Originally Posted by
njgilligan
Hmm, I did buy just about the cheapest set I could find. I wonder if the grooves exist in all rollers or just the cheap ones. I guess my options are to ride it as is, take it to the machine shop at work and take away the grooves on the lathe (I'm more than a bit concerned I'll tear right through the thin wall), or wrap it with electrical tape like this guy:
http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/in.../t-669900.html
For now I'll try it as is, but I'll be sure to post an update if I learn anything helpful.
I have the cycleops rollers; i.e. not the cheapest, but not the most expensive either. They have grooves. It's nothing to agonize over. I doubt it would even make them quieter; most of the noise is from vibration from the rollers being slightly out of round and out of balance (it'll never be perfect, but generally, the more expensive the rollers set, the more round and balanced the cylinders - it's not just the machining, it's also the alignment of the axle and frame and the tolerance of the bearings).
The gold standard is the
Kreitler alloy rollers; it doesn't get any better than machined aluminum endcaps with corresponding gold standard price. Trackies love them because you can spin them up to over 3000rpm (40+mph) without feeling like you're trying to balance on a washing machine.
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Cat 2 Track, Cat 3 Road.
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