So far this year I've been putting in a lot of miles, but the rainy season is fast approaching. I don't mind so much riding in the heat or in the cold, but riding in the rain is less fun. So I started looking for options for riding indoors like trainers, rollers, exercise bikes, and the various combinations of these. As I was looking around, I found a set of Minoura Live Roll 720 rollers still new in the box for 10,000 yen, or about $70.

Back in the day I preferred rollers over other training devices because they offered the most realistic ride. In addition to that, they greatly improve your balance on the bike, and they also reveal dead spots in your pedal stroke. When I got my first set of rollers in the late 90's, I fell off a few times the first hour I began using them. It was like learning to ride a bike again. But after an hour of riding on rollers, I took a ride to a friend's house, and the improvement in my balance wasn't subtle, it was uncanny.

So today I got the new rollers set up, and spent an hour breaking them in. It took a few attempts to get myself going, but once going, I started to regain my balance. I then got back into the hang of it, and enjoyed a good workout. I was surprised that time passed more quickly than I remembered, probably because I'm older, but I enjoyed the ride, and am happy to have something to fall back on when the weather turns sour.

About 40 yrs ago I started cycling. I remember a quote from a Greg LeMond book..."If your can't afford a coach buy a set of rollers." I did and it was the best thing I could have done. Good job.

I agree and, as I only use my C&V Kreitler rollers in the winter, I have the same “getting started” experience each year. I set up in a space between a sliding door and the door jam so falling off is not a worry. I’m glad I have this alternative for indoor cycling and also think it smooths out my outside riding. I made a magnet bar to add resistance but don’t really need it. It was an experiment with my friend Eddy Kerant.

Been using rollers for well over 30 years. Giant branded, but built well and have stood the test of time. Only on a second belt. I have had a Mag Trainer, Cyleops Fluid trainer, the old Minoura wind trainer, and currently have a Wahoo Core. Nothing provides entertainment like those old rollers, thus I ride the rollers more often than the Wahoo. There is no question my balance is better on the bike after riding rollers all winter. No question the workout is "different" on rollers verses the Wahoo or fluid trainer. I don't race, have zero interest in V02 max numbers or FTP or any other current fashion of fitness. Not into virtual rides or races. I just want something to do that doesn't bore me to tears while doing it.

Agree. Learning to ride rollers, back in the 80s, was one of the best moves I've ever made for cycling skills. I recommend it to everyone who asks.

The learning process was fun, starting tentatively in a bathroom door frame (narrowest one), gradually working up to a gear shift (downtube shifters back then), then eventually putting a book holder on the bars and flipping pages.

Thanks for the replies so far. After that hour on the rollers yesterday I found that my glutes were a little sore. One thing I have found with rollers is that they give your backside a better workout. It's used more for balance, and pedaling in circles puts more muscles to work. This morning I did a fast, 70km ride at the park, and could already feel the improvement in my balance. There are a couple of small climbs which turn as they level off on top, and I took these turns like I was on rails.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, the day I usually try to put in a long ride. But the forecast is promising rain. If so, I'll get another chance to ride the rollers.

I've been using my resistance rollers for about 25 years. Love 'em. They're exactly what you're saying. Having resistance allows me to do more things, like high effort intervals. The resistance unit isn't adjustable, but resistance varies with the speed, so . . .

I am curious about the balance issues you experience on a bike. Is it unsteadiness, weaving and catching yourself, what is it? Do you have inherent balance issues off the bike? Not being judgey just curious.

I had rollers too. It made me good at being smooth but now prefer Zwift with all the variety, challenges and racing.

I've had no balance issues on bikes, I've been riding bicycles since I was 6, and motorcycles from the age of 12. When riding on the road, I balance and change direction by shifting my weight, and this shift is done by my mid to upper body. On rollers, subtle shifts in weight result in large lateral movements, so I tend to shift weight lower down, in my hips. Roller workouts seem to work this into muscle memory, and when I get back on the road, I find that my hips and lower body are unconsciously working to maintain balance, making me steadier without any other effort. It's hard to explain, but I've always been able to ride a bike steadily, but rollers make it rock steady.

I rode rollers in the off-season from the mid-'70's until the first Racer-Mate trainer hit the market, about 10 years later. A tip: riding no hands on rollers looks trick but is actually easier than riding with hands on the bars.

I've always been skeptical that roller riding skills transfer to the road. The majority of the racers I competed with over the years never rode rollers and yet had no trouble holding their line in tight pelotons while maneuvering at high speed. Being yelled at for goofy riding is all most people need to be motivated to clean up their bike handling in a hurry.

