Whenever my friends rode within three feet of my bike, I panicked and swerved into the weeds. If the bike path got too skinny, I dismounted and walked. I sure loved to ride, but my comfort zone was small and my confidence was smaller. I think that amazing freedom I felt when I was riding my bike was a little bit tainted with anxiety because I just didn’t have good bike handling skills.
But that all changed when I started riding rollers.
I watched a YouTube video of a woman riding on rollers, and I thought, ohhhhh I could never. And that’s when I knew I had to try it! So I went on Amazon.com and bought the absolute cheapest set of bicycle rollers that I could find. They were on sale for a whopping $44 bucks. Yup, that’s it. Just a small investment with a huge payout for my confidence on the bike.
And then I started the very scary process of learning to ride them. I was surprised how much spending a few hours a week on the rollers revolutionized my ability to ride outside. Here’s how riding rollers helped me – and how they might just help you, too!
Better balance on your bike.
I thought my balance was pretty good until I climbed on the rollers. It really makes you focus on balance. Rollers aren’t like a trainer, where your bike is fastened securely in place – it’s much more like riding outside. Any minute corrections you make with your body or bike are much more exaggerated when you’re on the rollers.
So you need to work at balance to keep the bike going in a straight line. The rollers will expose any weaknesses you have, such as sitting crooked, being too stiff when you ride, not riding in a straight line, or just generally being unbalanced. Just keep at it – it definitely gets easier over time.
Smoother pedal stroke.
If you tend to grind or chop wood when you pedal, it will be much harder to ride on the rollers. If your pedal stroke is uneven, or not smooth, you’ll quickly find out how hard it is to keep the bike straight when you’re riding rollers. You’ll see your front wheel swerve with your stronger foot or bounce if you tend to chop. You’ll feel unsteady and uncomfortable.
A smooth, flowy stroke works much better on the rollers. You’ll be rewarded with a straighter, more relaxed ride. As you ride, think about making that pedal stroke as smooth and even as possible.
Hold a straight line.
Often, we don’t realize how crooked we ride until we get on the rollers. When you’re riding outside, you may inadvertently drift to one side or the other as you ride due to muscle imbalances, poor pedal strokes, or poor bike setup. If you have any of these challenges, it will show up on the rollers. You’ll have trouble staying straight and even when you ride.
Since the rollers are only a few feet wide, you’ll have to really work on riding in a straight line. I like to line up my front wheel with the grout in my floor tiles, which helps me stay straight. Also, looking straight ahead, rather than down, is key to keeping that wheel straight.
Riding through a small space.
One of my biggest challenges when I started riding was being able to ride close to other riders or through a small space. But since rollers aren’t very wide, and since I practiced riding in a doorway and next to my kitchen counter, I learned that I really could ride straight and close to objects or people.
It didn’t happen overnight, but in time, I gained a lot of confidence from the control I learned from riding rollers. That control made me so much more comfortable with my own skills and riding in a group. Now I can bump handlebars, shoulders, hold hands, and pat someone on the bike while I’m riding without being absolutely terrified.
Recovery rides.
Rollers are great for recovery. Since most rollers have very little resistance, you won’t be tempted to go too hard. You can just easy spin in an easy gear to loosen up your muscles and get your body moving. Rollers are also great for recovering from a hard race or a strength workout.
Improves core muscle strength.
Rollers will help you work on your core strength. You need to hold yourself in a solid position on the rollers, with your weight back on the seat and your shoulders and arms relaxed. This means you depend on your core muscles to keep you in the right position to ride smoothly. If you are stiff in your shoulders and arms, you’ll be wobbly. The micro-adjustments needed to keep the wheels straight will work your core and help you get stronger.
Warmups.
Track and cyclocross racers often bring their rollers along for warmups and cooldowns before and after their races. But you can do the same at home – use your rollers to warm up before strength training or even for an online race, if that’s your jam.
The lack of resistance makes it easy to spin the legs out.
Focus and Concentration.
Rollers require a different level of concentration. It’s easy to zone out when you’re riding your smart trainer, but with rollers, you need to pay attention and focus. This will help you really hone in on your skills and riding ability, so that when you ride outside, you’ll be able to focus more on what’s happening around you (which keeps you safer).
Training variety.
When the weather isn’t conducive to outside rides, many of us turn to our trainers and treadmills to stay active over the winter months. But hitting the same workouts day in and day out can get so boring and demotivating! What’s more, transitioning from the trainer back to outside rides can feel sketchy and uncomfortable. The rollers will offer you a little bit of variety to keep indoor training more interesting and help you keep your skills sharp for when it’s time to head back outside.
Rollers are accessible.
Not everyone can run out and buy an expensive smart trainer. Although they’re great for indoor training, they’re also heavy, they take up space, they can be challenging to set up if you don’t have the right bike, and they cost a fortune.
Rollers are a very accessible introduction to the world of online training, aside from a small learning curve to use them. Although professional caliber rollers are quite expensive, there are many different affordable options for rollers that will work just fine. I think the cheapest on Amazon right now are around $80 (but I’ve never tried out this particular brand.
Additionally, rollers can be a lot easier to set up than a smart trainer. You don’t have to worry about taking the wheel off, changing a cassette, or figuring out what thru-axle or skewer you need. You just slide the rollers into the right size and you are good to go. It’s a nice option if you don’t have a dedicated trainer bike, too, because you won’t have to take it on and off for indoor versus outdoor rides. So if technical stuff isn’t your strong suit, then rollers might be a win because they are accessible.
And since they aren’t heavy, you can slide them closed and stash them away in a closet when not in use, saving you space and set up time.
Your friends will be impressed!
I’m surprised by how many good cyclists don’t ride rollers, and they’ll be impressed to find out you’re mastering a new skill. Besides, it’s just cool! While it may feel sketchy and scary at first, the more you practice riding rollers, the easier it will get. Eventually, you can work on roller workouts, cadence drills, sprints, and tricks such as one-legged drills, hopping on and off, and riding no hands.
Need rollers? Try these! Got tips? Drop them below!
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