a new kind of rollers

[Climb01742]

due to my whining about riding inside, a forum member sent me a link for these. anyone tried 'em? they look interesting.

http://204.157.36.171/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=36

[Mud]

January is just about over and February is a short month. You will be outside again before you know it. :banana:

Bruce

[david]

climb,
there was a thread a while back about these rollers. don't know if anybody had tried them at that point.
another thought...
computrainer.
i've always hated riding inside. had rollers, rollers with fan, mag trainers, etc, etc.
15 minutes and i was bored to death.
but i got a computrainer this year and it's changed everything. two hours is no big deal for me now.
an hour flies by.
hook it up to a computer and you get cool graphics of you versus a ghost rider. you can set the power output of the ghost rider. you can save your performances and race against yourself.
tons of courses. you can buy software and create your own course over roads you already ride. and you can buy a training package based on your threshold wattage that provides programmed rides/intervals every day for 12 weeks.
pretty cool and minimizes the drudgery. not cheap, but comparable to a high-endish one year gym membership.

[dave thompson]

These look very interesting. If it works like they say, it would get me on rollers!

[zeroking17]

http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=12598&highlight=inside+ride

[11.4]

I saw a pair of them and watched a couple riders try them out. I didn't try them myself. I don't think they do much. It's hard to ride forwards or backwards off your rollers, so the two smaller rollers don't accomplish much. As for sideways, if you go to the side and your wheel gets caught by the little side rollers, it just wants to make you tip over. I'd frankly rather have a wheel go off the rollers and be upright rather than get caught and flipped. On the front wheel in particular, while I didn't see it happen, when we tried to crank a bike by hand and run it into the roller it flipped the front wheel very fast. Once you are used to rollers and are riding a decent pair, you really have to work hard to go off the sides. The other day my wife came past me and -- not realizing how balanced one is on rollers -- absentmindedly grabbed and pressed down on my bars as she squeezed past me. I was pretty steamed, but still didn't come off and I was riding on the narrow 12" wide version Kreitlers. If you aren't comfortable on the height of regular 4.5" rollers, you might try some 2-1/4" ones. Yes, you have to gear down, but the lower height may be much more comfortable for you. My other suggestion is to be sure your saddle angle isn't making you slide forward -- if you are, it's very hard to keep stable on rollers. You should be able to ride hands-free with absolute stability and completely relaxed on the road because your stability issues will be magnified on rollers.

[MartyE]

Looks like the old American Classic rollers with some bumpers on
the side.
I have a set of Minoura rollers, pretty old (80's vintage?) and they have
a small metal loop in line with the front roller and over the frame intended
to keep one from riding off the side. I've run into it a time or two and
have to say it doesn't have a tendency to pitch you over sideways your tire
just sort of bounces off of it towards the center of the roller.

for the money I'd buy Kreitlers.

Marty

[dirtdigger88]

a fix to a problem that doesnt exist-

go figure - that in the cycling industry

as someone who rides rollers often- I dont fall off- nor would I want bumpers keeping me on-

just ride regular old rollers - and I mean OLD- here is a picture of the Cortina's I have- :cool:

Jason

[flydhest]

regular old rollers should be fine. The learning is the fun part. If keno--the old fart--has mastered them, anybody can. (I hope keno knows I love him)

Learning to ride rollers is great for your own cycling and for the times you ride with others. Far too many riders I know are unable to actually ride in a straight line. The real problem is that they are also largely unaware of it. Rollers help you get very aware of holding a line.

[Too Tall]

Cool Jason, I have Cortina's too and a story to go with it...pm me.

It is not designed to solve a problem. They are rollers that have a different purpose and that is to make it possible to ride rollers aggressively. What this does is let you accomplish things on rollers you'd otherwise do outside such as jump hard out of the saddle and sprint...sit fast and do things like stomps and explosive big gear work. The advantage here is that you can do this indoors and since your bike is not locked into a trainer you have all the side to side, back and forth movement of riding outside. Neuromuscluar adaptation is going to be more effective yada yada yada. The biggest plus is that they are a hoot to ride and I love them. Yes, I have a set of these rollers. Fly man, come on DOWWWWN and try them.

Repeat...these do not replace traditional rollers and am sure the designers did not mean them to be. I do NOT intend to get rid of my Cortina's and value they greatly esp. for maintaining a smooth pedal stroke, balance and the shear charm of training on a device used for 100 yrs.

[coylifut]

I've seen these demoed at cross races. guys can jump out of the saddle and sprint like mad men on these things. I personally don't desire a pair, but I might if I lived in a more winter like environment and couldn't get out much. It would add a bit more variety to your every day roller workout.

[bironi]

Climb,

These new rollers do look pretty cool. The guy doing the demo could stand and sway his bars to and fro for sprinting or climbing out of the saddle. He could ride hands free, and easily drink from his water bottle. It was obvious he had put in some time on the rollers, but I also saw and older fellow in street clothes hop on the rollers with no problem holding a line. Those safety bumpers on the ends are probably not really necessary. The cost is a bit steep at $650. The demo guy said there was free shipping for about the next month.

