Rollers or Turbo?

[Joe24]

Hello
For winter training i think i wont be doing too well with doing what i did last winter, when riding in the dark. Which involved riding on busy roads doing little loops over and over. I think that after riding on country roads, and just going and going, means that i cant be doing with stop start traffic when i want to go hard.
So, i have about £120-ish to spend. Dont buy online so it will probably be bought from Evans, or if the LBS can get it in.
So, rollers or turbo?
For turbo i will need to ask around for a old rear wheel i can put an 8 speed block on, and a turbo tyre to use for the turbo so i'm not shredding my rear tyre.
For rollers i dont have to do this(right? they wont shread my bike tyre?) but they dont have the resistance(or the one i looked at didnt)
So which will do me better? I still want to keep training(probably wont be as much as i'm doing now)
Any advice?

Cheers

 

[RedBike]

I used to have a set of rollers. They certainly made you spend longer / work harder. On the turbo I used to get board and just sit there twidling away watching the TV. However, with the rollers if I stopped concentrating on what I was doing then I fell off.

(When the bike comes off the rollers you're not actually carrying any momentum so you don't go shooting accross the room at 20/30mph, in fact you more or less stop. )

There's no reason to worry about the resistance aspect of the rollers. Obviously you can't simulate hills; but you can still get one heck of a workout by putting the bike in a high gear and pedalling hard.

I ended up selling my rollers because I couldn't get on/off the bike while it was on the rollers. The rollers made the bike another 4/5" off the ground so I couldn't touch the floor. I had to use a stool and wall!

You often see people at time trials / races sat in the carpark pedalling away none handed on these things. How they can do that is totally beyond me.

I've now switched to an i-magic. I never get board and I can't fall off!

 

[jags]

joe24 go for the rollers they keep you thinking honestly,just dont pull your brakes have fun.

 

[Joe24]

ooooo what happens if you brake?
Its going to be used in the shed mainly, so i can touch the sides easy.

 

[ComedyPilot]

I am gearing my bike up for a winter of turbo-ing. I'll still be commuting on my hybrid, and will hopefully have my fixed by November so I can give my legs a bit of a shock every now and then. I have permisson from Mrs CP to set the turbo up in the glass lean-to (conservatory) and am looking at doing 1-2 hours a night. Joe, you ought to set up a 'Today I turboed.....' thread.

 

[Mortiroloboy]

IMHO ...No contest, Rollers, get 'em purchased, you'll never regret it.

 

[Joe24]

Sounds like i should go for rollers then.
Cheers
I can imagine it now, me handing in homework with bits of sweat on, and the teacher wondering what it is.
"well miss i didmy homework whilst training on my bike"

 

[bonj2]

surely good lights are only as cheap as rollers?

 

[bonj2]

of if you're determined to go the rollers route, try and hook yourself up to the national grid aswell while you're at it, earn yourself a bit of cash.

 

[Joe24]

of if you're determined to go the rollers route, try and hook yourself up to the national grid aswell while you're at it, earn yourself a bit of cash.

I think i should do that, hook it up to some lights, or a radio. Keep me peddling so i can still listen to the radio.
Or sell it on to the neighbours, green power.

 

[bonj2]

seriously, you can do it. my little bro knows a fella who (legally) converts chip fat to diesel oil and burns it in a generator he's built and his electricity bill is negative.

 

[Jen71]

Are either of these better with a mountain bike?

 

[RedBike]

Knobbly tyres and roller / turbo trainers really don't mix.

There are a few turbo trainers that run off the rims of your rear wheel.

 

[Jen71]

Thanks, can you use either with a hybrid or do I need another bike!

 

[RedBike]

Most turbo trainers / rollers can be adjusted so that they can be used with a either a MTB or a road bike. It's the tyres that are the problem.
You need to use a smooth slick tyre.

I know that Minoura (and probably a few other manufucatures) make turbo trainers that drive off the rim of the wheel and not the tyre.
http://www.ukbikesdepot.com/products.php?plid=m2b16s36p1177&rs=gb
(I've never used one so i've no idea what they're like)