Large person first time ridding rollers question? Am I too fat?
 

Hello

I am 6'3 300 pounds. I have been ridding a Specialized secture sport disc road bike for the 2 years, when the weather is nice.

I just bought some rollers from performance bike. They are alloy, or have alloy drums. I have not ridden my bike fore about a year. When I was ridding every day in the summer my weight got down to 220 pounds, but I have gone back up to 300 pounds and am not happy with my self. The bike as been in the garage for about a year, and I have not ridden it.

After I setup the rollers I went and got my bike out of the garage to give the rollers a try. The wheels needed air so I pumped them up. I had read that your tires need to be very inflated for best results on rollers. I filled the tires to over 100psi.

I put the bike on the rollers and propped my self up in the hall way. As I started to peddle I could feel the tire had lost a lot of air and my weight on the roller pushed the tire down to the wheel. It was very difficult to peddle and I could not keep any consistent speed up. It was very frustrating.

My thought is probably that there is a slow leak in my tube or in the valve. I took the tire a part and submerged the tube in water. I could not detect any hole in the tube. or bubbles coming from the stem.

My next step is to go and buy new tubes.

However, I wanted to ask is there is a weight limit to ridding on rollers. At 300 pounds would that cause the roller to push so much into the tire causing the tire to hit against the metal part of the frame and cause problems with the smoothness of the roll?



My fear is that even after I get new tubes and add the right amount of air to the tires that my fat butt will still hinder the amount of pressure the roller puts on the tire and pinch the tire so much that I won't be able to have a smooth ride?


Has anyone seen this issue with bigger guys wanting to ride rollers?

thanks for any help you could share!

Your weight should not do what you described if the tires were inflated properly. Rollers do have a smaller contact patch than the ground because of their roundness, but there's 2 contact patches (in the back where most of your weight is) so the total area should be close to the ground contact patch. I would think the likely culprit is an under-inflated tire(s) (some tire gauges are inaccurate), so I would just pump up the tires until they are noticeably hard and don't pinch when you get on the rollers.

You will probably get more responses in the Clydesdale/Athenas forum. Shall I move this thread for you?

My first guess is that 100 psi is too low. I weigh 160 or so depending on the day and I run 120 psi on the rollers.

Keep it up, see if you can get the weight back down this year. Do you ride with others outdoors? If not, start, it's a great incentive to keep up with it.

Sounds like the tires need new tubes as the ones that have sat for a year are junk and not holding air. Also, yeah, inflate to the max indicated on the side of the tire at your weight. You've got this.

Try a new tube and pumping it up more. That sounds a little low for your weight. I weight less than half that and I run higher pressures.

What's the weather like where you live? Are you able to ride outdoors at all?

I weigh 190 and run 120 psi on rollers. That's my maximum rim allowance. Road pressure is too low.

I say get some new tubes and/or tires, and pump them to the maximum inflation pressure (or a bit beyond within reason) and try again. Rollers and trainers are hard on tires. The deflation you experienced is most likely the tube so start there. The high inflation pressure when on the rollers should help with tire life.

As a side comment - Congrats on your prior (and future) fitness success. I found cycling to be a great way to get fit and lose weight and recommend to anyone. Hope you keep at it on the rollers and get outside when the weather warms!

Don't go over the max PSI indicated on the tires. Wider tires only tolerate lower pressures.

If the tire doesn't splay out more than a few mm when you ride normally it should also work on the rollers.

I use lower than normal pressure on rollers. Aling with a resistance unit, it works for me. That said, congratulations on getting back on your bike. Keep at it.

One thing I noticed was that sometimes with crappy tubes, the air wasn't actually going into the tires, it stays I'm the tube of the pump, which causes the pump to think it's at 100 psi , but when I go on the rollers the tires are going flat even though I'm only 130 pounds. If this is the case then it won't take many pumps to reach a high pressure. This doesn't happen with my other bike which has better and newer tubes. Hope this helps.

In addition to the tire pressure double check that your front roller is in the correct position in relation to your front axle. If it's misaligned it may not support you properly.

And keep a towel towel nearby because you will work up a good sweat on those rollers ����

I am a 210+ lb rider who still has the Palo Alto alloy rollers that I bought as a 13 year old in 1981!

What the peeps above said: new, known-good tires and tubes. 120lbs pressure. These should give you proper rolling resistance.

Examine your riding space, and look for anything within about a seven foot area that could injure you if you fell laterally onto it. Tables, fragile things, pets all should be kept ten feet away from you. You can and may come off the rollers at 30 mph. Even though your wheels won't have enough inertia to take you anywhere if they suddenly hit the stationary ground, you could find yourself falling over while clipped in. Falling through a glass table while trying to get your footing could suck.

I like to put a towel on the ground to catch sweat and liquids. A small fan up front for air flow. You will get hotter than you imagine. I like to play cycling videos on a computer or TV in front of me, or listen to radio that will motivate or keep your mind busy. Roller riding can induce boredom, unlike riding on the actual road. Play games for practicing spinning smoothness, speed, shifting, etc. I used to juggle while i rode, but I was a crazy kid.

Great post mate! :thumb:

One benefit of running a lower tire pressure on the rollers is that you will distribute this wear across the surface of the tire, more bead to bead. Running a higher pressure will tend to square off the tire, only wearing it down in the middle. Lower pressure gives you more resistance as well, which alot of people want on rollers. You need the high pressure on a trainer though to prevent slippage, which really wears the tires fast!