You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Got myself a set of rollers to try and spice up indoor training a bit, but I'm struggling to get them set up.
When I get on the bike, it has a tendency to squirt off the back of the rollers - I'm wondering if that's an indication that I don't have the length set correctly?
when I'm pedalling, there's a constant kick coming from somewhere as if the bike has a buckled wheel (could be a flat spot in the wheel?), or one of the rollers has either a worn bearing or bent axle - bought them second hand, so either of these is a possibility as well. Before I go problem solving issues on the bike or the trainer, I wondered if it might be related to a combination of the length not being set properly and my tendency to have a slightly lumpy pedal stroke. As it was a first attempt, I was soft pedalling in trainers and a very easy gear.
Any (constructive) advice gratefully received.
Where is the front roller in relation to the front axle?
I've got it set up so the axle is just behind the apex of the roller - around 4cm
Use another bike and see what happens? Does each roller spin smooth and evenly at the back?
Are you using them the right way round? 😉
If you’re saying the axle is about 4cm behind the roller apex then that’s a lot too much. Should be only very slightly behind, 5mm or so. The bumping may be it trying to go backwards off the roller each pedal stroke.
Pump the tyres up to the maximum allowed.
Are you using them the right way round? 😉
😂
Definitely get the front axle over the front roller, I had a frustrating first few sessions on my rollers having exactly the same issue!
Weirdly I still get it slightly if trying a big gear at a low cadence, just assuming my technique gets sloppy at low cadence...
If you’re saying the axle is about 4cm behind the roller apex then that’s a lot too much. Should be only very slightly behind, 5mm or so. The bumping may be it trying to go backwards off the roller each pedal stroke.
+1, the elite rollers have the wheelbase printed on the side, the correct position is whatever the bikes wheelbase is, rounded up to the next hole (they're about 20mm incraments).
The rollers spin much quicker than anything on your bike (~2000rpm), if they were bent or worn it would be a humm not a wobble.
the front roller needs to be just ahead of the front axle (by a cm or so) not behind. If your using MTB tyres then consider switching (at least the rear) to something with less tread, that should make the whole thing a lot more smooth.