alpharalpha

Hello, I'm new to this and would like some advise on whether to go with zero resistance--cadence--or resistance rollers for light cardio while indoors. I'd be using them with a front fork stand so can concentrate on pedaling.

Ed Wiser

It’s always best to have resistance other wise your heart rate will not elevate to get the exercise you are wanting to do.

alpharalpha

Don't all rollers have some resistance? The ones I'm looking at are SportCrafters, cadence (ZRO100) or overdrive (ZRO110 here is the chart;

Ed Wiser

I have Keitler rollers and bought their head wind unit to add resistance to the rollers. Many have diy’ed resistance to rollers.

alpharalpha

Are your Keitler rollers mag etc resistance or just plain cadence rollers? I haven't purchased the rollers yet; Sportcrafter rollers come in cadence and a nice resistance (as in the chart can see the difference.)

kingston 

I have a set of both resistance and non-resistance rollers. Non-resistance rollers are totally fine for light cardio. Depending on your gearing and cadence you can easily push 250-300 watts. Resistance rollers are useful for hard efforts if you are doing intervals and need to push up to 700-800 watts.

Ed Wiser

oh I have had mine since 1987. 😀
Back then they sold a fan that used a rubber belt driven by the rollers you could adjust a plate that covered the fan intake to change the resistance.
They still make it 😀
https://www.kreitler.com/accessories

alpharalpha

That looks like a good alternative to fixed mag' resistance; I'm planning on using a fork stand but if wasn't would consider that.
I tried a cheap one out yesterday and later my rear innertube popped--now I did over inflate it, the hybrid takes 85psi & I pumped it up to 100psi (my road bike takes 115 so once I get pumping more used to that) but I've done this many times without incident; Have you noticed the rollers popping tires, thinking maybe the way they sit on the tire instead of flat underneath? Or maybe just coincidence?

kingston 

rollers don't normally pop tires

jadocs

Yes....rollers would not pop your tire.

jadocs

If money is not an object, I would recommend getting a basic set of these rollers. It also allows the bike to move naturally underneath you (forward and back) which makes riding and getting out of the saddle much much easier. The good thing about these are...if you decide later that you want a smart trainer, you can add the smart option to these rollers and they will become smart rollers....This is the very setup I use on zwift and the reality of riding your bike cannot be matched by any other trainer.

Inside Ride - E-Motion Rollers

kingston 

jadocs Do you have the smartpower resistance control? I have thought about getting one but I've never been to the website when it wasn't sold out.

jadocs

I do and I highly recommend it.

Reacting to elevation with these rollers adds a whole other dimension to indoor riding.

kingston 

I have the inside rollers and a powermeter, which I think is enough to make Zwift work, but I've never tried it. I just load .erg files onto my bolt and watch tv.

jadocs

Yes it would work, you would have to set the resistance on the rollers and manage the rest with gears. Not nearly the same though. If you do decide to pick up a smart power unit, you won't be disappointed. I would use the smart power unit solely for "control" (zwift control) and still direct connect your power meter since you have one on your bike. You can really immerse yourself if you run zwift on a large screen TV and these rollers. You have to train yourself not to lean into the turns as your bombing down the mountains. Climbing the Alpe or Ven-Top is a whole different reality when you are forced to keep your bike rolling so you stay upright.

kingston 

Would it be enough to let me know if I like Zwift or not? It doesn't seem like something that would interest me which is why I've never tried it, but lots of people seem to love it.

jadocs

I thinks so, if you go in with the understanding that you are in control of the resistance and it is not being dealt to you for you to handle.

Some other thoughts just for your information:

1. Your power will be real and zwift will use that to determine speed (as long as your height/weight are entered accurately).

2. Zwift will adjust your speed automatically...so although you may not feel the elevation, your speed will be accurate based on the formula zwift uses to calculate speed (road conditions, elevation, drafting, height, weight, etc.). So potentially you could be going up a 10% incline and not feel it hit you, but your speed might be 3mph for example (based on how much power you are putting out). As long as you understand that with a smart unit....you would be feeling all of that, and using your gears to manage your power.

3. There is a guy on Facebook called "Cycle Jocky" who was using inside ride rollers without smart power. He set the magnetic resistance to 5 and direct connected with a power meter (he's a CAT A on zwift power). He has since put on a smart power unit and swears by this combo as well.

4. As you know, when you are forced to manage your effort based on elevation, it's much harder than an automatic speed adjustment. Sometimes you may be out of gears or in between gears which forces you to push through, all while keeping your bike rolling and upright.

5. If you have an Apple TV, I highly recommend downloading the Zwift app and running it on the largest TV you have...plop those rollers right in front of it and get to riding. The experience will be much more enjoyable vs. looking at it on a tablet or phone.

kingston 

Super helpful jadocs may give it a try this weekend. I understand the limitations of dumb resistance, but power is power. I'll probably just give it a try with my current setup which is an MS Surface on a stand in front of the bike. I have a big TV in my home-gym, but I put it in for the treadmill so it's too high to look at comfortably when I'm on the bike, so I'd have to move a bunch of stuff around to be able to position the rollers in front of another big TV, which wouldn't be worth it to me unless I like Zwifting significantly better then streaming TV and movies while I do my own structured workouts.

79pmooney

First thought - if you are not using a fork mount, there is no such thing as a casual roller workout. (Get casual and you will come off the rollers and find yourself on the floor very quickly!)

Second thought - with big gears, you can get a real workout without resistance. (Get your hands on the DVD of Eddy Merckx, circa 1972. Shows him doing roller intervals at power levels we can only dream of - and probably in a measly 52-13. 12s and 11s didn't exist,)

jadocs

Let me know how it goes!

gkamieneski

Very easy to add a homebrew "resistance bar" to any rollers made of alloy. Rare earth magnets do the trick and are readily available on Amazon. With building in some adjustability to the "resistance bar" you will be able to adjust your resistance level from none to much.