Turbo trainer vs rollers

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

musa

Über Member
Location
Surrey
+1
i would like to know too
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
They do indeed serve a different purpose, a turbo is ideally suited to high intensity interval type training, a set of rollers (on the most part, although some come with resistance unit's etc) is not particularly suited to this type of training. Rollers are more suited to improving your bike handling, smoothness of pedaling and general "low" intensity riding.
 

derrick

The Glue that binds us together.
They both allow you to train when the weather is rubbish, i do interval training on the rollers, i have clocked over 30mph with no probs at all.^_^
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
They both allow you to train when the weather is rubbish, i do interval training on the rollers, i have clocked over 30mph with no probs at all.^_^

You can do interval training on rollers, but generally not as effectively as on a turbo trainer as there is usually not enough resistance.

BTW, clocking a high speed on an indoor trainer is utterly meaningless.
 

screenman

Legendary Member
30mph on the old rollers I had was a doddle, whilst trying to do the same on level 10 of my Cateye CS-1000 is a no go. This machine is as smooth as silk, giving many different read outs for future reference points. No replacement for a road ride but has its own benefits.

cs1000.jpg
 
rollers for warming up - turbo for training.

As Robert says - speed on rollers (or turbo for that matter) is utterly meaningless. RPE, HR or power is what you should be monitoring.
 

ushills

Veteran
Don't underestimate the workout you can get on rollers, you can work up a decent sweat.

I've owned both and have settled on rollers, wit rollers you won't be grinding away on the pedels but by using the gears you can still build up a decent workout.

They do improve peddling style, smoothness and balance. Bit more like a time-trial than a ride as you need to keep going the entire time and there are no downhills.

I find them more interesting than a turbo and therefore use them more.
 
Top Bottom