Just an update for those of you stuck on rollers/turbo in the coming months. I found this youtube channel and this race is a great one hour video to watch while training:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6p-HMxeMP8&index=23&list=PLfMbpzv46ZCJ6FMbifxRWu8v5Yt3Orshw

Buck, thanks! It’s blowing 50km/h on the Peninsula today, so I did my little interval session indoors. That was a stewpidhard-looking climb.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6p-HMxeMP8&index=23&list=PLfMbpzv46ZCJ6FMbifxRWu8v5Yt3Orshw

@seemunkee Don’t know about skills!

I still have a HELL of a time trying to go no handed. I can drink and wipe sweat off and ride standing or sitting and sprint and watch videos but the no handed shit and one legged spin I just cannot get down.

The hardest part for me is when getting into the standing or returning to the sitting position as the bike does want to jump forward and I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Definitely keeps it interesting!

I am the opposite. It may be due to the larger rollers I am using, but standing is one hell of a time for me. riding no hands seems to be fine for a minute or two on my rollers though.

@Chris I have an older style fan for added resistance. I some how came into possession of two. Not sure if they would work on your rollers but it’s yours if you want.

@Buck Rogers

@Optimiste

@Buck Rogers

…I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Any video footage? Would you be willing to do a reenactment?

Unfortunately no footage, fortunately for you I will probably end up doing it again this winter at some, dead, post-interval, time!

Perhaps I’ll work on developing that skill this winter as well. Any tips?

Have a clear path in front of you. 

Not sure what brand my rollers are, bought them ages ago used off of ebay, but it has two small squirrel fans that you can attach with bands to the rear roller to add resistance.  Kind of a pain to do during the a work out, but while doing some of the climbing Sufferfests I’ll add them on.

@Optimiste

@Buck Rogers

…I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Any video footage? Would you be willing to do a reenactment?

Unfortunately no footage, fortunately for you I will probably end up doing it again this winter at some, dead, post-interval, time!

Perhaps I’ll work on developing that skill this winter as well.  Any tips?

@Buck Rogers

…I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Any video footage? Would you be willing to do a reenactment?

Unfortunately no footage, fortunately for you I will probably end up doing it again this winter at some, dead, post-interval, time!

…I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Any video footage?  Would you be willing to do a reenactment?

I still have a HELL of a time trying to go no handed.  I can drink and wipe sweat off and ride standing or sitting and sprint and watch videos but the no handed shit and one legged spin I just cannot get down.

The hardest part for me is when getting into the standing or returning to the sitting position as the bike does want to jump forward and I have actually shot off the front of the rollers more than once!

Definitely keeps it interesting!

I also thought it would make the suffering a little less so. 

@Buck Rogers
You must have some skills Buck to be able to hit it hard while standing that long.  I can do it for short periods, but not very hard.

I got the latest sufferfest offering recently, it’s two hours of climbing based intervals so so low cadence high effort stuff. Only problem is that even at 53 x 11 I can’t get 8/10 intensity at 65rpm. I’m going to have to borrow one of Tony Martin’s dinner plates.

Maybe it is supposed to make it even more difficult and force you to be an even smoother rider?

What are the benefits of floating rollers supposed to be?

I can’t see how standing pedalling would be any less scary if the bike starts moving backwards and forwards as well as side to side. The fact that I can’t stand on my rollers is because I’m not smooth enough out of the saddle. Or does the backwards and forwards float prevent the bike from popping off the rollers that would otherwise be a risk if you’re not smooth enough?

I can get out of the saddle on the rollers for very short periods but not at full or even moderate power. I am guessing these rollers allow you to crank much harder out of the saddle. I don’t really see the justification for the added cost though.

I can’t see how standing pedalling would be any less scary if the bike starts moving backwards and forwards as well as side to side. The fact that I can’t stand on my rollers is because I’m not smooth enough out of the saddle. Or does the backwards and forwards float prevent the bike from popping off the rollers that would otherwise be a risk if you’re not smooth enough?

Hmm, wonder what one of these with cobbled rollers would be like? http://www.pinkbike.com/photo/8706840/

New sufferfest drops on September 15. I’ll be getting it, 64 sprint sections but i’ll use it for CX training:

http://www.nonprocycling.com

Scratch that, 2 new sufferfests drop on the 15th. They have made a 2 hour climbing movie called ‘it seemed a good idea at the time’. footage looks like its all from this years frozen Giro.

