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Rollers and trainers. Summary

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  • Rollers and trainers. Summary



    Dear members of the forum,
    My original question was:
    I am looking for information about rollers and trainer for
    bicycles.
    Advantages and disadvantages.
    -Rollers vs. trainers.
    -Magnetic vs. fluid.
    -Feasibility for training.
    If you are user of this equipment, personal opinion will be welcome.
    This is the summary of the different opinions and comments that I received
    from two forums: Biomech and Sports Enigeering. Thanks to all.
    If you have more opinions or comments, I will complete the summary
    in the future
    Advantages of rollers


     Good for warming up


    develop good co-ordination


    You will also have found your natural cadence, which you can then use on
    the road to tell you when to change gears


     On rollers is where I really learned bike control


    Disadvantages of rollers


    can offer little resistance


    require skill and attention when riding


    is as boring as watching cement set


    the newer grooved aluminium rollers, use touring tires- those things eat
    racing tires for lunch


    too much resistance and the bike/rider would ride off the front of the
    rollers


    Advantages of trainers


    More stable ride


    several types of resistance (fan, constant magnet, variable magnet, fluid
    in order from cheaper)


    Expensive models can be connected to a PC to run a simulated program of
    variable resistance, race against an imaginary opponent or even connect
    to the internet


    Trainers are easier to learn


    probably safer


    they are smaller and more portable.


    Disadvantages of trainers


    is as boring as watching cement set


    SYSTEMS & NOTES


    Fluid supposed to be better than magnets which supposed to be better than
    fan


    to simulate actual road cycling you need a flywheel that has equivalent
    rotational inertia as the linear inertia of a cyclist. i.e. 60-80kg. The
    cheap units are hardly ever heavy enough to do that


    The air resistance needs to be simulated as well. Air resistance is cubic
    in nature as is water. i.e. the faster you want to go the force required
    increases cubically not linearly. This is normally done with air turbine
    fans (but rarely is it done correctly. i.e. pedal speed at a given gear
    offers the right resistance). This is not simulated by magnetic or belt
    brakes or electrical brakes ( gym equipment), which tend to be linear in
    nature


    Fluid trainers are smoother and resistance increases exponentially. 
    Most magnetic trainers give the sensation of "pulses" coming from the rear
    wheel.  Fan assemblies are also popular, but are noisy.  As in
    fluid trainers, the resistance increases as velocity increases.


    Wind resistance is used with both trainers and some rollers. It is loud
    yet can be used to create a cooling breeze very desirable when in a sealed
    room. No different resistance settings yet accurate exponential increase
    in resistance with speed. Same speed/resistance relationship as outdoors.


    magnetic resistance has variable resistance but it's not speed dependant.
    Much quieter than wind


    fluid resistance is quiet has variable resistance as well as speed dependant
    resistance. Supposedly the cadillac of trainers but I don't think there
    too much better than mag trainers.


    fans generate a lot of noise


    the noise that may be created by the fans or the magnetic unit are in my
    opinion not a big deal


    ROLLERS: also I wanted to get aluminum and not PVC drums


    --
    ************************************************
    Juan V. Durá - Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia
    http://www.ibv.org
    Tel. +34 - 961366032       Fax. +34 -
    961366033
     

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