Bike roller

One of the most fashionable and, sincerely, more practical accessories in the world of cycling, training and fitness is the bicycle roller. If you still do not know what it is or if you want to know its benefits, here we will explain everything you need to choose the best bike roller.

Wall rack for bicycle Meollo

What is a bicycle roller for?

This incredible accessory serves to cover two main needs that can be summarized in the possibility of using your usual indoor bicycle as if it were a static gym bike and to be able to carry out a complete indoor training. In this sense, the bicycle roller is a complete system that holds the bike and offers a support on which to roll and which gives the cyclist a feeling very similar to that of the road.If the weather conditions or complicated schedules prevent us from taking our bicycle outdoors, we do not need to buy a static, but we can get the most out of ours thanks to these innovative rollers.

Wall rack for bike Meollo

 

Is it easy to pedal on a bicycle roller?

Before you dive in to buy one of these bicycle rollers, we want to warn you that, although they may seem like it, they are not a simple analogy of the treadmills. Riding a roller and pedaling is almost a new skill in itself that requires a lot more balance and technique than normal outdoor pedaling. In fact, the experience of pedaling for the first time in life on one of these devices can despair and ridicule even the best cyclist in history. However, as with all sports, a little time and effort do wonders. In fact, as pedaling is so demanding on these systems, when we use them we will unconsciously improve our technique and our body position so they are highly recommended because they will help us to pedal better and more effectively outdoors too.

Wall rack for bike Meollo

Structure of the rollers for bicycle

Most bicycle rollers have a general design that basically consists of three drums or cylinders inserted in axes that, in turn, are held in a rectangular frame. Easy, truth? Precisely that simple configuration makes it difficult to ride on them at the beginning.

 

Two of the cylinders support the rear wheel and only one front wheel is all linked by a rubber band. The frames of the rollers are usually made of steel or aluminum, the rubber band and the cylinders themselves can be found made of PVC plastic or metal. As is evident, the cylinders made of plastic materials are much less resistant and require maintenance and periodic replacement. If you have decided to use your roller a lot, we recommend that you opt for a metal one.

How to use a bicycle roller?

Bicycle rollers are very easy to operate and use. Most models require a very fast assembly and basic tools as they are made up of very few parts. Once the structure is assembled, the cyclist simply has to get on the bike … and pray. While you will see numerous videos in which people are able to ride without hands while writing on WhatsApp, we insist that pedaling without falling down at the beginning is quite a challenge. The difficulty derives from the fact that the bicycle is not attached to the roller and that we only have the small width of the apparatus to correct any imbalance before falling.

Before getting on the bicycle roller we will have to make sure that the front wheel is perfectly placed in the center of the front axle to avoid it leaving the roller. Another difficulty is something simple but not obvious when buying it, how do we get on the bike?

If we are not very tall, getting on the bike is as difficult as riding a horse. It is advisable to have at hand some kind of structure on which to lean, such as a stool, a wooden box or a small chair.

Prepare the area for the bicycle roller

We recommend that you thoroughly clean the room or room in which you intend to use the roller and that near the bicycle there is no type of object that can be broken, or that, when hitting it, it hurts you. Crystals and fragile things must be kept away and … listen to us, you will collide and fall, so it is better to prevent.

Advantages of a bicycle roller

Together with the fact that this accessory allows us to save the investment in a static bicycle, being able to pedal at home with any climatic condition, one of the main advantages of the bicycle roller is that its use eliminates the variables of training on the street, offering a controlled environment. This advantage is especially important in cases where we are recovering from an injury and still do not trust our strength or agility on the street.