I use rollers for racing warmup. For indoor training, I have a smart trainer and Zwift.

My rollers are in the attic. I did start back up using them for a while about 10 years ago. Turns out you don't forget how to ride on them. But I kept riding off of them because I was watching TV. I definitely prefer a smart trainer.

Rollers aren't much good for bike handling skills, but I find they are great for finding and workout out dead spots in my pedal stroke.

Someone (maybe RChung) posted test results a while back that showed that current pro-level riders have a choppier pedaling style than amateurs, which I would guess just reflects the difference in average power levels between the two. Pedaling smoothly goes out the window at high power levels.

It's more complicated than that, see: (1) Differences in Pedaling Technique in Cycling: A Cluster Analysis

The heavier the workload, the more the riders spread out that workload over the pedaling circle. Makes sense. And it depends on the length of the observed trial. In particular, TT riders definitely use the downstroke more heavily, seemingly because of the relatively short duration of the TT, compared say to Paris-Roubaix, and many of these pedaling studies use TT riders as a good example. I would say that therefore also the length of the ride makes a difference. Interestingly, I've observed that experienced randonneurs pedal at a higher cadence than many recreational riders, trading oxygen for glycogen, there being an unlimited amount of oxygen. I wonder if something similar is going on w/r to glycogen use - a question: Does each muscle use only the glycogen stored within it? IOW, the more muscles in use, the more glycogen available?

Personally, I've been riding rollers a lot for the past 25 years and the longer the ride, the better I placed.

I'm in this boat. I had rollers in the "pre smart trainer era" and I personally can't say as though they really helped me do anything better. Balancing on rollers isn't remotely close to riding in real life unless you somehow have a hyper-sensitive bicycle (?) As someone that can do a track-stand as long as I want on my bike, I didn't see any improvement in balance from using rollers or even view that as a problem to be solved?

A smart trainer was a game-changer for me as it controls resistance, something I couldn't control on rollers and likely wouldn't control even if I could. The thoughts of doing an all-out sprint on rollers sounds like a recipe for disaster, not to mention one's power output would be radically limited as one would quickly "spin-out" if the roller resistance didn't increase radically and quickly, and then one would have to deal with tire slippage (among other things).

I could see using a portable set of rollers for a pre-race warm-up, but beyond that, I'm hard-pressed to find any advantages to rollers over smart trainers (+ an app like Zwift).. especially now that the price of smart trainers has come down to very affordable levels.

Word.

If one wants to excel in roller competitions - ride rollers. If one wants to excel in eSports ride a smart trainer. If one wants to excel in road riding, ride on the road.

I do not see any particular value in riding rollers that somehow the act of riding rollers will enable road riding via improved pedal stroke. I do not see them as a silver bullet.

Riding on a smart trainer or rollers and riding at increased cadence with the goal of improving leg speed, will improve leg speed that will carry over to the road and track. I would argue that setting up a smart trainer in ERG mode and doing a structured workout against power and cadence targets can be made to feel like riding rollers by selecting larger gear inches and spinning the smart trainer flywheel very fast. YMMV.

Any workout that an athlete is willing to do and believes that it will improve performance is a good workout. If one believes riding rollers is a good workout and rides them consistently, then yeah, they are a great workout.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I spent a winter of my youth and swear that it's helped my pedaling stroke ever since. What's interesting in your story is that reaquainting yourself with rollers is having a new effect. I may have to get a used set...

There are two very different types of rollers. There's the usual set with aluminum or plastic rollers, just plain rollers. And then there are resistance rollers, a whole different thing. Resistance rollers have some way of increasing the resistance in one of the rear wheel rollers. The faster that roller turns, the greater the resistance. Some also have a mechanism for increasing the resistance without changing roller RPMs. Resistance rollers change the whole game. One can do intervals, change the steady-state resistance, etc.

The roller set I've been using for the past 25 years has resistance. I don't think I would have used them much without that feature. Mine have a very simple resistance unit, a fluid unit attached to one of the rear rollers. The faster the roller turns, the higher the resistance. Thus I control the resistance by shifting gears, holding the cadence the same or not, depending on what I want to work on. I can do 55 cadence intervals if I want, one legged pedaling, any sort of workout. So if you're thinking of buying a set of rollers, totally buy a set with resistance!

I admit that fancy $2000 trainers with all the whistles and bells are fun. But a set of resistance rollers will keep you entertained for a long time, plus they fold up and go away when not in use. Just staying up pretty much holds one's attention. I hate to be bored. Be sure to start using them in a doorway.