Sober on the Rollers

[Mick F]

Dunno where else to put this post!

Been riding the rollers when I need to. Not been well for a while, and the weather has been rubbish for a few months. I need to get fitter.
Now have an energetic border collie youngster, so he needs walking and even if the weather isn't good, a couple of mile's walk is easily done.

We live in a bungalow .... as most of you lot know ...... and putting the rollers up needs a doorway. To get on and clip in, it needs the wheels and pedals to be stationary then off you go whizzing away.
Elbows out onto the door frame works well to balance to start, but which doorway?

The one from the hall into the livingroom, or the one out of the kitchen or bedroom, both are inconvenient. Bathroom/Loo is very inconvenient!
Spare bedroom is ok, but because of the access angle, it's not so good, so hall/livingroom is best.

This morning .................. and I'm now getting onto the point of this ramble ........... I had a roller ride for a hard 15mins. This was after doing some logging and lifting and shifting them onto the hearth. Off I went on Mercian on the rollers in the hall/livingroom doorway in a nice high gear making it feel like I'm climbing a long hill and it takes some effort to do. Happy as Larry (whoever he was).

At soon after 11am, me and Doggie went for an hour's walk, and on the way back ......... as is our habit ........... called in at the pub.
He had a couple of Bonios given to him by the landlord, and I had a couple (no more!) of Dartmoor Legend.

Home, and changed clothes, put my cycling shoes on and climbed on.

Two pints of beer, and I couldn't ride the rollers!
It shows how difficult it is.

[rjb]

Haven't ridden rollers for decades but when i did i got going by having them against a wall so i could lean and get some initial support. After a short while i was able to just start and the momentum was sufficient then to keep going without an issue so no wall required. They were straight cylindrical rollers in those days not the concave ones which are around now and which may be easier to get on with.

I've mentioned on here previously how one of my mates was watching some cycle racing on the telly when riding his rollers. He got carried away at the finish and tried to sprint for it, came off the rollers and flew across the lounge crashing into his parents TV.

[661-Pete]

Two pints of beer, and I couldn't ride the rollers!
It shows how difficult it is.

I've tried rollers once - many years ago, when I was a student and someone from the Uni CC invited me. Found it difficult to balance, but I suppose there's a knack.

Couldn't ride after two pints? Count yourself lucky - it's your own fault! When I suffered from my 'affliction' which led to my recent operation, even when I thought I was recovering (this was before the op), I still couldn't mount the bike. Not even after lowering the saddle right down to the seat tube. I just couldn't quite get my leg over (no cracks about Johnners, Aggers, and Botham's infamous dismissal, if you please!). Managed it once, tried to move forward and immediately fell over (since the op. I've been able to cycle normally ).

[tatanab]

Back in the early 80s I went to a cycling exhibition where a local club had a basic set of rollers with two people holding up anybody who wanted to ride. I asked one person to stand back and the other to stand alongside so I could rest a hand on his shoulder. As soon as I got going and let go he stepped back. Neither of them would come back to me so I could dismount, so I had to jump the bike off the rollers to stop that way. About 30 years later I decided to experiment with rollers again and set them up in the shed so I could rest a hand on the workbench when needed. More involving than riding a turbo trainer, but I never liked either of them so did not do it often and have not tried since.

Here's me "checking calibration" on competition rollers. Messing about really.

[Whippet]

I hope the Mercian gets well wiped down afterwards. Wouldn’t like sweat to take its toll on such a cracking bike.

[Mick F]

No sweat!
Well, perhaps some, but I'm not a sweaty drippy person. On the rollers, I don't wear much - T shirt, socks and cycling shoes. Bare bum!

I ride maybe ten minutes or fifteen, then stop for a rest and a sit-down. Then back on later.
It's very hard work riding rollers and fifteen minutes at a time is enough as it's like riding hard uphill perhaps 8%.

If you select a lower gear it's easy pedalling, but difficult balancing, so get in a high gear and pedal hard so the wheels go round fast. It makes it stable and easy to balance, but you need to build up the momentum, hence the doorway.

I'm a plodder and tend to be at 60odd rpm cadence naturally. I'll sit in 53/14 gear = 100 gear inches and later maybe in 53/13 = 108 gear inches.
Doing 65rpm at 100" = 20mph. Fast enough to balance and fast enough for effort against the friction.

[philvantwo]

Too much information.

[colin54]

Too much information.

To be fair, I think bareback riding is still popular in the old west.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooFbkQfyoI4

[Mick F]

Seriously, though, what's the point of wearing cycling clothes when riding rollers or riding a turbo?
Shoes for the pedals, and socks to make them comfortable of course.

As for any other clothing, it's very hot work riding indoors. Even just a light T shirt is hot.

[philvantwo]

My turbo is set up in the cold garage, bibshorts and a tee shirt, take the tee shirt off when I've warmed up. No socks!! Its an old gazelle ab frame I use. Have you tried your little wheeled bike on the rollers?

[Mick F]

Nowhere available other than in the house or outside in the rain.
In the nicer weather I will be outside ok.

Full-sized bikes fit on the rollers better than small-wheelers.
The rollers are adjustable for wheelbase, but the distance between the rear pair is fixed. Small rear wheels bog down.
The Chopper was ok as the rear wheel was 26" (if my memory serves me).
RSW16 was almost impossible, but Moulton not so impossible though still difficult.

I suppose the rear pair could be adjusted by drilling another pair of holes, though I wouldn't bother.

These are mine.
https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/eli ... prod30010#

[peetee]

I don’t know about rollers but I did a 50 min spin class last night and was anaerobic for 30 mins. I think we all suffered. There was noticeably less conversation at the end than previous weeks.

[Mick F]

Yes, it's hard work!
Rollers produce friction. After ten or fifteen minutes at circa 20mph, the tyres are very warm.