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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Rollers vs Trainer

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Old 08-25-10 | 11:56 PM
  #51  
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I use my trainer as a workstand. the resistance on the rear wheel really helps for setting up my shifting.
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Old 08-26-10 | 12:16 AM
  #52  
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From: BOSTON BABY
Originally Posted by Inertianinja
Ok, i guess i have some fsct checking to do. But. This can't be completely correct. Sit on the rollers without pedaling and see how long you stay up. Same with trackstands...it's not just turning the handlebars counter to the fall.
Because rollers spin down much faster than you do when coasting on an actual road, and how the F is gyroscopic action supposed to keep you up when the wheels are stationary? Trackstands are a combination of the very same dynamics that keep a moving bicycle up (only the bike is rolled both forwards and backwards) and pure balance.

Originally Posted by Inertianinja
And also, bro, don't be all "sheesh" about it. It's not like I'm saying angels are holding the bike up.
1. Don't call me "bro." 2. Gyroscopic resistance is a less-silly explanation than angels, but only marginally so. It's so obviously false, and has been debunked for so long, that it sounds very nearly as foolish.
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Old 08-26-10 | 12:20 AM
  #53  
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From: BOSTON BABY
Originally Posted by Brian Ratliff
^^^
I'm glad someone said it. Grolby is correct. You balance by using very small adjustments in your steering. Lock the headset and you'll soon find that you won't stay balanced regardless of the speed your wheels are turning.
I once crashed into the back of a car at a stoplight and bent my fork, which pushed my fender struts right up against the downtube and prevented the front wheel from turning more than a few mm in either direction. Without knowing this, I picked myself up off the trunk, then tried to ride across the intersection to where the car had pulled over so I could apologize to the driver. Damn near ate pavement in the middle of the road.
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Old 08-26-10 | 12:30 AM
  #54  
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Noob alert.

So is it infact true that trainers are bad for the frame? And how much of a work out can you really get with trainers? Is the resistance level high enough to simulate heavy climbs or do you use sprints to keep the HR up for intervals?

Trying to see if I could sell off my Spinner and replace it with a trainer and a bike, or keep both. I like the Spinner because the resistance level can get Mnt Everest if I wanted.
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Old 08-30-10 | 05:48 AM
  #55  
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Got a set of Kreitler rollers with a killer headwind. I was friends with a girl in the middle of a divorce. He left the rollers so she gave them to me. I tried to get her to give me his Harley too, but she wouldn't go for that!
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Old 10-25-10 | 02:07 PM
  #56  
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From: Okanagan Valley, BC.

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Originally Posted by jdon
Umm, It doesn't get cold there.
It can get damn cold in the Okanagan in winter. Doesn't usually last long, but it can get cold.
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Old 10-25-10 | 04:07 PM
  #57  
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Originally Posted by pcfxer
I like the trainers that give you Power, cadence, etc. like the Tacx stuff. On a side note, can you do VR with all Tacx trainers? (I seem to interpret the site to say that the speedmatic varies the resistance according to the DVD). That is what I want; I won't have full mental focus during school and giving me the bail-out as an option won't work.
No. VR only with the Bushido+pc upgrade, imagic or fortius.
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Old 11-01-10 | 09:36 AM
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Originally Posted by Silvercivic27
No. VR only with the Bushido+pc upgrade, imagic or fortius.
I ended up snagging a cheap magnetic trainer, getting some CTS cds, and I am LOVING my trainer. In fact, I love going out for my real riding (though it is very cold, rode on ice last night actually) because of my increased power/cardio. Any trainer or roller is worth it if you are a beginner.
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Old 11-01-10 | 11:52 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by pcfxer
I am LOVING my trainer.
I have started using my trainers 2-3x/week now, b/c that is the only way I can get consistent intervals done, but you are the first person I have come across who loves the blasted things!

V.
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Old 11-01-10 | 12:02 PM
  #60  
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Originally Posted by pcfxer
I am LOVING my trainer.
I don't think I would say I love my trainer, but I do love the results that it gets me. I ride my KK Road Machine all year. I ride it to improve my performance when I am on the road. I ride at night after I get home from work and have also ridden before going to work in the morning. I have tried to veg out and watch TV while turning the pedals and it doesn't work for me. What does work for me is a watching training videos like Spinervals and following the work out. They kick your butt but that is the point. I still think that the trainer is boring but tolerable if used as part of a training program.
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Old 11-01-10 | 05:05 PM
  #61  
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With spinervals + speed sensor (bike computer), the trainer is AWESOME.

It's mental death otherwise.

It also really works - my longest trainer workout this past 4 months has been 90 minutes, yet I had no problems and no bonk whatsoever on a fairly aggressive 50 mile ride with 7000 feet of climbing this past weekend - which was my first time on the road in 2months!
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Old 11-01-10 | 06:35 PM
  #62  
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I picked up trutrainer rollers for this winter. The cold doesn't keep me indoors as much as the lack of available daylight.

Anyway, I love these trutrainer rollers. They're a little more pricey but they provide progressive resistance with an internal flywheel that also allows for natural coast down. Nice mix of benefits: balance and spin like all rollers provide and also as much intensity as you want like trainers. I like them so much I sold my trusty KK trainer. They do require constant concentration but, for me, that makes riding indoors more bearable. I even catch myself looking forward to my next roller session. Ridiculous, I know.

As far as the gyroscopic sausage fight, I'm not sure of the science but I do know it is way easier to stay steady when spinning faster. I don't know if it's because it's easier to countersteer at faster speeds, or gyroscopic effect on it's own, or both. Either way, when I'm getting wobbly I crank up the speed and all is well.
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