I’ll be getting both.

http://www.nonprocycling.com

@Chris  I went for blender and I’ve just done it for the first time. It was hard, i’m broken.

Downward Spiral is excellent and produces results quickly if you are prepared to turn yourself inside out – just remember that at most you got to keep going for two minutes at a time.

Hell Hath No Fury is also great and can be done as instructed or as a constant rate 2 x 20 – pick a gear that you can maintain for 20 minutes at 100 rpm and get going. After the recovery do it again. The gear should be one that leaves you absolutely hanging after 20 minutes (the first 20 minutes – don’t chose your gear with the second 20 minutes in mind or you won’t go hard enough and theres no point in doing it – the second 20 minutes will be horrible but you’ll manage). Apart from the benefits to your fitness, I think it teaches you to really control your breathing and therefore your HR but also to get your head around the pain and the little voices that will tell you you can’t possibly keep this up for anther 15 minutes or so. My sensei swears by them.

I’d go for DS and HHNF before Blender, get those nailed and you’ll get more out of Blender. It’s a bastard long time on rollers or a trainer.

I’m just about to pick that up as my first ‘fest session. Glad to hear it’s a good one.

I might also get fight club unless you’e got a good recomendation for something else?

@Buck Rogers If you do intervals on the rollers or a turbo they’re great. Some good race fooother and tunes but more importantly all the prompts and timings for the session. Downward spiral has some nice cobbled sections.

@Nate Hell Hath No Fury is worth a look. A good session or you can do it as a constant effort 2 x 20.

Yeah, I got the package set.  Downward Spiral is STOOPID, in the best possible way.  @Buck, I’ll add that they usually throw in something at the end, just to twist the knife a bit.

@Nate Hell Hath No Fury is worth a look. A good session or you can do it as a constant effort 2 x 20.

I’ve used them a lot the last few months.  Use Angels, Local Hero, Hunted and Downward Spiral the most.  Angels and Hunted despite a bit much Dirty Schleck love.

Anyway, time for a steak and a bit of pasta whilst watching today’s stage. I could almost convince myself that I’ve done enough to have a beer with it but would st a dangerous precedent.

@Chris

Ah yeah, that’s understandable. You can’t just lock ’em up and go for a ride without someone calling Child Protective Services”.

Or you could kidnap a few neighbor kids and do this (holy god that seems like a cluster-f):

Jesus, my VMH has been asking for one of those, but without the trailor-bike on the end.  So far I have not given in as they are REALLY expensive, like bike #1 expensive!  Suppose I should work a deal with her where if she gets one iI can get one of equal value?

I know a couple parents around here (Berkeley) with those things.  Have to admit I kind of like them, it would be fun to have one to use for kid-transporting on the weekends.

Yeah, no kidding. And while I’m in the solid Portland, “left-coast hippie” mentality camp of “a bike is a bike and it’s better than an extra SUV on the road”, that just seems like rolling mass-insanity. I really try and reign in my snob-ness regarding getting more people to bike and that not everyone gives a crap about light racing bikes.

It’s Wednesday where I’m sitting and in the British Isles AFAIK which I think is where you are.  No idea about Oz/NZ but then they’re not relevant, are they?

Are you kidding?  Look at the size of Junior’s big ring — must be a 55t at least!

(Nothing against the big guy but I can work out where you’d start with the upgrade program)

@Nate That’s a bit more like it although you could work on the gearing so that they’d actually be contributing.

Interval sessions 3 days in a row seems like it might be a bit much?  Are you also riding on the weekends?  I was doing two sessions weekdays for a while to go with usually 2 weekend rides.  I started to feel overtrained and my knee was bothering me so  backed off for a while in June, backing off on volume and intensity.  Feeling fresh again just in time to Cogal on Saturday, then I’ll take some time off the bike to take the family on vacation.

HHNF last night. Local Hero tonight. Downward Spiral on Friday.

Only in Portland.

Another variant::

Ah yeah, that’s understandable. You can’t just lock ’em up and go for a ride without someone calling Child Protective Services”.

