First time on rollers!!! How was your first time!!

OH MY GOSH!!!! I had a blast on rollers!!! I borrowed a pair from a guy at my work so my husband and I could try them out, and WOW!!! It took me about 10-15 minutes to be able to let go of the wall, but I had a lot of fun on them!!! Roller are alot harder to ride on than I thought. I was really struggling after 2 miles on them and I normally do a 10-15 mile ride everyday, but 2 miles on the rollers and I was sweatin' like a pig!! Is this normal? I thinks it because I really can't stop and coast for a few feet to stretch out and there was no way I was gonna be able to get out of the saddle and stretch. Just curious about anyone eles's experience on rollers!!

I've been really interested in rollers too. You can go to youtube and see some videos on it, some serious and instructional, some funny.

Yeah, I read a post here about Youtube videos and rollers, because I was interested in rollers. But after watching the videos I was a little wary of them. But a guy at work let me borrow a pair and I had a blast. I only fell off of them once, but I caught myself with the wall. I forgot the my left foot was clipped in, luckily I fell to the left, where the wall was.

Rollers are a lot of fun - I like them better than the trainer to ride when it rains or something.
Actually you can coast, yes. You can do pretty much anything you do on the road - as long as you keep a straight line ;)
After a while you get comfortable enough to change the TV channel, grab your waterbottle and drink, answer the cell - or if you are a little crazy like me you can answer email with the blackberry :rolleyes:
Have fun with the rollers!!!

Ops, I forgot half of the question - it should not make you more tired, unless you are very tense while riding. A couple of people who tried my rollers said the same thing, that they could only ride like 5 miles and they do 30-40 on the road. But, when I looked at them, they were so concerned with not falling, not moving, etc - that their shoulder were like stiff and they were using a whole lot of effort that was not needed. Try to relax, enjoy the ride like if you were outside - and you will ride longer. Watching TV may help :)

I love the rollers! so much more fun than the trainer! When I started out (between my car and my husband's bike on the trainer so I could grab his bars) it felt like riding on ice. Now I can clip out, pedal one-legged and clip back in, answer the phone,take a drink and change channels on TV. My coach suggested that I learn to ride with no hands to, but no thanks. My mechanic says that my bike is so tiny that it is inherently less stable for hands-free riding (it's a 47 with a short top tube). The only time I almost came off after I learned the rollers technique was when I was watching the end of the Paris-Roubiax and Tom Boonen was riding into the velodrome. I guess leaned into the bike a little thinking about it and almost came off the rollers! It's really fun to have your friends over and ride rollers together! You can shift harder and easier, but generally speaking, it's a harder workout than the trainer. Great for a recovery ride when you don't feel like dealing with cars! Tokie

I'm confused abou the coasting thing. If I quit pedaling, I will pretty much stop. Maybe it's because of the little black rubber type band that connects the front roller and the 1st back roller (if that makes sense). But I thought that the band was just to get the front roller going? It also could have something to do with the fact that I'm using my cyclocross tires with the roller. They are 700 x 35 but they are a little bit nobby.

It takes bit of getting used to. I've used one at LBS to check my bike out after being serviced. Down side was that their mag unit was broken so I spun like crazy once. Drift to the left drift to the right. but you can't train hands free. Is it better than the other kind? I like'em both. I think it comes down to personal taste.

I sweat much more riding the rollers as compared to the trainer; it's definitely harder but it definitely improves your form.

Well it's raining here in Indiana still, so I tried out the rollers again. I really do like roller. I'm nowhere near being able to do 12 miles, 4 miles today kicked my a$$. My husband thinks they are dangerous, and doesn't want anything to do with them, he won't even watch me on them. Unfortunatly these roller are not mine and I'm going to have to give them back, but I am so going to get me some for the winter months!!

