Rollers vs turbo
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Rollers with resistance unit.
I would go for rollers with resistance. More expensive, take more space, but worth it : you keep concentration, you don't wear down your tyres, no stress on the frame and you will work on your pedalling technique (needed to get a smooth ride on loose rollers).
My elite e-motion is a fine peace of equipment. If I would do it again, I would have bought the real e-motion for adding flexibility in workouts without having to stop and change the resistance (3 positions, but you get a lot of modulation with each simply by riding faster or slower...)
My elite e-motion is a fine peace of equipment. If I would do it again, I would have bought the real e-motion for adding flexibility in workouts without having to stop and change the resistance (3 positions, but you get a lot of modulation with each simply by riding faster or slower...)
Current bikes:
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
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Personally I vote rollers. I get far too bored on a fixed trainer.
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Depends what you want. I'd get both if money allows. If you're doing any specific training (particularly intervals) you'll want to do them on the turbo trainer (even if it's sunny outside I'll still do my sessions on a trainer). Many find the turbo boring but if you're focused on getting your session 100% right (e.g. making sure you hit the target zone for the target time, recovery etc.) then it's more interesting than you think (if you cycle more as a sport rather than a form of recreation this will be particularly important). If you just want to ride indoors because the weather is bad outside and don't want your legs going stale then rollers.
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Disclosure: I'm sponsored by Velocite, but I do give my honest opinion about them (I'm endorsed to race their bikes, not say nice things about them)
Disclosure: I'm sponsored by Velocite, but I do give my honest opinion about them (I'm endorsed to race their bikes, not say nice things about them)
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^^ This, I also use rollers and my track bike on rest days to just flush the legs if I have a spare 30 mins to kill at home.
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I have rollers and a smart trainer. Much prefer the time on the rollers because of the dynamic and reactive nature of the ride. I can hit slightly high numbers due to the lower resistance and higher inertia of the system. I have crappy old tacx antares rollers and I can still do sessions like 6x3 @450W so the fear of not having enough resistance on rollers to do real training is not necessarily valid.
The smart trainer is much nicer when i want to ride in the real world but i can't and i don't want to do a structured session. If i want to just cruise around zwift and do a few koms or something then it's much easier to do on the smart without getting bored. It's also easier to convince myself to actually get on the bike and pedal if there's no structure so it has its value. It's also really good for TT training because of the stable platform - i still haven't learnt to ride the rollers in a TT position. give it time though, i'll get it eventually...
The smart trainer is much nicer when i want to ride in the real world but i can't and i don't want to do a structured session. If i want to just cruise around zwift and do a few koms or something then it's much easier to do on the smart without getting bored. It's also easier to convince myself to actually get on the bike and pedal if there's no structure so it has its value. It's also really good for TT training because of the stable platform - i still haven't learnt to ride the rollers in a TT position. give it time though, i'll get it eventually...
Rollers.
I picked up some Elite Digital rollers now so can even do some 500 watt intervals on them w/out issues. The resistance doesn't some on in a super smooth way but it all gets the job done and then the rest of the time you have a much more realistic road feel and much more engaging experience IMHO.
You can do structure on rollers and I think it makes you remember to control the bike as well not just wail on it...
https://www.strava.com/activities/484423895/analysis
I picked up some Elite Digital rollers now so can even do some 500 watt intervals on them w/out issues. The resistance doesn't some on in a super smooth way but it all gets the job done and then the rest of the time you have a much more realistic road feel and much more engaging experience IMHO.
You can do structure on rollers and I think it makes you remember to control the bike as well not just wail on it...
https://www.strava.com/activities/484423895/analysis
mentok wrote:I have crappy old tacx antares rollers and I can still do sessions like 6x3 @450W so the fear of not having enough resistance on rollers to do real training is not necessarily valid.
450w on an Antares roller Unless you hit 80km/h, it must be a joke. i still have my antares rollers, but don't use them anymore due to lack of resistance. @ 55km/h, I merely had 250w of resistance! Reason I switched to elite e-motion. 500w and more are possible on them in level 2, but also easy 150w cooling downs at 30km/h at level 0. Really like those rollers!
Current bikes:
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Scott Addict Premium Disc 2018
Scott Addict Orica Greenedge 2015
Retired:
Canyon Endurace CF SLX 2016
Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 2013
Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓ Broad Selection ✓ Worldwide Delivery ✓
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Rollers work wonders on improving balance/technique.