I recently became reacquainted with the practice of using my bike to collect sweat rather than mud while on lockdown, and I am better off for those hours spent pedaling on my apartment balcony. Be it snow or a novel virus keeping you indoors, a proper set of rollers can create a link to maintaining and gaining fitness. Regardless of any riding or racing goals, I’d rather return to the trails having ridden the rollers than the couch.
Rollers allow you to utilize the small stabilizer muscles that keep your body balancing upright and your handlebars facing forward, where stationary trainer don’t. They also keep your mind engaged, and if your attention strays too far you’ll find yourself on the floor. The Quick-Motion rollers add some valuable characteristics to the mix, with three levels of resistance and a floating system that allows the rollers to move around just enough to feel more natural and safe.
Loosen this red knob and adjust the overall length to your bike. The front axle should be roughly 1cm behind the front roller axle.
Setting the Quick Motion rollers up is a snap. They arrive from the Italian factory fully assembled, with only a few minor adjustments between unboxing and sweating. Check the instructions for the sequence of unfolding and tightening the billfold contraption, then adjust the overall length to your bike’s wheelbase and you’re good to go.
It’s important to make sure the rubber belts are precisely seated in their tracks so that they don’t rub on the frame and wear prematurely. Once they are slotted in place they stay put, so you only need to check them when unfolding the rollers for a workout.
The base has six quiet rubber wheels. The resistance lever can be clicked while pedaling with the flick of a right toe after a little practice.
Having ridden several fully stationary sets of rollers I was immediately pleased with the small amount of fore and aft movement that the Quick-Motion setup allows. They move horizontally, about 2cm in either direction, with a fair amount of resistance on the six wheels that contact the floor. When you are seated and pedaling smoothly the frame sits perfectly still, but if you stand up or push hard through an interval they rock back and forth just enough to keep you from flying off the front or back through the effort. The point where they stop rolling along the ground ramps up progressively, like an air shock, preventing any jerking sensation. Beginners will appreciate how the floating system absorbs sudden movements, making it a little easier to get your balance at first.
In addition to smoothing things out with a little movement, the Quick-Motion rollers offer three magnetic resistance settings. The chart above depicts the amount of power a rider needs to exert in order to maintain a certain speed in each of the resistance levels. I have been riding the rollers on my cyclocross bike because it has far higher gearing than any of my mountain bikes and, with 32mm-wide slick tires, the second level of resistance was plenty for most workouts. If you hopped on with mountain bike tires the tread would add significant friction, and even more noise, and the first setting would likely be sufficient.
The Quick-Motion rollers retail for $/€349.99 (£299.99). The video below demonstrates fore and aft movement and resistance level adjustment.
We would like to thank Elite for providing the Quick-Motion rollers for testing and review.
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May 12, 2020