# Rollers benefits?



## Milzy (22 Mar 2017)

we've had hours of heavy rain and it's too bad to even go out for a run. 
I was thinking of getting some rollers to play on in the garage for times like these. What benefits do you get apart from better balance?
If you clip in is it easy to unclip if you go wobbling etc? Or should I just save the money towards zwift?


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## S-Express (22 Mar 2017)

Benefits depend on how hard you ride and for how long, much like a turbo. Rollers giving you 'better balance' is a bit of a myth IMO, because the ability to balance is something you already have if you ride a bike. Ease of clipping in/out depends largely on your shoes/pedals, rather than anything with the rollers, tbh.


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## Yellow Saddle (22 Mar 2017)

The fact that you sweat a lot if you ride them fast should give you a clue.

But, your question goes deeper, I suspect. Rollers don't give you any strength training at all. This you get from hills or resistance. They can help with leg speed though - if you speed up your legs whilst riding. 

Lots of people (you didn't hint at that) think that coming off a roller at speed will propel you through the TV into next room. It doesn't. Mostly you just fall over killing small pets or useless ornaments.


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## Jody (22 Mar 2017)

I think it gives you more insight to how sloppy your technique is rather than having better balance. You have to hold your core tight and not let your hips etc influence your body movement. Pedaling technique also seems to improve. Depending on what gear ridden, tyre pressures and sizes it can be good workout.



Yellow Saddle said:


> The fact that you sweat a lot if you ride them fast should give you a clue.



Indeed. 3 or 4 minute warm up and I need to strip layers, point a fan at me on full blast, open windows and I am still running in sweat.


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## S-Express (22 Mar 2017)

Jody said:


> I think it gives you more insight to how sloppy your technique is



I wouldn't say that. It's just that riding rollers demands a different technique to riding 'normally'. The two techniques - such as they are - do not really cross over.


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## Jody (22 Mar 2017)

S-Express said:


> I wouldn't say that. It's just that riding rollers demands a different technique to riding 'normally'. The two techniques - such as they are - do not really cross over.



My riding seems more refined since I started on the rollers and I find I concentrate more on keeping my core/hips stable. It may just be personal experience but I find some parts cross over into the real world.


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## Bollo (28 Mar 2017)

Fashionably late to the party but here's my 1.75 pence.....

I'm a big fan of rollers but they're not a miracle cure for anything.

Technique first - I'm kinda half-in and half-out over the technique benefits of rollers. If you ride like a Jack Russell humping a leg then you'll know about it on rollers because you'll bounce the bike off. Riding rollers by itself won't improve your technique, it'll just make you more aware of any lack of smoothness in your pedalling action. If you want a better action, then you'll have to concentrate and practice whenever you ride a bike, indoors or out.

Same if you're a bit of a low-cadence grinder. Not a problem in itself if you're banging out the big Watts, but a higher cadence for a given power output can be more efficient and is certainly easier on the knees. It's quite difficult to maintain a low cadence on rollers and there'll be almost no resistance and no benefit, so you naturally tend to spin.

Personally I find the technique, position on bike etc not that different to riding a bike down a gentle slope.

As @Yellow Saddle says, compared to a turbo the resistance (required power) is low and only increases approximately linearly with wheel speed. In contrast, turbos will typically ramp up resistance as the square or even cube of the wheel speed. You can get rollers with resistance units, but don't. They're expensive and add unnecessay complication.

The limited resistance makes rollers good for recovery-type rides and coming back from injuries, especially knee problems that are exacerbated by anything high-resistance. Once you're reasonably proficient, a steady rollers session will likely sit you somewhere around a moderate aerobic effort, which over time can help with weight management if that's a factor. I'll sit on mine at about 60% FTP and 60% max HR for an hour watching the One Show and burn a big slice of cake.

"Core strength" - in quotes because it's become dogma without really having much meaning. Without blabbing on, I quite like this article ....
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/k...re-stability-exercises-and-cycling-training-0
Even then, I doubt rollers will do much for functional core strength and robustness. I think some of the myth about this comes from when you first start riding rollers - everything will be tense! EVERYTHING!!! After 10 minutes you'll be knackered and more than likely your back, abs, shoulders and calves will ache to buggery. It'll feel like a weights workout. With a bit of practice everything will relax and your pedalling action will become more natural and 'ride-like'. Before you know it you'll be able to whack out an hour no problems.

And then you'll fall off and hurt yourself. Learning to ride the things falls somewhere between a skill and a knack (a snack?). Do not skip the door-frame apprenticeship - it really is the best way to learn without hurting yourself too much. The big offs come when you get cocky. My best effort was demonstrating an on-bike dismount in about a foot of clear space. I fell into the showoffee's top tube and nearly snapped his bike in two. Just don't!

In terms of kit, there's not a lot to them so there's no need to go top-of-the-range. I think they're more expensive than they should be when compared with turbos. I suppose this is just economies of scale; you can pick up a turbo trainer in Lidl but rollers have a limited market. I haven't looked, but I imagine you could find quite a few second hand on scambay.

Unless you've got a dedicated turbo bike, rollers are much easier to set up - grab your nearest bike (subject to geometry), plonk it on and away you go.

Finally, and this is purely personal, there's something emotionally more satisfying about riding rollers over a turbo session. Even when you're totally comfortable, you have to leave a bit of your brain engaged with staying on. I tend to let my work problems follow me home, so something that forces me to concentrate on a purely physical activity and gets the endorphins up really helps me sleep at night.

I like rollers


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