Just got myself a set of rollers. Do i need a friend to stand next to me to catch me on the first outing? Watched a couple of utube vids on this, but any real world advice on starting and finishing on them? I will post the x-rays from A&E when it all goes wrong.

Get the bike in an easy-ish gear (assuming roadie, little ring, middle of cassette)

Straddle bike, foot on one pedal, other foot on some sort of box/step. Set off pedalling, just look ahead and pedal steadily. You’ll get the hang of it pretty easily. To stop, just stop pedalling and put your foot on the step. It’s really not as bad as it’s made out.

After a while, practice one handed, getting bottle from cage, etc.

Took me an age to get the hang of letting go…
Chair to one side to support.
Get up to a decent speed (make sure length is set up such that front wheel is on top of roller cylinder, rather than on the side..)
Look ahead rather than down at wheel.

concave or flat across?

Can just about manage reaching for water bottle, so one handed for short periods. No handed – no way!

flat ones, not parabolic. front wheel position was something i was going to ask about, I was going to set it up slightly behind the wheel , but will set it up under it.

SPDs are initially a very bad idea.

I’d suggest doing it clipped in from the start, otherwise you’re just putting another barrier in front of you.

Best place to start is in a door frame, you can get yourself set up static with an elbow or a hand for initial support. If it all goes wrong you won’t move far in either direction.

You want your front hub an inch or so behind the centre of the front drum. Make sure your tyres are nice and firm, soft tyres make it all much harder.

It’ll feel weird to begin with, but a steady, brisk cadence is everything. Use your hand to balance and work on pedalling steadily so your upper body is upright rather than leaning into your support. The quicker your cadence the steadier you’ll be.

Work towards taking your other hand off the bars and moving your centre of gravity back so you’re sitting upright, while still supporting yourself. This will let you feel how stable the bike is when your cadence is good, your upper body’s relaxed and you’re looking forward.

The final hurdle is moving that supporting hand onto the bars so you now have both hands on the bars with no support, that’ll feel scary to begin with and might take a little while! Just keep the cadence up and you’ll be fine. Any wobbles, pedal faster!

Day two, set them up in the kitchen next to the oven and make an omelette while pedalling.

thanks folks. Going to try them tonight…

Door frame makes it easier to lean on with your shoulder whilst keeping your hands on the bars. I tried a chair but it becomes a bit more stop start. Once I had the doorway sussed then I moved to a chair for getting on and off

If you are struggling, just pedal faster, against all your instincts.
The faster the wheels are turning the easier it is.
Focus on a spot quite a bit further ahead than your front wheel.
Relax your body, try and remember it is exactly like riding a bike.

Start off in a doorway. Have a mark a good few metres in front of you that is directly aligned with the centre of the rollers. Try to forget that you don’t know how to do it and just ride towards your mark.

barrykellett

Member
If you are struggling, just pedal faster, against all your instincts.
The faster the wheels are turning the easier it is.
Focus on a spot quite a bit further ahead than your front wheel.
Relax your body, try and remember it is exactly like riding a bike.

THIS

It worth remembering that your kinetic energy is far less on rollers than a moving bike as only your legs are moving – if you do come off the rollers you’ll just stop, however worth putting something down over carpet unless you like leaving skid-marks.

Got me considering a rollers session tonight, haven’t ridden them in ages.

All as above really, just thought I’d emphasise the looking ahead bit – as soon as I committed to that I was up and running.

I saw all the YouTube clips and figured it was a good way to end up on the floor/A&E.

But after two goes that lasted 30 seconds I then got the hang of it and cranked out 30 mins.

Basicaly just sit back on the saddle, dont put weight on the bars. Look ahaed like your looking down the trail. I spun at a cadence of 90-100 and it was actually easy.

Whatever you do, don’t have any “friends” nearby when first starting on rollers or you will be immortalised on FaceBook etc. 🙂

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/knowledge/skills/get-started/article/izn20141126-How-to-ride-the-rollers-0

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/coaching/article/20160729-coaching-news-Using-Rollers-in-Your-Coaching-0