Roller Workouts on a fixed gear
 

It's 19 degs out aka roller reason. I did 60 minutes tonight: 10 minutes at low intensity followed by 3 sets of 10 intervals, with each set at increasing intensity. Hit max heart rate a couple of times - 205 BPM on my HR monitor at 180 RPM cadence. I had a towel under the bike and it must have weighed 5 pounds or so afterwards. Mad sweat. These days I'm riding rollers 3 times a week in addition to riding outside when I can. This weather sucks but I want to school some fools next race season. What's your workout routine and how's it working out?

Here's a photo I snapped tonight in the spirit of self inflicted pain. Aluminum colored tires from the rollers.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...ilver_tire.jpg

I've just been riding my winter bike. Fat tires, studded and knobby front, it's a working just getting the ******* to move ;)

I'm thinking about picking up rollers though. My 25 minute commute isn't the same as an actual workout, especially since the possibility of ice would make riding at peak exertion incredibly stupid

I find roller workouts are a good addition to outdoor riding. You can spin faster and work on your form and be more precise on duration and intensity of sprints without the traffic.

What do youse do for entertainment while rolling? I generally can't handle stationary exercise without being able to listen to music, but the rollers make so much noise (even with hometrainer tires) that I have to crank it to the point where it can't be good for my ears.

I blast pandora.com really loud and attempt to set personal records for no-handed riding when coasting off an interval set. Yeah it's boring but above 90% max HR, you don't really think about that.

I watch hulu kinda loud in the garage.

I don't really do anything specific for roller workouts, but I do ride them regularly for recovery rides usually after a hard set in the gym or a particularly hard road ride. I usually just warm out, try to maintain as fast as I can for a minute or three, do some good tempo cruising, then cool down and wipe off all the sweat before jumping into the shower.

What roller do you have? Do you recommend something with resistance?

pandora.com is awesome. I do intervals on my rollers at max 90 percent

I have the Travel Trac rollers from Performance and I think it's a good buy. I've also used 4" Kreitlers.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...llerssetup.jpg

http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/1008/bgsetupeq0.jpg
from blackandgoldsprints via urban velo

Goldsprints are for sissies.

Real men do Boldsprints. A resistance fan + 666 meters > some 500m no resistance spin fest.

How much noise does that one make? So long as it's dry I'll keep riding, but I like the idea of having one of these around to push myself a little harder on once in while. However, small Brooklyn apt + crazy-loud indoor cycling machine = drama.

they're not really loud but the vibrations travel through buildings. i was riding rollers with a friend and my neighbor came knocking, said it sounded like something was trying to shake the house down. we had no idea. padding them with carpets, yoga mats, et cetera might address that a little bit.

i've been riding rollers a lot lately. boredom prevention is a very difficult task. i don't really concentrate on movies or tv shows when i'm riding rollers so they're a really mild distraction. music's all right. mostly i need some company while i'm riding them.

i've also been trying to get up to full Tabata intervals on rollers - 20 second full intensity, 10 seconds rest, repeat 8 times. It's hard.

Rollers?!
We don't ride rollers in LA. It's 80 degrees out today. :D

Bah! Low of nine degrees tonight!

I just got back from an outdoor ride and I am still frozen and I couldn't get my HR up because it was so damn cold.

As far as noise, it sounds like a hi-pitched whining. It's not terribly loud, IMO. Vibration isn't really an issue for me since I live in a warehouse loft with concrete floors.

I was riding those in this fit check that I did in the road section
http://www.vimeo.com/2833106
There is a little pause between songs where you can hear the rollers spinning. The music is pretty ****ing loud so it doesn't make for a good comparison in that sense. And yeah^ I'd say that the vibrations are gonna be your biggest problem, get the rollers isolated and you should be good.

that was not cool

Why was that not cool?

protip: I don't post vids of myself on the internet wearing lycra to look cool.

why did you post that video on the internet then? to look dumb?

i'd say rollers are about as loud as a dryer full of very wet towels. if you live in an apartment and ride rollers, chances are your neighbors don't like you.

because that video was STUPID, you could have at least fallen or done something cool. NOPE, it was just some weird looking kid video taping himself doing something that most people in here are capable of doing themselves. you could have just replied, "no, my rollers are not loud". But I guess I can let you have your two minutes and some odd seconds of fame.

I was looking for feedback on my fit in the road sub-forum in case you don't read well...

And judging by pics of most bikes in this section, no, most people cannot fit themselves.

I"m just giving you a hard time, don't take it to heart buddy, jk

I'm not...