Bicycle trainers and rollers convert your regular road bike into an indoor exercise bike. Popular with recreational and competitive cyclists alike, variations of trainers and rollers have, according to fitness historian and author Alan Radley in his book "The Illustrated History of Physical Culture" been in use since the early 19th century. Both bicycle trainers and rollers provide an effective alternative to cycling out of doors. Trainers allow you to work at a high level of intensity to really challenge your muscles and cardiovascular system. Rollers are easier on your body but will help you to develop a smooth and economical cycling style while improving your balance.
Benefits
Bicycle trainers and rollers offer an effective alternative to riding your bicycle outside where weather, traffic or lack of streetlights may make cycling dangerous. Perform workouts in front of the TV or while listening to music, which can increase your motivation levels, especially on a long ride. To save space, dismantle bike trainers and rollers put them away when not in use.
Features
Bicycle trainers use fans for resistance. Your rear wheel drives the fan. The harder you pedal, the greater the resistance and the more intense your workout. The wheel of your bike secures to the bike trainer via a clamp. Certain models may require you to remove your front wheel so that the forks are supported by bracket instead. Rollers are rectangular frames holding three interconnected revolving drums. Your rear wheel drives the drums and you must pedal continuously to maintain an upright position. Because the drums are connected, both your front and rear wheel revolve and simulate riding along the road.
Effects
You can use bike trainers and rollers for interval training, speed work, time trials, cadence or leg speed training, as well as just replicating your regular workout. Because of the greater pedaling resistance, bike trainers provide the more intense workout but bike rollers demand more balance and a smoother pedaling action.
Considerations
Both types of indoor trainer make you sweat more than normal. The sweat from your body will drip onto the bottom bracket assembly and, if you don't have a sealed unit, water can penetrate your bottom bracket and cause mechanical problems. Have water on hand during your training sessions.
Warnings
Bike frames flex when you use them. This is especially true when sprinting or hill climbing. A bike secured to a bicycle trainer cannot flex as much. This puts stress on the weld points on your bike frame, which could lead to frame damage and may reduce the life of your bike. When using bike rollers, if you stop pedaling or deviate from riding in a straight line, you will fall off. Because of the risk of coming off the rollers and minimal margin for error, it is very difficult to work at high levels of intensity. Sprinting out of the saddle, for example, is not possible using rollers. Rollers offer minimal resistance, so reducing the overload compared to bicycle trainers.
References
- "The Cyclist's Training Bible"; Joe Friel; 2009
- "Tips for Using Bicycle Rollers Indoor as a Part of Winter Cross-Training"; Mike Martin Racing;
- "101 Cycling Workouts: Improve Your Cycling Ability While Adding Variety to Your Training Program"; David Ertl; 2009
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