I love mine, too. And I certainly feel it's a harder workout than a regular trainer or even riding on the road. There's more resistance than just gliding over a flat road. I find that I have to pay way more attention to what I'm doing. And, Tokie, I know what you mean about watching cycling on TV while riding. I find myself starting to lean into the curves,too!

I can't do much coasting--maybe for just a second or 2 while I readjust where my booty is on the saddle. I still grab the furniture when I need to get a drink. I can change the channels on the television and scratch my nose.

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Originally Posted by Aint Doody

I love mine, too. And I certainly feel it's a harder workout than a regular trainer or even riding on the road. There's more resistance than just gliding over a flat road. I find that I have to pay way more attention to what I'm doing. And, Tokie, I know what you mean about watching cycling on TV while riding. I find myself starting to lean into the curves,too!

I can't do much coasting--maybe for just a second or 2 while I readjust where my booty is on the saddle. I still grab the furniture when I need to get a drink. I can change the channels on the television and scratch my nose.

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I can usually take a drink while riding the rollers but I can't work the remote!

I'm way more tense on the rollers than on the road.

I prefer rollers to a trainer as well. Plus, I worry I may be damaging my frame with a trainer.

I have to admit I normally ride in a doorway, though!

What happens if you lose control on the rollers? Does your front wheel turn and get stuck between the rollers? Do you just end up with the bike skidding out between your legs? Can you go over the bars?

I would love to have some rollers, but I'm skeered.

Karen

Well, I'm pretty new to the rollers. When I lose control, most of the time my front wheel will go off the side of the rollers and as long as I'm not clipped in or I can get clipped out fast enough I usually catch myself with my feet. But I do have th roller set up next to a wall and on the other side is a chair or bench because I need a boost to get up on my bike, the rollers sit my bike up like 3 inches. So I can catch myself with the wall or the chair also. I've never went over, except only when I was sitting at a stand still and I leaned forward and put to much weight on my handle bars, but once I get going, I've never had that problem. If you go onto Youtube and look up "bicycle roller" there are some pretty good videos to watch and I don't mean educational, hilarious!!!

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

What happens if you lose control on the rollers? Does your front wheel turn and get stuck between the rollers? Do you just end up with the bike skidding out between your legs? Can you go over the bars?

I would love to have some rollers, but I'm skeered.

Karen

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Some rollers have bumpers on the front so if your front wheel moves too far to the right or left it will stop. Without the bumpers you will potentially fall over. The ones I have have the bumpers and its good because sometimes I am zoning out and lose concentration and they just stop the front wheel from sliding off. I did 45 mins last night on my rollers because it was raining in the morning and didn't have anytime after work to ride outdoors. And its impossible to go over the bars.

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Originally Posted by ilima

I prefer rollers to a trainer as well. Plus, I worry I may be damaging my frame with a trainer.

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If I remember correctly, that has been proven to be a myth. They did a study a while back, road riding VS trainer riding, and basically the result was that the stress to the frame and the component is exactly the same. So this should give peace of mind to those that were concerned about using their carbon frames on the trainer. I can't remember which group did the testing, but I have the impression that it may have been BMC. Not sure though... :confused:

I love my rollers too, especially since they were a new trick for this old malkin. I don't do anything remotely tricky and my bum does get more tired, because I am rather anchored to my position.

I always roll in the hall. For a year I was terrified of what would happen if I rolled off, but then my husband tried the rollers and discovered that rolling off results in a tremendous clattering of bike in the hall, but no harm done.

I sometimes catch my balance with my hand or shoulder to the wall, but one time I did get too engrossed in a recording of Brandenburg Concertos, and ended up off the rollers, where I also made a tremendous clattering, but apart from disrupting the music, no harm. I clipped out fine, and ended up standing up, holding the bike.

I think riding rollers has improved my balance on and off the bike.

This winter on the tandem we hit a nasty patch of ice on the road, and much to our mutual surprise, we did not fall. Was it angelic intervention or skill developed by riding rollers? Either one qualifies as miraculous to me.