My lovely wife got me a set of Cycleops Aluminium rollers for my crimbo and i’ve so far managed about 10 minutes of awkward wobbling around. Talk about a full body workout! I managed to get going without leaning on anything pretty quickly, but it’s going to take a lot of practice to get my confidence up. God only knows when i’ll try clipping in! Ooft! 🙄

are you using them in a doorway? its supposed to be easier.

It’ll all come together quicker than you think..

can you change resistance on rollers?

Get your wheels rolling with one foot down, then once you’re up to speed, just put the other foot on. Simples. It’s easier the faster you go (to a point, of course).

Just make sure you don’t swerve to avoid the cat that runs in front of you.

They get easier with practice. I can now stand up and pedal, (honk), whilst like you I thought I’d never get it hang of it after the first session.

Try to relax your grip too. Very gentle bar pressure. Helps a lot.

Mount a small light on the bars so it’s pointing at a door/wall about 10-15ft away. Look at the light not down at the front wheel.

Have a chair or small stepladder at the side to help you mount/dismount. Do it next to a wall so you’ve got something to lean on at first. Relax.

Easy!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN1cuVRRRzM[/video]

These are a bit more nichetastic

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC7QGFyOXlE&feature=related[/video]

Set up a portable tv in front of you on a stool or something similar.

Just watch the tv and relax. You will find you naturally stay on line if you ride loose to start with.

And never ever brake !

That video is priceless!
Good call with the light on the bars too! I found running my tyres an extra 15psi help enormously also…

Another Flintstone roller 🙂

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKEHoA_xl-U&list=PL09D40C7F42A8E26D&index=6&feature=plpp_video[/video]

whats the point of them? how are they different from a turbo?

lean mine up against a wall – if I go off balance I just put my elbow against the wall for a second.

you’ll quickly get used to them.

Not many people wearing helmets on those roller videos considering how tricky people say they are. Strange.

whats the point of them? how are they different from a turbo?

It’s about spinning, not resistance. It’s more like riding a bike than a turbo. You can get a huge sweat on doing it, it’s very deceptive. You start off thinking it’s silly because there’s no effort required. Half an hour later your legs are on fire, there’s a gallon of sweat on the floor and your vision is blurring. 😉

I’ve been using them for years so can ride out of the saddle/ no handed/ one legged (not all at the same time mind!) etc. It’s about a bit of practice and concentration, like others have said the quicker you go the easier it is, pump yer tyres up a bit and fix on something to watch for the 1st goes.

I use the turbo for hard efforts but use the rollers for leg speed, recovery and to make things a bit interesting at times, I much prefer them to the turbo.

When I was a ‘juvenile’ and started out riding the road, I used to go and see this coach called Harol Nelson (he had coached Paul Sherwin among others and was a BCF coach).

He was famous for using ‘rollers’ exclusively to train people. He had this set of ‘machined from solid billet stainless steel’ rollers that weighed a ton. You rode them with a fixed wheel track bike and big old tyres. It was like pushing a 100+ inch gear. I will never forget the first time I did the standard 30 minutes on those things.

But I never got beyond someone having to be there to prop me up/catch me. Getting started was the hardest part and then stopping was also pretty tricky.

rollers are different to riding a turbo trainer. the style required is more like riding in a fast bunch on the road, whipping the pedals round smoothly. whereas on the turbo i find it more of a pushing down style. after a session on each i find that my calfs,hamstrings and core muscle have been worked more on the rollers and more quads on the turbo. i prefer the rollers.

Looks OK, but I would rather be dancimg than doing that!

I used to do a roller racing league many years ago – all the clubs in the area would host a night each. A good rider can get “speeds” of over 70mph riding rollers and it really teaches you how to be smooth and relaxed. Loving that roller fails compilation but the rider at the end shows how to do it.

I’ve seen some of the GB sprint lads get over 200rpm on rollers, it’s insane to watch!

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVbwngNoHm0[/video]