noglider 

Kreitler rollers. Those are nice!

In the early 80s, I worked in a shop that sponsored a pretty good racing team. Sometimes the racers would train on rollers in the shop. I remember one guy who could pedal and do anything at the same time. I saw him take his jersey off while riding.

I'm sure you won't need a helmet. If you fall, you have no forward velocity, so you won't be moving fast when you hit the ground or doorframe. And the helmet will get hot and wet and dirty quickly.

rat fink

I enjoy rollers quite a bit and prefer them to mag trainers, though I use both. I'm always on the lookout for a set of Kreitler rollers but haven't found any yet. Most of the serious racers I know still use rollers.

noglider 

You should be using Google Alerts to search craigslist for you.

Sir_Name 

^A set of Kreitler rollers sold on C'list here a few months back for $20 with accessories (fork mount and maybe some sort of resistance attachment, don't really remember). The add was for, simply, "Exercise equipment" and had one terrible photo. Someone was faster than I was, sold quick at that price, though you had to be able to find the ad...

Not it sure what all of that means, other than that it sometimes pays to expand your search parameters to catch deals that sometimes fall through the cracks, though most here are probably aware of that.

clasher

I bought a set of tacx rollers from the local co-op for 20$ or something, they are nice to winter riding... longest I can manage is an hour on them. I recently got an ipad though and I might be able to set it up so I can watch a movie or something when I'm riding. I usually listen to music while I ride to prevent the boredom. I did gash open an expensive tubular when I was learning to ride them though.

gaucho777 

I switched to rollers after the "squirrel cage" on a mag trainer sheared off during an evening sprint training session in my room. The shredded mag wheel flew across my bedroom at shocking speed. Put a big hole in my hollow closet door. Dad wasn't pleased. The rollers are definitely a little sketchy at first until you get the hang of it and learn to smooth out your pedal stroke. Shifting with DT shifters isn't an issue but no-handed stretches my comfort level. I only recall one incident where I rolled off the side of the rollers due to inattentiveness, but I didn't topple over. This meant the bike and I jerked forward into the desk ahead of me and left a tire burn in the carpet. Again, dad was not pleased.

A few years ago I got a deal on a set of used Kreitler rollers with the ambitious goal of riding rollers again in the basement over the winter months, but I haven't used them more than a few times.

Prowler 

Great to see that I'm in good company. So far I like them as they require a new skill set. I know they are dangerous but less dangerous than driving US422 E to work in the morning. And, as I did with track standing, I can see no reason why a 64 year old man can not learn this new skill. So far, so good. I appreciate the advice to set up in a doorway but I've gone one better. My opening is just 6 inches wider than my shoulders so I can bump right or left when I drift off center and the risks feel well managed. At speed I'm keeping the wheels in the center third of the rollers. I also really like the side platform feature on the Weyless rollers that @steelbikeguy showed us. I've achieved the same thing with a pair of 7" tall chunks of 'cribbing' - blocks of solid timber that I have in the shop. Really facilitates mounting and dismounting.

I did not fall off again today. Faint praise eh? In fact it was, again, smoother and longer than yesterday. It sure is counter-intuitive though: when things start to 'come unglued' DON'T slow down, speed up, speed up fast and the bike stabilizes. Weird! I'm getting smoother but the relax, relax, relax part is still a struggle. But I worked at it for about 30 minutes, flying in place, and listening to WXPN's Bob Dylan birthday marathon loud on the shop stereo (all Dylan for 13 hours today). A good time.

No rollers tomorrow though. I'm knocking of work at 10:00am then riding the Raleigh Professional from Oaks to the South St Bridge then across the creek to the UPenn campus athletic fields. Probably 55 miles of reality with a lunch stop along the quiet river watching the boats. Reality is still way better.

Ed.

Disagree on that.

But, one of my favorite stories, and I know this to be the audience that will (well most will) appreciate it.

Nobody with a Cinelli roller story??? Amazing that a company that built such desirable bikes built such a tortuous/terrible creation as the rollers sold with ‘Cinelli’ boldly emblazoned upon them. They still did much to improve one’s riding style. Ah, but I digress, it’s time for a Cinelli Roller story. I swear everything I write below is the absolute truth. No fabrications. No exaggerations.