Or you could kidnap a few neighbor kids and do this (holy god that seems like a cluster-f):

Similar boat for me — by the time I see the wee ones in the evening it’s too late to ride outside, so rollers with sufferfest during the week.  The fact that I do this 1-2x per week seems to indicate I actually enjoy it — otherwise it wouldn’t happen.  Although this time of year I get an occasional 6 am ride in during the week as it’s light enough to be out riding.

@mcsqueak My wife travels a lot with work and with three velonippers it’s the rollers or nothing for mid week riding when ever she’s away. I suppose I could put them in the garden but November seems to have come to the UK early.

Nice, and I accept your challenge, as soon as my V-gilet arrives I’ll give it a go too.

Nicely done!  I’m not there yet.

Whooo hooo! Finally got the riding with no hands thing cracked on the rollers! Thought you should all know.

Next, removing and neatly folding a gillet. Or maybe I’ll go for the classiest move of them all, the Petachi. Remove of shoe covers and hand to trusted domestique.

Well done!

I have not used my rollers for a few months now.  Wonder if I can even stay upright on them anymore.  I’m sure that sometime this month I will be back on them with the extreme heat and my work schedule driving me inside at least once or twice.

Next, removing and neatly folding a gillet. Or maybe I’ll go for the classiest move of them all, the Petachi. Remove of shoe covers and hand to trusted domestique.

Damn, Chris, you must have a lot of frequent flyer miles built up with all that travel.

Is it possible to become additcted to quality?

It certainly is and that’s exactly what had me using my nice wheels on the rollers when I probably should have been using the cheapo clinchers. Once you get used to them though, it’s so hard to take them off.

I’ve ordered some Vittoria Pit Stop but I’m going to keep that for on the road emergencies, i.e., when slapping the spare on and gingerly riding home is not an option. I’ve also ordered a new Pavé (the older versions, black stripe down the middle with green on either side, are cheaper if you can find them on ebay) which I’ll glue as soon as I get it. At leisure, I’ll then repair the punctured one, the worse outcome being a useless tyre, the best being a perfectly good spare but either way it’ll all add to the learning experience.

@Chris

@Jonny
#2 – you could say that fit is an issue.

Why, sir, that’s a whopper.

@Jonny
I think you meant to reply to me not Buck. I might use the 2 on the rollers. But the only harm that might come to the bike from rollers is if you fall off, which is most likely when you are first learning and that’s not me. So why not use the #1, especially if you enjoy yourself more as a result? Whereas with a stationary trainer, which I no longer use, I used to worry about stressing the frame because it’s clamped in place and flexes in alarming ways under a big effort. There I could see a reason for using the #2 instead.

This. On the rollers i try to simulate road riding as closely as possible and see no reason not to ride #1. On the stationary teainer I only ride #2 (“Who does number 2 work for???”) b/c of the worry about frame stress.

Vittoria Pave. I’ve just ordered some Pit Stop but I think I might actually take the next step and learn to repair them myself. VLVV

Ohhhhh, not cheap, but could be worse. Those are the same ones that I run. Might be using a different wheelset on the rollers from now on.

@Jonny
I got my #2 when I was just getting back into riding and the frame is too big so I can’t get the setup very close to the #1. And in general the rollers don’t seem to wear my tires much at all, unlike what a resistance trainer does.

Utter f**king c**nt! flatterd on the rollers again! I knew I shouldn’t be riding my tubs on the rollers but it’s so much nicer that the shit wheels. Bggr. Fck.

Flatted on tubs on the rollers? What a bummer, and not cheap either! I flatted once with clinchers and that was bummer enough.

But, I rode last week on the rollers on my tubs and as I was riding it seemed like I had NO LEGS at all that day. Just killing myself and then I went to stand up at around 15 minutes into it and I noticed that my front wheel was bouncing up and down a ton on the front drum. Stopped and checked the tires. They were very low on pressure. Inflated them up to 7.5 bars and then it was like I was FLYING! Never knew that tire pressure on rollers makes so much difference.

Anyways, sorry to hear about your flat. Hope it wasn’t too expensive a tub.

As mentioned a bit earlier in this thread, Kreitlers 3.0 with one flywheel. Not sure what all this talk of gonad abuse is about. Maybe look to saddle adjustment. Sit bone comfort can be a chore at first. No road vibration, imperfections, or leaning into turns to micro shift your ass, but once you are comfortable enough to get out of the saddle it is no longer an issue. Biggest advantage of rollers over trainers is that rollers improve your handling and technique. Trainers don’t and can actually cause bad habits. Of course, go with whatever works for you.

