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Bike Rollers – Pros and Cons

01.31.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 8 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount rides in bad weather — indoors, on his rollers. He discusses some of their pros and cons.

I feel fortunate to live in a part of the country where outdoor activities can be done year round. I fully appreciate that, having grown up in Philadelphia and living in Denver for several years.

Where I live now in Northern California, the rains have settled in. Other parts of the country are dealing with snow or high winds during winter. Out here we get rain, fog, wind and much lower temperatures. I’ll ride in cold weather. I’ll ride in the dark, in fog and other inclement weather. But I have my limits. And although I’ve gotten caught in the rain, I won’t go out for a ride in the rain. I’m not that hard core, or crazy. But instead of curling up next to the fireplace with a good book or the television, I’ll still ride. Instead of riding outdoors or in a spin class or a stationary trainer, I’ll ride on my bike rollers.

I purchased these rollers in the fall of 2008 for a few reasons: 1) To ride when the weather was too bad to go on the road. 2) To practice technique and handling skills.

I’ll admit that I didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. It took me some time to get used to the rollers. I started out riding in a doorway and took my share of tumbles before being able to move to less confined places. One fall caused my wife to come rushing out to the garage to see what the problem was. I fell in the opposite direction what I had to grab onto. It is a sinking feeling to see something that could save you from going down slowly float out of your grasp. Fortunately by the time my wife arrived I was on my feet, with some of my dignity, claiming that nothing had happened. Later I found that I had bent my derailleur hanger.

What I’ve found that makes rollers most awkward (aside from learning to balance) is getting on and off. The rollers elevate you several inches off the ground, so getting on, moreso off, can be challenging because you just have this little skinny rail to balance your foot on. Miss that and whoosh, slipsville. I’m considering building a small platform to solve that problem.

I can now ride with a chair or counter, something that I can use to steady myself, next to me. And  I have gotten proficient enough that I can stand and pedal. I have begun working on clipping in and out of the pedals, although I won’t be doing anything close to what this guy does.

What I like about rollers is that I can still ride without going out in inclement weather. It helps conditioning, technique and handling skills. If your pedal stroke isn’t smooth while riding rollers, you’ll know because you’ll bounce around. Sprints, intervals, cadence work, all can be done on rollers.

What I don’t like about rollers is that they can be incredibly boring. Even wearing headphones and listening to music or watching television. Then again that just provides more incentive to ride outside once the weather calms. And after a few sessions on the rollers I can do that while working on my handling skills, technique and without losing too much conditioning.

Don also points us to this video by cycling coach Marc Evans, who demonstrates how to ride rollers.

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Categories // Accessories, training Tags // Blount, guest post, rollers, trainer, training

Dodged a trainer again

01.30.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 3 Comments

exercise-bike-1We’re going to have two mild weekend days, and I’m looking forward to getting in some bike rides. It’s a good thing, too, because I’m getting to the point where I would otherwise have to put in some time on a stationary bike.

I hate stationary bikes. The golf club I belong to has some recumbent stationaries in the fitness room. I rode them some last winter, but have been able to avoid them so far this year. Recumbents have no relation to the kind of riding I do, so they provide a workout, and make me sweat, but I don’t feel as though they provide as much benefit as I think they should.

At the fitness club my wife visits, the stationary bike situation offers more options. She lets me go there on the occasional guest pass, and I’ve been to spin classes there, although not this year, and I’ve ridden an upright stationary bike — the kind with the screen for picking the type of workout and the level of effort. They’ve got some spin bikes in the room with all the ellipticals and stairmasters and the other bikes, as well. Haven’t tried one yet.

Likewise, I’ve never even thought about getting an indoor trainer to use in the house — the kind you mount a real bike on. I think pedaling a real bike indoors would absolutely drive me bonkers. It’s a moot point anyway, since there is no room in our house for a trainer. We don’t have a basement, and both of our extra bedrooms are already being used for other purposes — both are full of furniture.

To me, biking is something you do outdoors, on a bike. I’m lucky to live in an area with a mild climate year round, and the chilly weather we’ve had lately is an anomaly. So if you can put up with a little time off the bike, the good biking weather will return soon enough, and you can do your pedaling outdoors again.

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Categories // Equipment, fitness Tags // trainer

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