Quote:
Originally Posted by mepstein
I have rollers and used them a lot back in the 80's, before "turbo trainers". They are very good for developing balance and fluidity since every jiggle makes your wheel wiggle. But unless they are the small diameter drum type, they have very little resistance. We used to shove pieces of carpet under the rollers just to increase the effort. I can easily ride mine no handed and sprint to 150 rpm's so there's not much there for me for day to day riding. I've had tons of different trainers and had a computrainer (first real computerized trainer) for 25 years. I recently purchased a Wahoo Kickr (direct drive and bluetooth enabled) and signed up for Zwift. Because I have spent so much time on trainers, it takes a lot to distract me and keep me on the bike. I'm 100% satisfied with the combo. The races on Zwift are my favorite. I do one at the end of almost every workout. Today's race was so hard, I wanted to quit 1000 times. I stuck it out and finished 5th. I already picked out tomorrows race. I love riding outside but today was 45 and raining. Luckily, after 2 hours of steady, hard riding, I can eat a good meal and still be working towards my weight goal.
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The smaller plastic drums roll worse than the metal counterparts. Also, tire pressure makes a HUGE difference in rolling resistance on plastic rollers. A road bike tire with 100 psi rolls out pretty nicely even on plastic, but at 60 psi they're a bear to keep moving. Yes there is more heat and more tire wear, but I've found the rollers to be pretty hard on tires regardless.