Winter was coming upon us up in the Northeast in 1972, and while I had no interest in riding any of my stable out on the sandy, salt encrusted roads in the Boston area, I was interested in maintaining, not to mention improving, my general riding condition and style. So I asked dear old Dad if I could borrow his Cinelli rollers for the duration. He’d not used them in some years, and was quite pleased to see them disappear, along with my tail lights. (In his prime Dad used to ride rollers at North Station as an advertisement for the 6-Day bike race in the Boston Garden arena).

Since I lived on the second floor of a three-floor apartment building, I thought it would be neighborly to advise those in the apartment directly below mine as to what I was about to do, and to let them know it would be fine to tell me to knock it off. They weren’t home… So back up to my apartment. The rollers were set up in the ‘living room’, next to a wall, and on the carpet. I don’t know how long I rode for, 30 minutes to an hour I guess. Worked up a prime sweat, so took a shower before heading off to somewhere. On the way out the front door of the building I could hear that my downstairs neighbors were home (we were friends) so I knocked on the door. This was about 44 years ago, so I don’t remember their names, but Tom and Alice, who lived across the hall from me, were among the others there. When the door was opened to me, almost in unison they all exclaimed, “DID YOU FEEL THAT!?!?)

“Ummmm, feel what?”

“The vibration.” Unbelievable! We thought the boiler was going to explode!”

“Ummmm, no, I’m just getting in… “ That was the end of my roller riding there. When I picked the rollers up to return them to Dad, I noticed that the 6 Universal Brake Pads that served as ‘feet’ had chewed their way down through the carpet…

Ed.

Riding no hands! No way for me. I can't even ride Geraldine on the street no hands, she's way too twitchy. Like the man said, "A man's gotta know his limitations." I can, however shift up and down using DT shifters. Anything else is up for discussion.

Ed.

Come on! There have to be some other really good roller stories out there!

Salamandrine 

Nope, mine is quite boring; I suspect most are. I crashed off my rollers cuz I was a moron, and even though I wasn't going very fast, still managed to cut my lip IIRC.

Cycling stories involving wildlife tend to be much more interesting .

Cougrrcj

I started riding rollers in the winter of '76/77 when I was attending Ohio State. At first it was extremely difficult, but then as I learned how to pedal evenly, it is a piece of cake! I've had a set of 'plain' rollers ever since! Great way to work on smoothing out your pedal stroke. Now when I'm on the road, others are amazed that I 'ride so straight'. If I choose to ride - and stay - 1-2" off the roadside fog stripe, it isn't even a challenge!! Learning how to ride conventional rollers greatly improved my cycling efficiency!!!

Prowler 

Hard to imagine riding no hands, taking your jersey off while on rollers. We'll see. At my age, taking my jersey off strikes horror in the eyes of anyone within 100 yards. As to the helmet, I read that whoever specs these things (DOT??) specs helmets to withstand just a fall off the bike, regardless of forward speed, as the fall of a head from the riding height (5 feet?) is the worst case impact. And the rollers add another 1/2 foot of height. Regardless I'm not worried given the 'cage' I have set around me. "The latest thing from NASA" (Wallace to Gromit.....)

Last night was, again, better than before. I'm finding that riding back on the rivets works better. I'm also finding that no way I can DT shift at this point. I did set the tranny gear-inches higher and that worked better. 53-16 on the Nishiki Int'l. Even in that gear I could accelerate surprisingly fast. Sorta fun. So I just rolled (or is that rollered? or Roollered?) along thru 3 Chris Smither songs ~ 10 minutes steady. OK. I'm also now infrequently and only gently bumping 'the walls' so control is improving. I'm also pretending to relax: light grip on the bars, target fixating on a paint can out ahead and spinning about 100rpm. Day by day.

BTW, I'm only playing with this now as I have the opportunity. I normally never do indoor cycling this time of year. I want to decide soon on whether or not to buy these rollers for regular winter work.

Say here's a trick - can anyone track stand on rollers while texting your girl friend and smoking a cigar? That might make @Ed. happy - good story.

PhilPub

^^ That's a great pic!

No one's mentioned static electricity! I used rollers on and off BITD, maybe it was something awry with the set but I did get the odd electric shock when holding on to the wall to steady myself... I never crashed, but I can remember my mate having a go, on his Ron Cooper in my back garden, and really going for it for a minute's sprint. He managed to build up a fair bit of static as well, and the shock was enough for him to wipe out. Whoops! He did make a habit of that sort of thing though. He remembers having a session on the rollers around a similar time, whilst watching a mountain stage of the Tour de France on TV. I'm guessing this would have been mid-80s, so he's probably getting excited watching Hinault vs. Lemond or Delgado vs. Roche or something. Someone attacked on a climb, at which point my mate got out of his saddle in excitement. Not something you do on rollers really. **MASSIVE CRASH** !!

