Bike Forums - Parabolic Rollers?

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I'm liking what both you and Brian are coming across with.

Calamar, in the end, how much seat-time did you give to gather your thoughts, and...

Did this get you faster, and/or feeling stronger, +/- fluid/supple (or whatever) on the road?

This all is great sense:) I'm in a place, though, that indoor riding is not needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by calamarichris (Post 13527846)

Thanks for your thoughts. Really, no snideness at all.
Another thing about cycling I love is that it is different things to everyone, and what works great for one, is crap for another.
It was actually the top of my stroke (11-to-2 o'clock) that was weak, not hamstrings. When I started focusing on hip-flexors, aductors and abductors, my flat spot assuaged and I had another FTP breakthrough. True, lessening my weakspot did allow me to pedal more comfortably at higher rpm, but my avg cadence for the test went up only 3 or 4 rpm on the 20 min test.
It was shortly before learning this from Nate Loyal, that I'd experimented with the flywheel.
I absolutely concur that my ~200 pounds @ 20mph is a colossal amount of inertia, but after looking at 1.5 years of workout data, my avg cadence has remained roughly the same, but my avg & lap wattages have gone up while avg HR has gone down. (At least this was the trend before meeting my gf in May and my training going into the toilet.)
What works for me might not work for everyone, but I'm convinced that flywheels cause stagnation in the minor muscle groups, and we're better off without them. The fact that I was able to get the stupid thing in nearly new condition for $30 delivered (and the freight was more than $10), suggests to me that someone else drew a similar conclusion.
Thanks again. Peace & safe riding.

Lol@"colossal inertia." That's how I roll! *down the hill, that is*

Quote:

Originally Posted by dprayvd (Post 13527926)

Calamar, in the end, how much seat-time did you give to gather your thoughts, and...

Did this get you faster, and/or feeling stronger, +/- fluid/supple (or whatever) on the road?

Seat time? As in saddle time? I never broke 1000 miles in a month, but came close several times. My commuter miles probably pushed me over, but I never counted them.

Definitely got faster, and more fluid/efficient on the road. Despite running out of water and weighing 180 pounds, I was the chubbiest guy at the l'Etape du California finish line, then found out later I'd finished 146th of 955 finishers, out of 1600+ entrants. (And that Dave Zabriskie had finished 25th.) No way I could've managed that with my previous choppy spin.

I made my own rollers a few years back. Made them out of 3/4" thick hard maple, glued together. They started out at nearly 5" diameter, but due to they varying density (and weight) of each board, balancing them was nearly impossible. They spin at something like 40 revolutions per second!
I turned them down to 3 1/2" diameter and balanced them with no more vibration or bounce.
Here's a picture:
http://i655.photobucket.com/albums/u...amibay/003.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by TSUNAMIBAY (Post 13528928)

As an owner of e-motion rollers I must give props. Those are hella impressive! Good work.

So not to beat a dead horse here, but back to one of my original questions about Larger diameter rollers. Take a look at this link, and tell me what I am missing here, and why almost all these setups are significantly larger than todays rollers.

http://bikecult.com/works/rollers.html

I guess I could buy an argument that they didn't know any better long ago (particularly the huge drums near the top of the page), but even the Goldsprint competition setup looks like it is in the 7-8" range. What am I missing here... Is ther no benefit to a larger roller drum with some type of added resistance?? Thanks

if you are sharp enough to build your own rollers, you are probably sharp enough to add a squirrel-cage blower for resistance. powering your own fan while riding on rollers you built with your own hands? super cool.