Just got a set of rollers to train indoors with. This is my first experience with them, and so far so good. I was able to keep my balance within the first couple of tries. Once I finished my first five minutes on the rollers, I realized crumbs of the rubber from my new Continental Ultrasport tires had come off on the front roller. The front tire was also hot. The rear was a little warm.

I readjusted the position of the front roller to be closer to my front axle. Now my front wheel doesn't get hot, but it's still warm.

Is this normal for rollers?

Any advice?

i wouldn't worry anout tire wear and tear on rollers, unless they're cheap tires. riding on the road is much worse.

one question - why rollers in june? they're a winter thang!

Well for one thing, you can get rollers on sale in the summer.

Second, riding on these things is way harder than riding on the road. My balance & stroke is getting much better. I've noticed a change in short amount of time.

Lastly, I put the rollers in a doorway, and I practice bumping the doorway with my shoulders while riding without losing my balance. Just like a mass-start race.

Make sure the tyres are inflated nice and hard (the max. will depend on the type and size of tyre, and your weight) - if you're running underinflated tyres, they will get hot (just like on the road), although it's a great way of increasing the resistance. I've found it's best to position the bike so the front axle is directly above the roller - if it's too far behind the roller, the bike will be (even more) "squirrely" and will feel very unstable.

I have three bikes - the Schwinn and Nishiki both have the same wheel-base, and I've set up the rollers so the bikes fit exactly. My other road bike (Bianchi) is about 3 cm shorter than the other two, and that bike feels quite different on the rollers - it's not impossible, just more "twitchy" (and I'm just too lazy to readjust the rollers each time I change bikes )

As to the tyre wear - I've been riding my rollers since the end of last season, and still use them when the weather is bad for cycling (solid rain for the past week, here in New England), and have never ever seen bits of rubber coming off the tyres. In fact I think the rollers put less wear on the tyres than does riding on the road… FWIW

Hope this helps -

- Wil

I think my front axle is right behind front roller by an inch or two. Your tires won't wear at all with rollers. With lots of use they'll get a shiney glaze.

mattzees -

I've just noticed from your profile that you have a Richard Cunningham Nishiki from 1993 - my MTB is a 1992 Nishiki Cascade (designed by Richard Cunningham). What's your's?

- Wil

Mine is a 1995 (?) Nishiki Mountian Bike by RCD made in the USA. It's a diamond frame, unlike yours. I don't know the actual model because I covered the bike in "Police Line-Do Not Cross" tape only days after getting it (in '96). But it's a great bike. It has full Shimano STX, and a bunch of mods. Most notably, I replaced the horrible elastomer Rock Shox fork with a better model. The original fork bit the dust in one day of riding at Plattekill.

This bike is great for trail riding, but not so great for mountains. This design predates the Fisher Genesis geometry (of which I am a big fan) and so it is more closely related to a road bike than a MTB. It's a great urban assault vehicle. Very fast for something with fat tires.