52-12 or so though.

dirtyphotons

probably depends on your set of rollers as well as your wheelbase (longer wheelbase=more stretch=more resistance)

i can get enough resistance on mine (actually spud's) to lay down a pretty good seated sprint, but i can see how someone else might not.

Jet-man

Rollers - zero question @ this. Get a Killer Headwind or smaller diameter drums if you need more resistance.

The only downside to rollers is the price. Kreitlers are around $400 and the Headwind unit is around $200 (I'm full-on guessing at the pricing here) - but they will last you the rest of your life. They also make Dynolite and Dynomyte (smaller drum models) for resistance sans the HW unit.

captsven

Trainers make you stronger.

Rollers make you ride better, smoother and more efficient. That is, once you learn how to ride on them.

Yoshi

By the way they are called "lollers" not "rollers" and you should get them.

dookie

nonsense. you have obviously not ridden small-diameter rollers.

trainers also encourage sloppy form.

rollers also make you stronger.


rollers offer a lot more benefits in my mind, but they do require more attention and skill to ride. try before you buy.

kytyree

Rollers, always

I can't even make it through a warm up at a race on a trainer without wishing I was doing anything else, and thats after 10 minutes. But I have no problem droning along on my rollers for an hour plus, its so much easier to entertain yourself when you are still riding. And I feel way better when I get back on the road after using rollers, your handling skills improve instead of suffer. I think learning to spin, especially standing at high cadences on the rollers is the most significant improvement I have made in my sprinting in a long time.

asherlighn

I love rollers. Except that lately my roommates have found out that if they come up behind me while I am on them and touch me or yell loudly I will jump and fall over.

kytyree

That would suck.

Couple of nights ago I was rolling along in the evening in my office at home and the power goes out. So there I am on the rollers and I can't even see my hand in front of my face. Fortunately it wasn't off for even a minute as I don't know if I could have made a graceful exit.

fix

I have experienced this phenomenon as well.

andre nickatina

Rollers, definitely. I've ridden trainers once though, and I own rollers. Trainers rip through your tires a lot faster whereas rollers don't. I've also heard that trainers put unique stress on the bike that it wasn't designed for. Anyways, riding after doing a set on rollers is the best, so much efficiency.

sp00ki

the great thing about a mag trainer is the variable resistance. i like to do an "all out effort" (drooling/straining/grimacing/whining) for 30/45 seconds on level 4 (most resistance) followed by a nice cooldown with a comfortable cadence on 2 to flush my legs and drink some cliff shot. alternating like that is a really awesome way to do intervals. you can bring yourself right to the point of complete muscle failure without worrying about falling off, as the trainer stabilizes the rider.

i've also seen people claim to love rollers, then be completely unable to ride them. i'd take alot of what you read online with a grain of salt, as too often people tend to say they like whatever track culture dictates they should regardless of ever actually experiencing it.

nathbdp

lollers. I roll with 86" on my tarck bike on them. I get a good spin while working on cadence and heart rate. The resistance is sufficient for me to be spinning at around 100-120rpm without being too easy.

Trainers are too boring for me, I fear.

andre nickatina

Eddy Merckx rode rollers. End of discussion!

sniks

so I'm off to buy some lollers/rollers whatever thanks for the input

goldenskeletons

hey. HEY.

falling off on occasion is what keeps rollers so entertaining!

Yoshi

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7SKjIxlbHM