[dave thompson]

Climb,

These new rollers do look pretty cool. The guy doing the demo could stand and sway his bars to and fro for sprinting or climbing out of the saddle. He could ride hands free, and easily drink from his water bottle. It was obvious he had put in some time on the rollers, but I also saw and older fellow in street clothes hop on the rollers with no problem holding a line. Those safety bumpers on the ends are probably not really necessary. The cost is a bit steep at $650. The demo guy said there was free shipping for about the next month.
That 'older fellow' (thank you very much!) was probably me. I had a set of rollers several years ago for about 20 minutes before they tried to kill me. I took thim back and have never been on rollers again until the Seattle Bike Show. They impressed me enough for me to fork over the dough for a set. I'll have them on Thursday.

[Too Tall]

You won't'be sorry I am very fond of mine. Clue...get a nut driver to fit your cordless drill if you have more than one person using these rollers....makes adjusting them for length easy.

[bironi]

I should have mentioned that I too am an older fellow. I was watching the demo at about 1:00 ish? on Saturday afternoon. Was that you, about 5'6"-5'8"? I should have said he was a very young and fit looking older fellow.

[Louis]

Was that you, about 5'6"-5'8"?

Dave rides 60 ST frames, so I doubt that he's 5'6" ...

[Rover-Rich]

guys, I just got a set of these new rollers, in fact I gave my old ones to a forum member. Here is the way I see it.

These new rollers did replace my old ones (Cortinas) and having said that I have not looked back. I particularly like these rollers as I like to do intervals indoors and like to ride while watching the Spinervals series. The motion on these are great, you CAN sprint on them, you CAN stand in the saddle and you can go ALL out to your LT and not have to worry too much about rolling of the sides. Try going all out on regular rollers while standing and sprinting and then get back into the saddle when you are exhaused, see how often you can do that and not roll off. Perhaps it's just me, but I feel safer in these situations vs my older rollers.

As far as the little bumpers, I have hit them and they do work. Now if I were to go straight into them like a cretin, I'm sure that I'll get vaulted over the side of the rollers, but really they are there to act as a gentle reminder to pay attention! Furthermore, there is a resistance unit on them that my old Cortinas didn't have. It is a magnetic type which actually works well and does so without noise.

What works for me may not work for you, but I guess the main selling point was that I disliked the mag trainer for the bad habits which they fostered. I feel more in tune with the bike and feel that I can change up my positions and even sprint on these which is something I couldn't do on the Cortinas. As far as the price, I made a deal with the guys at insideride just because they are sitting on a big winter inventory and I bought two of them. Perhaps if folks are interested, someone here can do the same for the formites. I have NO financial interest in the company, but really do like the rollers. Cheers!! :beer:

[IXXI]

yeah, these look pretty cool. i'd go in on some if we had a group deal going-- $650 is too steep for this poor bastahd.

[Too Tall]

RoverR - You can use the magnet??? That is a bit rich for my blood. I def. can not warm up with the magnet in place and can only do one 20 min. very hard effort steady state with it on. Yesh, you must be strong.

[gone]

I'll add my voice to the chorus of those who love these things. I've had a set of Kreitler dyno-mytes for several years and according to my log have nearly 2000 miles on them. I can do just about anything on them that I can do out on the road including standing and riding no handed. However, when standing I can't go anywhere near full out and it doesn't feel "normal" like it does on the road. I mainly learned to stand to give my butt a break, not to do sprints.

With the e-motion rollers, I can stand up, it feels normal and I can sprint like a flat out lunatic. Also, I have *never* ridden off the edge of the kreitlers. I do think the side bumpers have a value though and in fact I've already "used" them. I was riding them and wiping the sweat off my face with a towel and unintentionally closed my eyes and weaved a bit. Hit the bumper and bounced off which caused me to open my eyes and straighten out. I have to say had I been on the Kreitlers I *probably* would have been more careful and never done it in the first place but having said that, the e-motion bumpers do provide a little margin of safety.

They are expensive and I had a hard time justifying them since I live in the Texas hill country and can ride out on the roads most days. Having said that, it has been really cold (for Texas) and icy four days in a row and I've been on the e-motion every day. Whether or not they're "worth" it is an individual decision. For me, they are.

[dirtdigger88]

Dave rides 60 ST frames, so I doubt that he's 5'6" ...

he could be with Rivendell sizing

Jason

[dave thompson]

I should have mentioned that I too am an older fellow. I was watching the demo at about 1:00 ish? on Saturday afternoon. Was that you, about 5'6"-5'8"? I should have said he was a very young and fit looking older fellow.
Nice try at saving yourself! :D

I was probably watching the same guy you were. I went to the show both days and spent a large amount of time there.

[link]

I rode these at Interbike last week ...I like them. They don't encourage a smooth pedal stroke like my Kreitlers but that doesn't mean you can't focus on being smooth with them. All out efforts are not at all sketchy.

Winter is coming.

[myette10]

I rode these at Interbike last week ...I like them. They don't encourage a smooth pedal stroke like my Kreitlers but that doesn't mean you can't focus on being smooth with them. All out efforts are not at all sketchy.

Winter is coming.

riding inside sucks. tough it out in the elements or enjoy/make use of the time off.

[link]

You're right about riding outside. It's much, much better than the road to nowhere.

Alas, I live at 9K feet ...most of us ski outside in the winter. There is one dude in these parts that'll ride in neg F temps regularily. Is that the tough you meant?

[thwart]

A guy I know just sold me his Kreitlers (with the Head Wind dealie) as he fell in love with these.

A set of rollers set up in the garage, looking out through the opened garage door, isn't really that bad. Especially with some tunes. Beats no riding at all when the weather is nasty bad.

Now, the basement is another story... :crap: