RedBike
New Member
- Location
- Beside the road
Knobbly tyres cause loads of vibration / noice and they will wear out at an alarming rate.
Rollers or Turbo?
- Thread starter Joe24
- Start date
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mcb2080
Senior Member
- Location
- East Kilbride
A wee bump for this thread as well as a couple of question
I have a hybrid bike which has 26 inch wheels, I am running schwalbe marathon plus tyres.
Do the rollers adjust to fit 26 or are they for 700's
Are these tyres considered slicks? If not should I just get the cheapest slicks and stick them on the bike as I wont be using it on the road during the winter.
Ps any recommendations for a roller in the £150ish bracket?
Thanks
I have a hybrid bike which has 26 inch wheels, I am running schwalbe marathon plus tyres.
Do the rollers adjust to fit 26 or are they for 700's
Are these tyres considered slicks? If not should I just get the cheapest slicks and stick them on the bike as I wont be using it on the road during the winter.
Ps any recommendations for a roller in the £150ish bracket?
Thanks
Rollers are just what they say, rollers.
RedBike is correct when he says the rider has no momentum and if you tumble, you won't shoot forward.
I drove a Land Rover Discovery off a Chassis dynamometer ( rolling road ) at 60 mph and it just screeched to a halt in 4 feet.
On rollers you simply spin the rear wheel.
On a turbo, however, there is a fan or electric, magnetic or better still EDDY CURRENT resistance device to simulate the ROAD LOAD.
The manufacturer has done extensive tests to determine how much power is required for the bike's speed, just for your benefit. 
A job I once had was for a company who supplied Electronic Engine Management to Triumph Motorcycles. One Friday afternoon, my manager and a couple of Triumph exec's walked into the Vehicle Lab to find me with my Peugeot 531 strapped to their £120,000's worth of Motorcycle Chassis dynamometer doing a distance/gradient simulation of Col de Tourmalet.
RedBike is correct when he says the rider has no momentum and if you tumble, you won't shoot forward.
I drove a Land Rover Discovery off a Chassis dynamometer ( rolling road ) at 60 mph and it just screeched to a halt in 4 feet.
On rollers you simply spin the rear wheel.
On a turbo, however, there is a fan or electric, magnetic or better still EDDY CURRENT resistance device to simulate the ROAD LOAD.
The manufacturer has done extensive tests to determine how much power is required for the bike's speed, just for your benefit. A job I once had was for a company who supplied Electronic Engine Management to Triumph Motorcycles. One Friday afternoon, my manager and a couple of Triumph exec's walked into the Vehicle Lab to find me with my Peugeot 531 strapped to their £120,000's worth of Motorcycle Chassis dynamometer doing a distance/gradient simulation of Col de Tourmalet.
My LBS had a PC controlled ( via A/D, D/A I/O cards ) training machine with a magnet proximity brake. It was £500. There wasn't feedback to calc power. For that it needed the brake on a cradle with a strain gauge. However, it did simulate hills.
I thought it was simpler and cheaper to spend £500 on a bike (Dawes Giro 500)
and ride the real world.
But, if you are training for the eTape, this machine lets you climb a 10% for 20 miles.
For club members, it might be worth finding some other riders and share the cost.
Here's something else like it.
www.racermateinc.com/computrainer.asp?gclid=CJWj5b2I3pYCFQ6R1QodSQ-L3A
I thought it was simpler and cheaper to spend £500 on a bike (Dawes Giro 500)
and ride the real world.
But, if you are training for the eTape, this machine lets you climb a 10% for 20 miles.
For club members, it might be worth finding some other riders and share the cost.
Here's something else like it.
www.racermateinc.com/computrainer.asp?gclid=CJWj5b2I3pYCFQ6R1QodSQ-L3A
e-rider
Banned member
- Location
- South West
Rollers and most turbo trainers can be adjusted to fit 26" or 700C wheels (rollers just need to be set to the length of the bike not wheel size - althought he two are of course connected). As for tryes - it must have a smooth flat section in the centre - any bumps, knobbles, grooves etc. will cause vibration and noise.
With turbo trainers a lot of heat builds up in the rear tyre and quickly ruins it (over months of use not minutes!) so use a cheap tyre. There are special tyres available with cold running rubber compounds but they cost quite a lot and are not useable on the road.
As a youngster I prefered rollers and they are more exciting and I can see why serious bikeys go for them. If you're less serious and just want to get fit though the winter I'd go for a turbo trainer. Remember, both make you sweat like you're in the Sahara so even in winter I find riding on the patio is better than in the lounge or shed.
With turbo trainers a lot of heat builds up in the rear tyre and quickly ruins it (over months of use not minutes!) so use a cheap tyre. There are special tyres available with cold running rubber compounds but they cost quite a lot and are not useable on the road.
As a youngster I prefered rollers and they are more exciting and I can see why serious bikeys go for them. If you're less serious and just want to get fit though the winter I'd go for a turbo trainer. Remember, both make you sweat like you're in the Sahara so even in winter I find riding on the patio is better than in the lounge or shed.
Fiona N
Veteran
I keep the turbo in the loft where the temperature early in the morning or in the evening is 5 degrees C or less in winter. With a fan, you do stay quite cool. I often have to wear gloves and a buff on my head to keep the extremities warm while sweating buckets from my arms and torso. Really weird actually 
But as others have said - a really good workout. I use a structured training programme with different types of intervals for work at different HR levels. Typically there'll be one lot of longish intervals at lowish HR, 2 lots of shorter ones at medium, a single 20 min chunk at anaerobic threshold, and short sprint types things each week to be added to 2-4 hours of steady low level riding which I do outside (way too boring on the turbo sans TV). When I've been dedicated over 3-4 months, this has given me great fitness by Spring but it does take some self-discipline.
But as others have said - a really good workout. I use a structured training programme with different types of intervals for work at different HR levels. Typically there'll be one lot of longish intervals at lowish HR, 2 lots of shorter ones at medium, a single 20 min chunk at anaerobic threshold, and short sprint types things each week to be added to 2-4 hours of steady low level riding which I do outside (way too boring on the turbo sans TV). When I've been dedicated over 3-4 months, this has given me great fitness by Spring but it does take some self-discipline.
e-rider
Banned member
- Location
- South West
I put a cup on the floor and don't stop until the sweat dripping from my nose has filled it - and then I wake-up from another bad dream and cycle to work at 12mph!
