In general, aren't trainers easier to take with you to a race? Haven't seen any folding rollers close up to know for sure...

Well...me personally, I'm a bit of an interval freak, and well.....trainers make much more sense in that case.

Not to mention portability, better resistance, the ability to pummel yourself into a suffering pulp, and the added bonus to focus all of your energy and concentration on the effort at hand, rather than trying to keep the bike on a set of drums. I have found that to be particularly useful when going all out, as I can literally shut out everything and focus 100% on the effort. Plus, when going for long sessions, sometimes when your mind wanders, falling off isn't an issue with a trainer.

My wife handles the pummelling me into a suffering pulp chore....

Look, I would never say that folks who prefer resistance trainers have it all wrong....different folks are going to approach indoor training with different mindsets and with different goals in mind.

I don't worry about the heavy resistance I may be missing from a stationary trainer. I feel that I will find enough opportunities to get on the road in the winter to keep any strength losses to a minimum, and I am not convinced that you can't get enough resistance from either small diameter rollers or rollers with a resistance unit. The setup that CrazyDerik built takes that one big fat step further. On his setup you can certainly stand and climb or sprint out of the saddle for intervals, plus get all the added benefits of balance and spinning of regular rollers......

My Two Cents....

TESTING would be the one area a trainner would be safest, i guess i kind of overlooked this fact since i had my vo2max tested in a lab on one of those stationary computer bike things.


Rollers that have 2 bends fold up to roughly the same size as a trainner, maybe a little thicker. I've carried my minoura rollers raceside to warm up for a crit or two.


Yup, Tacx Rollertrack are the one's i used.


Free motion rollers from E-Motion. Good Luck, see my thread for a couple of hints on what i learn along the way.

Thanks for the compliments on my mcguiver'd rig. Sorry if i'm hogging

I would so fall off of rollers and crash my noggin into the wall. I've been riding trainers for years. I'll be honest... rollers scare the livin' poopoo out of me!

I enjoy my Kreitler Rollers whenever I can't ride outside.

I dunno....I've never really had to "practice" spinning....it's always just come fairly naturally to me, and that's going back to my teenage years. I look at indoor training as a way to maintain/build fitness when I can't ride outside. I could care less about any other aspect, since that's not what I use it for. I'm not saying that I'm right....but if I want to work on bike handling or whatever...I'll do that outside. If other people want to do things differently, more power to 'em.

As many have pointed out, they both have their pluses.....but for me, there's no question. Besides, I've had some longer trainer sessions (3+ hours) last winter where I'm sure I would've at least totally spaced out and have flown off the bike a few times if I had rollers .

So here is a monkey wrench to throw in.

What about rollers. And then getting a resistance unit and a fork stabilizer (I have rollers, Fork stabilizer and resistance + rollers would be about equal to a higher end trainer). Sorta best of both worlds. Secondary benefit that the rollers would be easier on my back tire?

-D

Ouch !
By that I meant increasing my average cadence....
Everyone here on BF seems to be able to "spin" all day long at 95-125 rpms with no problems.....
Oh yeah ? Not me.....but that will be this year's Winter training goal.

Thanks for all the great info, love the video, now I am more confused than ever

A good set of rollers with a resistance unit should allow you to hit your LT wattage and then a good amount more. During the winter, I'm personally going to be doing 1 set of 2x20 a week, and maybe, MAYBE some 5minute reps at 120-30% of that. Most of the rest of it will be 60%, nice and constant.

I personally don't plan on burying myself and passing out on the trainer/rollers this winter. I plan on being in great base and LT shape come February, and letting racing take care of the rest. I'll be working for the team so it's not imperative that my sprint be at an all time high.

Very good design Derek! From looking at the video I'm wondering if stretchier bungees or actual metal springs would do a better job. Under some conditions your bungees would buckle. I think light steel springs would probably work the best.

And... I can't help wondering if something like two dimensional float would work even better...

Yeah...once I get past 130-140 rpms, I can get a little bouncy, but I don't typically ride at those rpms....only if I decide to spin out my 50x12 on some of the bigger downhill runs around here.

Usually 95-105 is pretty "comfortable" for me.