My preferred “quick” roller workout currently:

10 minute warm up.

1 minute max spin at “half” max effort level
2 minute easy spin

repeat 4 times, fourth time do 5 minute easy spin instead of 2 minutes.

20 minutes of 30 second on/off intervals. On is at 90%+ of max effort, off is easy spin.

10 minute cool down.

Great for when life/weather/light/Acts of God rule out a proper ride.

Thanx. I will use this

My preferred “quick” roller workout currently:

10 minute warm up.

1 minute max spin at “half” max effort level
2 minute easy spin

repeat 4 times, fourth time do 5 minute easy spin instead of 2 minutes.

20 minutes of 30 second on/off intervals. On is at 90%+ of max effort, off is easy spin.

10 minute cool down.

Great for when life/weather/light/Acts of God rule out a proper ride.

Ah, spelled the name wrong, screwed up the joke. Try this link for an explanation.

@Vin’cenza
Yes, the belt is stretchy. The front roller has an adjustable mount on the frame to move it into the correct position for the wheelbase of your bike. As for the Lemond unit vs. rollers, see the picture at the top of the post.

The correct answer — it was a trap !!

@xyxax

@marko
If not Kreitlers — Lemond Revolution ?? Campagnolo adaptor is available. Forgot that this (innovation) grabbed my attention during the last Tour.

Are you saying Buck is the “Dugger” of the Velominati?

@Vin’cenza
(1) So much better than stationary trainers “” more fun and improve rather than ruin your pedalstroke
(2) why would you consider anything other than Kreitlers?
(3) get the 3″³ or 2.25″³ the 4.5″³ diameter won’t give you enough resistance; if you are in any shape you’d easily spin out your top gear on the 4.5s. More info on chosing the right size on their website.

Have to disagree on point one. While rollers are undoubtably good for developing a magnificent stroke, a trainer will hardly destroy it. On the contrary, if you don’t pedal smoothly you’ll bounce about in the saddle and it won’t be a good workout at all.

@Vin’cenza
(1) So much better than stationary trainers “” more fun and improve rather than ruin your pedalstroke
(2) why would you consider anything other than Kreitlers?
(3) get the 3″³ or 2.25″³ the 4.5″³ diameter won’t give you enough resistance; if you are in any shape you’d easily spin out your top gear on the 4.5s. More info on chosing the right size on their website.

Agree with all the above. Go with the 2.25. I used stationary for four years and thought they were the best but this November I bought a pair of Krietlers 2.25’s and I have not gone back. At first I could not ride much past 1 hour as my nurts also would fall asleep but after about 5 rides I learned to slowly ride the rollers standing up and that really helped to keep the blood flowing and now can ride over two hours straight without problems. I just ride standing every 15 minutes for 1 to 3 minutes. Definitely would recommend krietlers!

@Nate
Thanx as well. Can change the belt length and cylinder if I must go to 2.25 — right ??

“You’d think it would get easier but it most certainly doesn’t!”

“We’re used to working hard on the track, road and gym, week in week out, but these drills on the turbo stand alone in terms of pain. It’s a love-hate relationship that I have with these particular sessions. We only do them at certain points in the season and there’s no two ways about it – they hurt.They hurt a lot.

It’s very tough but I always feel reassured to complete such a block.”

I am obviously not trying hard enough…

It was pretty cool, we don’t get snow like that, ever, so the kids had a great time sledging. It’ll take a few days to go but the roads are fine now.

And England won, and the Irish lost – severe helpings of humble pie for pudding tonight for me!

@Dr C
Despite such set backs, I am determined to ride with my club on Sunday with the caveat that it’s not snowing (not so much that I don’t want to go riding in it but I don’t want to have Mrs Chris and the kids driving around in it if I need rescuing). I’m off to see if I can find some warmer gloves and a decent snood thing at lunch time.

It started snowing at about 6pm last night while I was out picking my daughter up from friends house, heavily enough to settle on the local dual carriage way. Quickly realised cycling was out off today so had a couple of beers with a mate – by midnight we couldn’t get down the drive on mountain bikes or BMXs.