Rollers V Turbo Trainer

torturedsoul

Just wondering what ye're opionions are on this.

Which is better for winter training?

I can't decide

CianRyan

Rollers scare the **** out of me, I want a turbo.

Dr.Millah

Rollers! Once you get a bit used to them you can hop on and off no problem and get very good balance and a good spinning technique.

Home:Ballyhoura

Turbo: Good for intervals, hard efforts where you are bursting your gut (or trying to maintain a very specific power/intensity) and don't want to worry about keeping balance. Can be boring and unrealistic. May need to source a spare back wheel with a cheap tyre to avoid shredding your good one, can be a bit noiser than rollers and maybe take a bit longer to set up.

Rollers: Good for lower resistance workouts, less boring as you have to concentrate a bit more (even get used to them you still need to be aware and cannot zone out), nice for easier or longer sessions, can help with high cadence work and smooth pedalling technique, good for warm ups too. Quick to set up and relatively quiet.

All depends on what you want to use them for. Neither are much easier than the other to transport. Rollers can be a bit cheaper too.

Hope this helps.

EDIT: For winter, I would probably go with rollers as the time goes by faster for me on them so would be easier to get in the winter base miles with longer sessions as opposed to the turbo. However you may want to sit down and watch the tele on a turbo whereas on the rollers you might not be able to take your mind off it too much depending on how comfortable you are on them.

TheBlaaMan

Or you could always try these and let us know how you get on; at €400 they aint cheap.....wait till about 40sec in.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQz_u0Vc8Os

edit:

Dunno why this video is not embedding properly ...mods?

Anyhow, here's the youtube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQz_u0Vc8Os

Kebel

+1 on what Ballyhoura said (I actually have and use both by the way)

Rollers

Pros
· great for “easy” / active recovery – e.g. 40 mins easy spinning on a Monday after racing hard on Sunday
· literally no setting up so very time efficient
· No need for extra / 2nd wheel – saves time and money
· In general cheaper
· Quieter
· I have a decent set of rollers which have differing levels of resistance so approximates something like an easy/moderate gradient which is great for longer sub-threshold and threshold work as well.
· Great for balance / handling
· Less boring

Cons
· Hard(er) to master at first
· Not great for really hard stuff – danger of falling off ….

Turbo

Pros
· Ease of use – just pedal and go (you need to do something “special” to fall off)
· Great for really hard stuff (you can stop pedalling after your interval without falling off)
· If you have a 2nd bike leave it on the turbo permanently, and it is always ready to go
· Not one for everyone but my teenage kids use it too – rollers would be too scary for them J
· Time efficient

Cons
· Ideally you need a 2nd wheel or you will shred road tyres (more money either way …)
· Boring (can be)

My tuppence worth anyway – to attempt to answer OP’s original Q it depends on what you are training for – if you just want to maintain an endurance base for sportives and the like then personally I think rollers are great, or if you are looking to all out top end stuff – e.g. 1 - 2 minute all out efforts and the likes than Turbo is the way to go that or just buy both J

Alternatively if any of your mates have either ask them to let you try them and see for yourself that or a good LBS will often have a couple of trainers set up in store


Kebel

torturedsoul

Cheers lads,
Savage help to be fair. It does look like I will need to buy both (why am I not surprised)

I do want to keep a good base level over the winter but overall I need to start building up muscle and strength through cadence training.

More money I think.

thanks for the advice though, Its good to know what each one offers

Murph100

+1 The lads are spot on. I use both as well, but if you had to buy only one, I guess the turbo would be the more versatile, given that with it you can do anything from easy spins to eyeballs intervals.

Rollers though are great for working on pedal stroke and as had been said, time goes quicker and you simply just pop the bike on and away you go ... ( sideways into the lawnmower ) . The cheap Tacx rollers are grand, if you have a turbo for higher resistance sessions.

Lusk Doyle

Are rollers compatible with an imac?

Murph100

Yes, but only the iRoll version, get the iFall upgrade as well though, comes in very handy.

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

Are rollers compatible with an imac?

ednwireland

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

Are rollers compatible with an imac?

maybe immac