Prowler 

One last question then we'll let this slide. I've been using my nice road bikes on the rollers but recently wondered if using "Babe, the Blue Oxen" bicycle (38# Free Spirit) would be a good idea or bad idea. Would the heavier bike provide better balance training or less? Better effect when I use the C&V bikes on the road? No difference? Aerobic training is probably about the same: time on one = time on the others.

As I'm likely to just stay in one higher gear on the rollers the quality of the components matters not, nor the handling. A great lump will roll the same. But is it wiser to train with the lightweight bikes for some good reason? Different wheel mass, different CG, different inertia.

Would the Dept store BSO/POS geometry vs the Raleigh's sport touring geometry matter? Would it 'fake me out"? Thanks.

due ruote 

I would prefer a better bike but I can't say why scientifically. I will say that because standing for relief isn't an option, it's important to have a comfortable seated position.

At at the risk of stating the obvious, the critical thing with rollers is to keep pedaling. For many/most people, the initial impulse to temporary loss of balance is to stop pedaling. On rollers this will spell trouble every time.

Ed.

ROTFL! At least this has a little in the leg department. I can't believe that there aren't more good stories know by some here.

SteelIsRealHevy

Lol @ riding a bike indoors!

crank_addict

Who was the guy / maker of the rollers that was always seen at shows in his machinist overalls and a tiny dog poking its head out by his chest? I have a decal - sticker of the little pooch on a toolbox somewhere.

Prowler 

That was Al Kreitler who made my rollers. The dog was named Killer. Al had a shop in Ottawa, KS up until his passing in 2001. Mountain Racing Products how has the rights and produces the Kreitler Rollers today.

My set has a sticker on the frame with Al's name and the Ottawa address. The phone number on the sticker starts with 913 area code. Per Wikipedia, Ottawa was in that area code until the area was split in 1996 by a new code defined for much of the area west of Kansas City. The change took place in 1997 thru 1998. So my rollers are sorta C&V, Al Kreitler orignals.

BTW, I put my stethoscope to the rollers yesterday to listen to the bearings. Smooth and quite and precise, even after 20 years. Well done.

Loose Chain

I am not sure. I would want a very smooth bicycle with true wheels and smooth narrow high pressure tires. I would be afraid of bouncing on low pressure tires or heavily treaded tires. It might seem a bike with a slow response might be easier but I suspect not. I have never had anything on a roller but a drop bar road bike, just not sure on your question. I do know that I can ride without hands even at speed, especially in low wind conditions, even for miles and part of it is the time spent on rollers so long ago building balance and control.

fender1

Wow. There is so much in that sentence that am simply going to say, "well done!"

Ed.

Clearly that was written by one who is an engineer and not an English major! Good thing they weren't Cinelli rollers as you'd have had severe hearing loss.

Prowler 

I'm not sure I get the 'not an English major' part but a stethoscope is a basic diagnostic tool for me. The sound of the bearings rolling telegraphs thru the frame, especially a bike with nice tubing. On the rollers I placed the pickup on the frame next to one roller and listen as I spin. Move along the frame and listen to each one. You can tell right off if the bearings are dirty or damaged, or still primo. I use it on my bikes about once/year. Hang the bike/ put it in the stand and take the chain off. Place the pickup on the frame to listen to the bearings. Listen to the rear from the chain stay. Listen to the front from the side of the fork. Listen to the BB from the seat tube and the HS from the DT. If you've not tried this you'll be pleased at what you can learn. Check all the bikes bearings in about 2 minutes. Then back on the road.

Ed.

Mum had her Masters in Shakespeare (from Columbia, no less) so I have a extra eye for things like 'quite' when clearly 'quiet' was meant. (and which might well be overlooked by some)

For diagnosing mechanical noises a stethoscope can be the secret weapon. Often one can improvise with a long bit of metal, like a screwdriver or socket extension. I helped my brother buy a car once. The seller was convinced there were expensive noises coming from deep down inside the engine. It was merely the generator, but I didn't say a thing beyond 'I think it's OK for the price."