ROLLER LEAGUE
When: Restarts Monday 16th November 2015 – 7.30-8.30pm. for both Adults and Juniors.
Cost: £2.00 per evening.
What are rollers?
Bicycle rollers are a type of bicycle trainer that make it possible to ride a bicycle indoors without moving forward. However, unlike other types of bicycle trainers, rollers do not attach to the bicycle frame, and the rider must balance him or herself on the rollers while training. Bicycle rollers normally consist of three cylinders, drums, or “rollers” (two for the rear wheel and one for the front), on top of which the bicycle rides. A belt connects one of the rear rollers to the front roller, causing the front wheel of the bicycle to spin when the bicycle is pedaled. The spacing of bicycle rollers can usually be adjusted to match the bicycle’s wheelbase. Generally, the front roller is adjusted to be slightly ahead of the hub of the front wheel.
Riding rollers
Balancing the bicycle without riding off the rollers is an extra challenge for the rider and requires much more balance and attention than other bicycle trainers. Some find that this helps them focus on the workout, while others prefer the stability of a trainer. Bicycle racers use rollers to finely tune their balance, a skill needed for drafting (racing) or the close quarters of a peloton.
Novices often start by placing the bicycle rollers in a hallway or door frame where there is a nearby wall for support in case of a fall. Removing sharp and dangerous objects from the area is a must, and bicyclists often wear a helmet, even though they are indoors. Beginners quickly discover that it is easier to maintain one’s balance by focusing on a point a few yards ahead, rather than looking directly down at the front wheel. For the same reason that it is easier to ride a narrow straight path when riding faster, it is also easier to stay on the rollers in a higher gear, hence causing the wheels to spin faster, because smaller steering corrections produce quicker lateral movement of the wheel contact patches. The user has no forward momentum while on bicycle rollers, reducing possibility of injury to the event of falling off balance.
Goldsprints
We use the Goldsprint system. A Goldsprint is a bicycle rollers racing and social event. Riders on stationary bikes compete against each other in front of spectators.
While roller racing has a history going back to the beginning of cycling, Goldsprints are fairly new and closely related to bicycle messenger culture. It began in Zurich, Switzerland as part of the 1999 Cycle Messenger World Championships. At which point the name and the event were founded by Adrien Weber, a passionate cyclist and owner of the TurbinenBräu brewery in Zurich, Turbinenbräu. The event was named after their beer brand “Gold-Sprint”.
As opposed to traditional roller racing, where riders have to balance, Goldsprints use forkstands so that the riders don’t have to balance, only pedal as fast as they can. This provides an easy way for anyone to try Goldsprints. However some Goldsprints groups are now adding traditional rollers, without forkstands, to their equipment to challenge the advanced riders. As with roller racing in general, the rollers are in turn attached to a device that measures distance and can display the progress of the riders. Goldsprints can also feature modern 2D and 3D visualizations.