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Rollers or Turbo?! Beginner advice

by Chameleon78
Sun, Oct 24, 2010 18:30
6

As a relative newcomer to road riding I have signed up for my first Sportive next April. 60miles.
I have been mountain biking for years but have not done much in the way of cycling for the last few years so am currently trying to maintain a weekly ride to build up my fitness - it almost feels like starting from scratch.

My dilemma is this though, I have Mon , Tues and Weds evenings available to train along with occasional Saturdays and Sundays (Wife works every other Sat morning)We have an 8 month old daughter so I'm trying to fit in riding which doesnt take up to much of my weekend with my daughter.

I have worked out that i could potentially fit in 30-60 mins of riding on either a turbo or rollers most evenings in the week with a long ride at the weekend.

With this in mind what would suit me best? rollers or Turbo?
I am not sure about the vasrious training methods for a turbo, but I want to acheive overall fitness, endurance and if possible power - my mate is already quite established in his fitness so i'd like to get somewhere close to beating him!!!

Any advice???

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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6 comments

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Coodsta | 14 years ago
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Rollers are way more fun but you can't really give it some with out the risk of falling off. A turbo is safe & easy to set up,but feels a bit odd as the bike is fixed underneath you.

Found this website last year, it got me throught the winter, lots of different plans to work out, assuming you can set your turbo up in front of your computer.

http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/

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Fish_n_Chips | 14 years ago
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It's raining, you drag the turbo trainer out and give it some.

You're exhausted from heavy interval training, head on the bars, brain blank and heavy breathing you can't pedal any more...

Behold you're still safe and not keeling over as you would on a roller!

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simonmb | 14 years ago
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Still struggling to really get to grips with my rollers after... ooh... far too long to mention. Wish I'd bought a turbo!

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Jon Burrage | 14 years ago
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I agree with both what FishnChips and Dave said - rollers can be great but if you are starting out at indoor training and havent the space/will/guts to really go for it then they can be pretty scary (overbalanced and went through a desk while at uni - looked like a tool)

Turbo trainer every time for me, some are really good bits of kit.

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Fish_n_Chips | 14 years ago
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Fitness - Turbo
Technique for racing - rollers but will be fine for training.

Safest? ~Turbo IMHO.

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dave atkinson | 14 years ago
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you could do a lot worse than heading over to www.thesufferfest.com and checking out some of the sessions on there...

rollers vs turbo - i'd go for turbo every time. rollers are an acquired taste, never managed to acquire it personally 22

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