I Fall Off While Standing on Rollers
12-27-12 | 05:16 PM
#29
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 8,951
Likes: 14
Here's something I found, which might seem counterintuitive, and with which you may or may not agree: When standing, you might use upper body strength to try to maintain the bike more upright, or let the bike rock much more freely minimizing any input at the bars. In the first case, the only way to maintain balance when shifting your weight left and right on the pedals is to weave the bike left and right a small amount, and you can see this as moving steering left and right and can feel it as you alternately pull on the left and then the right of the bars. In the latter case, allowing the bike to rock freely, the angle of rock itself maintains balance as you shift your weight back and forth and no steering input is required (though you are flopping the bike back and forth). For me the bike tracks straighter and is easier to ride on the rollers allowing it to rock. If you try this, experiment on the road first and I'd be curious to hear what you find.
12-28-12 | 01:44 PM
#30
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 984
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From: Portland, OR metro area
most interesting. I will experiment with 'angle of the rock' vs. 'upper body input' and report back. I am trying to find a nuanced double meaning in those phrases but I'm too dense. Anybody?
12-28-12 | 05:53 PM
#31
unaangalia nini?
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,136
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From: Arlington MA
Bikes: Jamis Quest (Ultegra components,Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels and Reynods Ouzo Pro Fork), Gary Fisher Tassajara
My standard advice to roller noobs (if you are falling off on a regular basis for any reason, you are a noob), is to make sure the front roller is as directly below the front wheel axle as possible without being behind it. This solves 99% of all roller problems and very nearly eliminates the need for the "free motion" rollers in the first place. It is a little counter-intuitive; one thinks you need to "cradle" the bike between the front and rear wheels, but this is unnecessary because there are two rollers already cradling the rear wheel and constraining your fore-aft movement. The front wheel roller plays the roll of the ground and enables you to steer the bike to keep it on the rollers. The ground is usually directly under the front axle, so this is where the roller should go.
FWIW, I ride standard (stationary) rollers almost exclusively indoors in the winter and can ride no handed, take off shirts and stand and even sprint a little standing. When I first started, I had some trouble with staying on the rollers; took a lot of concentration, riding no-handed was basically impossible and even one handed or standing was difficult. I moved the front roller back one "notch" to put it more squarely under my front axle and it was immediately 100% better.
FWIW, I ride standard (stationary) rollers almost exclusively indoors in the winter and can ride no handed, take off shirts and stand and even sprint a little standing. When I first started, I had some trouble with staying on the rollers; took a lot of concentration, riding no-handed was basically impossible and even one handed or standing was difficult. I moved the front roller back one "notch" to put it more squarely under my front axle and it was immediately 100% better.
I have 2 bikes with slightly different wheelbases. I was using my newer bike on rollers and was having a hard time until I adjusted the rollers such that the front wheel hub was on the central axis of the front roller. I'm by no means a roller maven (its hard enough taking a drink from a water bottle but I can now do it), but I recently did sprint intervals and got up to 35 mph without falling off. Hopefully by the end of winter I can ride the rollers no-handed.
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12-28-12 | 05:59 PM
#32
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Joined: Oct 2010
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This sounds weird, but I'm not lying just to prove a point here - last winter, I busted out the rollers a lot just to get my technique back after training nearly all winter on a trainer. Didn't take too long to get back my roller proficiency including drops, sprints, no-look, no handed.
Hit the road on a nice group ride in March, and wow, I was terrible at bike handling on the roads for that first ride. The rollers had gotten me so used to riding in a stock-upright position that I felt totally unstable even on a very safe lean into turns. I was hammering the climbs, but I was perhaps the slowest one on the descents that day. Fortunately, by the next ride it had vastly improved, and after 3 rides I was essentially back to normal, but it was quite surprising to see how all that roller riding make me really scared of allowing even a slight tilt on the bike (since you'd go off the side on the rollers.)
This obviously wouldn't have been a problem had I done rollers and maintained regular outdoor riding.
Hit the road on a nice group ride in March, and wow, I was terrible at bike handling on the roads for that first ride. The rollers had gotten me so used to riding in a stock-upright position that I felt totally unstable even on a very safe lean into turns. I was hammering the climbs, but I was perhaps the slowest one on the descents that day. Fortunately, by the next ride it had vastly improved, and after 3 rides I was essentially back to normal, but it was quite surprising to see how all that roller riding make me really scared of allowing even a slight tilt on the bike (since you'd go off the side on the rollers.)
This obviously wouldn't have been a problem had I done rollers and maintained regular outdoor riding.
