trainer vs roller purchase?!?!?
ok, I want to start setting up my pain cave before the OS, and realized that i'm missing a couple of pieces of equipment
something to bike on while stationary would be good a start, I thought to myself. since I have NO CLUE in this realm, any recs on this topic would be much appreciated. thanks
-hb
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Comments
Hasan,
I will disclose that I have never used or owed a pair of rollers but he's my comments for what they are worth:
- I would go with the trainer if just buying one. My reasoning for this is at the end of a very hard test or hard set of intervals I don't think i'd want to be worrying about balancing myself on rollers. This aspect might keep me from pushing at the end of a session or a test. Perhaps I am wrong here and some experienced rollers users will chime in.
- Having said that some like rollers to break up trainer rides.
- I'm not sure if you looking for a recommendation but I have used a Kurt Kintic fluid trainer for the last year and it's been great.
Gordon
For OS work you want a trainer. Rollers are nice to improve bike handling, etc. but I find it useless in really doing good OS work (especially, "I need to puke" 2x20' tests). I actually have both, and have used my rollers very infrequently over the past few years. If you want to test them out to see the difference let me know!
EDIT: Oh yeah, and I have a Cycle Ops that I bought used about 3 years ago. I love it, seems bulletproof, and all in all considering I'm biking indoors it's pretty quiet. Would recommend getting a trainer tire too (one of those orange ones) as it seemed to help with the smoothness and noise of the ride. Think my rollers are Cycle Ops too, but I'll have to pull them out and check (shows how much I use them!)
insideride.com
All the resistance you want and more, hard to ride off of, and pretty quiet. Just very expensive.
You'll never use a trainer again.
Dan, I have Inside ride rollers, so I know what they are. Do you do all your intervals on them? Do you do them in your aero bars? I'll have to give them a try for the hard stuff. It's just hard to go from sleeping to FTP intervals in the morning and have to add balance to the workout.
Kurt
Anyway, Hasan I've had a both. I've had a pretty cheap (TravelTec Century) adjustable fluid trainer that I despised, I've had a very nice pair of Kreitler rollers, and now I also have a CompuTrainer. I hated the cheap trainer and got rid of it after only one winter. I got the rollers more to just spice things up and try and keep myself interested in riding over the winter, but I could not justify owning both them and my CompuTrainer which I got later, so I also got rid of the rollers.
The short version is for EN-style OS workouts, unless you get the InsideRide definitely go with a trainer. Normal rollers are thinly veiled death traps, you get the hang of them eventually but riding a tri bike on them is near impossible in the aero bars, hard intervals are also very difficult on them, and it's also impossible to just zone out and grind through a workout without promptly finding yourself careening off the side. Conventional rollers are designed to be hard to ride, that's pretty the point, to develop riding technique. If you do go with a trainer though, pick yourself up a decent one, the disparity in quality in trainers is pretty significant.
I agree with most of the members commenting so far. I use the Cycle Ops fluid 2 trainer and am very happy with it. My rollers are sitting in the garage and I can't imagine doing my hard O/S rides on them. I could see using rollers for those longer training rides during the early season or late season IM race prep periods for folks like me that live in northern climates. In that case I'd probably do the FTP efforts on the trainer and then switch over to the rollers for the 3 hours of Z3 steady effort.
@Kurt: I do all my intervals on them, and I'm in the aerobars 99% of the time. I love them. There's no slacking whatsoever when you use the emotion. I do have a staircase on one side of me and the back of a couch on the other side!!!! I have also found that my FTP on them is about the same as the road for me too. I can't say enough about them. I love that you can stand and push, there's a sufferfest video that has a lot of attacks on it and you can really get out the saddle and work for the short interval, not that its tri appropriate, but its early season fun for me. Everyone should have them, best investment I've ever made. With those and a powermeter, you can't go wrong.
Rollers or trainer, you can't go wrong. Each have their benefits and liabilities. I have used a CT for a few years. It's solid, bombproof and it works great for EN style workouts. A mag or fluid trainer would probably be just as effective at a fraction of the cost. I just bought a set of eMotion rollers. Have only been on them once for a short period, but I concur with Dan. You can use those for EN workouts and do very well. You will have a bit of a learning curve. Riding rollers requires some mental energy at first. I'm not sure if I'd try EN riding on regular rollers, though. I have no experience with other rollers, but I hear it can be fairly easy to ride off of them, particularly if standing and pushing. With eMotion, I don't think it's possible to ride off of them.
Either way, a CT or eMotion are going to be more expensive. New CT is ~$1600 (used would be maybe ~$1000). New eMotion is ~$850. a new KK Road Machine is ~$370. If you want to do the most economical solution, I'd say just do the KK or Cycle Ops.
Thanks for any advice. Just trying to shorten the learning curve so I buy a trainer and get crackin'!
I think investing in insideride is gonna have to wait for 'this' season- just other things get their priorities, with limited resources on deck...
Thinking of going with the fluid 2 - as I hear saris have the best customer support. i will need something quiet IF possible.....
THANKS AGAIN EVERBODY
-hb
I've got a Cycleops fluid trainer and recently purschased the inside ride rollers. Love the later and hate the former BUT I'm not doing intervals right now. I think for cranking out hard sessions I'm not a talented enough rider for the rollers. They require attention and not just mashing a gear. I will spend more time on the rollers thus winter.
Vince: if you find things to place around you, whether you do your rides in a door frame or something, you'll figure it out in no time. The key for me was always looking up, once I look down for a bit, I get wobbly. I did my whole OS on them last year, and a majority of my other rides on it and didn't skip a beat.
The whole OS? Props to you! I was thinking about doing the steady state intervals on the rollers but switching back to the trainer for the 30/30's and possibly the FTP tests.
Jeff: have you stood up on them yet? Its awesome how hard you can go without falling off, I find leaning forward a touch really helps with stability.
Dan: I just graduated from holding the wall so no standing yet. However, this sounds like a fun challenge for the next ride.
Jeff: hint: faster you ride, the more stable you are too!!! Grind those big gears!
thoughts/ opinions on what to get? i need the second one as i need one at my place and one at my GFs, so that no matter where i wake up, i will have a bike & a trainer ready for the OS...
I've used my Kurt Kinetic Rock & Roll trainer for a year now and it's been great. As bomb-proof as it gets. Not exactly portable, unless you take the legs off. And it covers a lotta square feet, but it's rock solid.
I also have the Kurt Rock and Roll trainer and I love it. If you have the space, and don't need to transport it often, I think it is one of the best fluid trainers out there.
@Scott as far as trainers go, I really think you flip a coin between the CycleOps Fluid 2 or the Kurt Kinetic, hard to go wrong with either one.