rolling on rollers?

[lee]

Anybody using rollers for their indoor cycling?

I'm thinking of asking for some for x-mas, looking at the wattage chart for the Kreitlers (http://kreitler.com/wattage.php?section=wattage) it appears I'd need the 2.25" drums to get a decent workout, otherwise I'd just be spinning crazy fast and not breaking a sweat.

[nicola]

If you are not used to rollers and you want to ride freely on it, it's not that easy and needs a lot of concentration in the beginning. It will be very difficult to ride on it with 230 watts and concentrate, unless you have already trained with it. If you plan to fix the bike on it, I would recommend a normal windtrainer instead, as in that case the technical aspect is gone anyway and it's easier on a windtrainer to adjust the watts you want and so on.

[doc]

excellent advice 

[lee]

If you are not used to rollers and you want to ride freely on it, it's not that easy and needs a lot of concentration in the beginning. It will be very difficult to ride on it with 230 watts and concentrate, unless you have already trained with it. If you plan to fix the bike on it, I would recommend a normal windtrainer instead, as in that case the technical aspect is gone anyway and it's easier on a windtrainer to adjust the watts you want and so on.

Already have the windtrainer, so I'd want to ride freely on it. If my easy/steady/hard wattages are around 200/250/300, what would you recommend? The other option is the performance brand with 85mm drums.

[nicola]

I haven't been training on rollers for many years, so I don't know enough about the new products to recommend you something. Maybe another athlete can help?

[doc]

nicola gave you the heads up
they wont improve your triathlon , in fact they might slow it down
i did 2 seasons with them 15 yrs ago
made people very much the spin and no power athletes .
but
did m have the effect of keeping them from thinking of other things ,
if your looking for the ultimate smooth pedal stroke ,'
then go ahead ,
if your looking to race faster stick to the turbo
and blast the sets 

[Marilyn]

Hey ya,

I use the rollers allot for years now. And yes I totally agree, high rpm sessions, smooth pedal stroke work, bike handling, these are all good on rollers.
Then I use the turbo for big gear and hard sessions.

You can get rollers that have resistant tension adjustabilty just like the turbo does, but I would still reccomend for a triathlete to stick to turbo.
If you are a roadie you will need the high rpm sessions and those are money on the rollers. But we are talking 120+rpm stuff( no good to a triathlete)
So....ask Santa for something else.:-)

Cheers,
M

[Jocelyn Wong - "Wongstar"]

I would 2nd and 3rd what's already been said.  I used to ride rollers when I was on my college bike team, great for the bike handling skills and takes a lot of concentration to not fall off.  also a good way to impress the boys on the cycling team if you can stay on the rollers longer than they can.    but now just got a turbo.

[AndyS]

Rollers lend themselves well to some sessions and are useless at others. Long steady effort sessions such as the long sub threshold stuff are great on the rollers. I do a session once a week, 3 x 20 mins just a bit under LT, on the rollers and use the tribars. You have to learn how to cycle with relaxed shoulders to be able to do this or you'll fall off. You'll also learn to pedal smoothly or the bike will be hard to control. It's a great technique sessiona and a good sub-LT workout.

Anything else on the rollers is almost impossible so I use the iMagic for all other sessions.

[StephenBayliss]

This reminds me of a roller race I did when I was younger, once around a clock face that was attached to the rollers.  It was very much about smooth fast cadence, I must say I was not bad at this , well compared to my brother who is a bit of a testosterone fulled gorilla when it comes to these sort of races.

So it was his turn. In these races you were allowed to have 2 people hold you onto the rollers, well they couldn't hold my bro, he was mister un even mega power and was all over the shop, he didn't win

But the point is he would kill me in a sprint on the road, so maybe smooth fast cadence isn't the fastest cadence ?!?!

Remember Jamolodin Abdujaporov

[LucasK]

Hey ya,

I use the rollers allot for years now. And yes I totally agree, high rpm sessions, smooth pedal stroke work, bike handling, these are all good on rollers.
Then I use the turbo for big gear and hard sessions.

You can get rollers that have resistant tension adjustabilty just like the turbo does, but I would still reccomend for a triathlete to stick to turbo.
If you are a roadie you will need the high rpm sessions and those are money on the rollers. But we are talking 120+rpm stuff( no good to a triathlete)
So....ask Santa for something else.:-)

Cheers,
M

Unless of course you're racing with a massive tailwind, and wish you had the range to spin 120+rpm, because the guys/girls that can will go straight passed you, and you're race is done.

Not that i'm an expert, but i think you want to be able to spin high RPM even if you dont use it very much, if it's windy it has its uses.

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Unless of course you're racing with a massive tailwind, and wish you had the range to spin 120+rpm, because the guys/girls that can will go straight passed you, and you're race is done.

Not that i'm an expert, but i think you want to be able to spin high RPM even if you dont use it very much, if it's windy it has its uses.
[/quote]

I would agree to that for me...Even on a consistent up and down bike course...

But would rather practice that skill outdoors than indoors eh@

[lee]

swim clinic it is then!!

[Matthieu O’Halloran - "M@"]

Or how about a paddles/pull boy/band clinic?

[lee]

already do