I was hoping to get some spinning done at my house, which brand and type of rollers do you think is best, is there something else than rollers I could use my bike with and are there any stores I can get one cheap?
I have a trax resistance trainer (magnetic) that I currently lent Adam which I payed a whole 75$ for I saw some rollers and other trainers going for sale towards the end of the summer for about 60 - 80$ now it seems people are only selling for 100$+
Personally though if I do buy something new which I eventually will I am still looking at
http://www.kreitler.com/product.php?section=product&item=rollers_4_5
Edit ( wattage charts for anyone interested)
http://www.kreitler.com/wattage.php?section=wattage
they are expensive but personally I think they are worth it, some might disagree though we are all entitled to our own opinions on that. You can get trainers at practically any bike store in Montreal though I unfortunately cant point you towards any sweet deals because I don’t know of any at the moment. As for personal experience, I fell that magnetic resistance trainers do a much better job then fair resistance trainers.
Though when comparing things, rollers and trainers should not be seen the same way. Rollers are more for stability / cadence while on a trainer you don’t need to worry about stability, just cadence and endurance.
Hope that helped a little.
BUT you should not be using a carbon bike on a trainer, because it will eventually cause your frame to crack. So rollers are a good bet if you don’t have two bikes.
I’ve been using these all winter so far
http://www.saris.com/p-335-aluminum-rollers-with-resistance.aspx
and I’ve been nothing but happy. With straight up rollers you are restricted to pretty much base miles. But in the last few weeks I’ve had it cranked to max resistance and I am able to do anaerobic intervals and sprints.
Ben, I’m pretty sure the carbon bike on trainer thing is one of those cyling urban legends that is floating around. All of the torque generated is still being transferred into the rear triangle at the axel. I suppose you can theoretically torque at the BB more because its lashed up into the vertical but these things were designed to survive being ran over gnashed roads and sprinted.
A lot of the fatigue testing is done using something that lashes the bike via an axle through the real triangle and front fork anyway. They’d know if something was up if the forces a rider could exert would cause problems in a “trainer” setup.
Yea thats why Cancellara rides reinforced steel frames on the turbo.
Actually Jason, that was told to me by one of the managers of specialized canada, and he also told me that it says specifically in their bike manuals that carbon bikes are not to be used in a trainer, and if they are, then the warranty is void. The guys at the warranty department actually showed me a frame that had been cracked in this way, and they know exactly what it looks like because it always cracks in the same two spots. They did not replace the guys frame for free.
Reason #93383884 why to never own a Specialized.
Ben, the specialized party line is that trainers = bad but there isn’t actually any specific warranty or provisions for not using trainers, or anything in the manual over it though- at least not the ones currently on the web (both my spec are alloy so I wanted to see if there was a special carbon manual). Not that manuals are actually useful, if it weren’t for the logo I couldn’t tell the diff between the specialized and cervelo manuals. The website does claim in the FAQ that they wont warranty trainer busted bikes though - that’s exceptionally lame.
Their pseudo technical explanation for torques being different is basically bullshit. Bike frame testing is somewhat standardized via ASTM F2711-08, whether everyone actually follows this I have no clue, there are rumblings of stuff like EFBe not doing realistic testing for riding conditions so who the hell knows. I don’t remember all of the specifics but I’m pretty sure part of the testing involves applying simulated torques while the bike is fixed in the vertical plane by the rear axel/dropouts - ie testing results in rear triangle stresses more typical of what you’d see in a trainer than with the wheel-road-rear triangle interactions of actual riding. I’ll double check when I re-download the standards now I’m really curious.
I could see busting a bike if someone totally over torqued one side of a trainer’s axel retention system but thats flat out asking for it anyway.
But yeah, what Nybom said I’m not putting my heavy arse with an S-works carbon frame on any bad paved roads. Sorta sad from the company who claims to do more destructive testing than anyone else.
Back to the topic at hand…I have some cheap tacx rollers. No resistance or anything. I don’t find I need it because if you are riding mostly base in the winter, whats the point? They are still going strong and I think I have had them for 3 years. The only downside is you will never be able to ride a trainer again because it will seem so boring!
Does anyone want to buy a cycleops fluid 2?
I have one but was thinking of trading it for rollers
You watch the Matrix Trilogy while spinning for 5 hours? Fuck man thats pure unadulterated masochism right there.
How much?
Matrix Trilogy and popcorn…well 2.5 movies really
I think the real question here is at Nybom and thats, why are you doing 5 hour training sessions on a turbo trainer? It’ll put you in good shape, but that just seems cruel.
this may be old at this point, but when i saw the heated debate over whether to use a carbon bike on a trainer i became curious as well as nervous, mainly because I break stuff… a lot of stuff. I therefor chose to email one Lennard Zinn (the dude who does the tech column for velonews) and this is the email i just got;
it’s fine.
Thanks for your question for my column.
Keep the wheels turning,
Lennard Zinn
President, Zinn Cycles Inc.
Senior Technical Writer for VeloNews
cycling author
7437 S. Boulder Rd.
Boulder, CO 80303-4641 USA
ph. 303-499-4349
email veloqna@comcast.net
Web www.zinncycles.com
I feel like this guy knows what hes talking about
Damn, I just bought rollers.
Haha if you want to keep your trainer now I’ll buy your rollers off of you.
It’s ok I think I will prefer the rollers 
Despite Zinn’s confidence, Ben’s firsthand account of how Spec deals with the issue is enough to keep me away from the trainer.
Think how much your bike has to endure whilst being strapped on a roof rack. In Lubbock, the bikes survived going 60 mph in 30+ mile per hour cross winds nearly every week for 9 months with all trips lasting at least 6 hours. All my carbon frames have survived 5 hr turbo rides every winter for 3 years, including my sub 900 gram SL. I can’t say the same about my wheels though….