My first roller session I fell off and broke my cleat in half. Riding in the doorway really helps.

One thing I've not seen mentioned is...How do you get off them? May sound like a stupid question but, really how do you do it? Stop pedaling, coast, unclip...lean off? Can't find any videos on dismounting your bike on rollers, either.

This could be comedy gold. More videos plz.

"Also, once I get the hang of it, any tips to see improvement in fitness over the winter?"


The most obvious answer would be to buy a trainer and you could already be doing some useful interval training (preferably with some Spinervals or CTS videos). I know because I made the same mistake once myself and didn't gain much from spinning on rollers.

Has anyone actually tried to stuff a towel under one of the drums to increase resistance? How well does it work? Will the towel catch on fire?

If you're in 53x11 and you find it so easy that you need more resistance, i envy you.

There's a guy by the name of gsteinb who does a ton of his training on rollers and does okay in the races (understatement).

If you want rollers and have the cashola, check out free motions or try building your own.

Fixed gear bike.

you could change the gear. makes more sense than using a towel. while i doubt it's likely that it would catch fire (though it could, i guess), it is likely that it could get caught in the spinning roller and send you flying. increasing resistance by adding friction that the thing wasn't designed for isn't a good idea.

Yeah that's true, which was why I was skeptical to begin with. It was more of a hypothetical question, I'm fine with the current resistance of the rollers anyway.

do not do near glass windows, doors, lamps or tables.

I haven't done rollers in a while, but when I was decent, I would do them next to a couch. Wouldn't keep me upright, but at least it was soft on those occasions when I slipped over the side.

Is that umd's team kit that he is wearing?

If this guy held onto something (when mounting rollers) then its ok for us too I think.