It seems there are currently two top-of-the-line rollers to choose from:

o Inside Ride (e-motion): freedom of movement, allows sprinting etc, almost impossible to fall off.
o TruTrainer: coasting thanks to flywheel, more road-like feel

Neither of these has a (belt-driven) fan, hence you need to have an electric fan to keep you cool, which seems like a waste: all the power that you generate could be used to produce some cooling (available for some/all? Kreitler models and some Tacx rollers).

Are there any rollers that combine those three features?
+ freedom of movement, allows sprinting etc
+ coasting thanks to flywheel, more "natural" feel
+ fan powered by cyclist

There are also some models that try to copy some of those features:
Tacx Galaxia: some(?) movement possible
Trac Technique Inertial Rollers: are those just providing extra resistance or actual some momentum to allow coasting?

Is there some other model that combines some of these features?

I could have built them with a fly wheel on the back, but instead I am looking into having a stainless steel drum made which is like 50-60 pounds. Anyways, it's a pretty simple set up to make, so long as you can weld and can use your imagination. Good luck

There are a few examples on you-tube and on-line where you do not need to weld to get e-motion type rollers.

_________________
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

Thanks, I've searched this site before posting, and I saw those nice self-made moving rollers. But as I wrote, I'm looking for the combination of three features:

- flywheel (or some similar mechanism) for coasting (road-like feeling)
- not being too afraid of crashing
- cooling fan powered by cyclist (least important).

From the various postings I found, it seems the first item is the most important, and the rest can be added with some work. But if I spend $900 on rollers, then I would like to avoid having to modify them. However, I have already one idea how to achieve the second item without putting the rollers on wheels and building a frame around it... (hmm, maybe I should tell TruTrainer?)

The best fan is a large electric fan in front of you that will cool you. The fan powered by you will not work well and not cool you enough. Electricity is cheap in my part of the world.

Here is DIY rollers with resistance generator and bumpers to avoid going off it and it will allow you to sprint and stand up on it. You do not need to spend 900$ on rollers to achieve this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS2yvBo8EMQ

_________________
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

Have you ever ridden rollers? Don't be so afraid of falling off, unless maybe you're out of the saddle sprinting. Everyone I've talked to, myself included, no more than five good sessions and you'll be spinning happily and worry free (although, it can be a bit hairy right after you burry yourself and are a bit woozy, all part of the fun though!).

Yes, I'm riding rollers for a long time (mostly with a road bike, sometimes with a track bike). I never fell off, but that's probably because I never tried anything beyond smooth, seated riding. I'm simply not brave enough to do anything more...
Nevertheless, this emulates most of my road cycling because it consists of lots of climbing, so maybe I should just stay with what I have.

Rollers can be intimidating at first but you get used to them surprisingly fast. Took me about 3-4 rides to feel confident to actually perform a "workout" on them. After riding them for about 5 years now it is second nature. I have Krietler with all aluminum 2.5" drums.

dumb question:

What benefit are rollers over a trainer? I pound myself to death on a trainer in ways I wouldn't do on the road because of how squirrly I get at that level of exhaustion...

I would guess you can't do that on rollers either?

The rollers can help you ride smoother, straighter with better balance on the road at high speed or low speed. If you are all over the road when exerting yourself then you are wasting energy which could be used to move forward faster.

_________________
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

Woah, nice home made roller!

Hey folks! I dont mean to highjack the thread but I bought a set of rollers (tacx galaxia) yesterday and wow I dont know what to think.

First of all it was much more difficult then I imagined. I really needed to concentrate to stay up right.

Second and most importantly I found the resistance to be too low. On the 53-12 combo I was only producing 150W at about 90rpm. Going up to 120rpm I went maybe up to 200W. I was hoping for more as the plan was to do interval training when the weather doesnt allow me to go outdoors.

So the question is how do I increase roller resistance? Ive read through some threads and I have tried the "towl under the rollers" trick which helped but made the ride feel more irregular.

Please do not tell me to reduce tire pressure as I only have nice expensive tubulars and I dont want to wear the tire more then I need to.

Ive read about the Tacx 1350 speedmatic resistance but it doesnt seem to be in production anymore. What to do? Return the rollers?

_________________
Canyon Ultimate SLX 2013 + DA9070 + Red Quarq + Corima Aero+ MCC (Ordered! 6.0kg)
Canyon AeroRoad + DA9000 + Lightning Power2Max + MCU's (6.5kg)
Cervelo P4 + G3 Powertap (7.78kg)
Cervelo SLC + SRAM Red 2013 + Red Quarq (6.8kg)

I would return them and invest in Kreitlers with a headwind fan like above. That fan provides lots and lots of progressive resistance

If you are looking for resistance you get a trainer. The rollers do not provide resistance like a trainer does.
There are some mag units you can add to the rollers but it's not like the trainer.
So rollers are not meant for resistance training.

_________________
I never took drugs to improve my performance at any time. I will be willing to stick my finger into a polygraph test if anyone with big media pull wants to take issue. If you buy a signed poster now it will not be tarnished later. --Graeme Obree

I have rollers (Nashbar parabolic) and a trainer (Cycleops Fluid 2).

It seems like both are valuable, but for entirely different types of workouts.
I am in the process of trying to add some magnetic resistance to my PVC rollers, so I will report if that works out, but I doubt I could ever get as much as is needed to truly push a huge gear for a short interval, like you can do with the trainer.

The trainer, on the other hand, is simply too boring for anything longer than about 45 minutes.

When I tried the "towel under the rollers" trick I was generating so much static electricity that I thought I was going to shock myself unconscious! (I felt very calm and happy for the next few days, however.)