This review is way too long and really earnest, which means it is not the work of Schmalz. Andy

So, what are the attributes of the perfect indoor training tool? It should make you ride your bike, like rollers. Rollers make you a smoother bike handler, and don’t put your frame under any undue stress. It should allow you to ride at high wattages like a trainer, so you can do any workout. Finally, it should mimic road feel, with inertia to resist accelerations and carry the pedal stroke through the dead spots. Rollers don’t resist accelerations very well, and it’s hard to ride at high wattages. Small drum rollers or fan units raise the resistance, but don’t have the momentum to simulate road feel. Trainers resist accelerations better, but even the ones with larger flywheels coast down very quickly. And of course, trainers encourage bad form.

The TruTrainer rollers come awfully close to being the do-it-all indoor trainer. At first glance, they appear to be nothing but an overbuilt set of rollers, but closer inspection reveals a devilishly clever flywheel hidden inside the rear roller. A belt between the two rear rollers drives the flywheel at a ratio that spins the flywheel faster than the roller that contains it. The flywheel, your wheels, and the three rollers provides the inertial resistance to acceleration. That same rotational inertia helps you through the dead spots, much as your forward momentum does out on the road. And since the roller and the flywheel inside it spin at different speeds, viscous drag forces between them create resistance, sort of like a wind trainer. You can ride much higher wattages on these rollers than standard rollers. 

Construction of the rollers is first rate, enough to make Kreitlers seem like tinker toys. The frame is very sturdy, with a rubber tread on top should you put a cleat down, and comes in folding or non-folding versions. Front roller adjustment is very solid, more time consuming than pulling a pin on the Kreitlers, but less prone to vibration as well. The rear rollers are farther apart than your typical rollers, by a whopping 3″. The rear rollers are elevated so that the bike sits more level (why didn’t all the other roller makers think of this?). The wide stance resists fore/aft movement better, making it easier to transition in and out of the saddle. Having the wheels deeper in the rollers does pinch the rear wheel and make it more sluggish, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff for not bouncing around every time you stand up too quickly.

TruTrainer and Kreitlers, set to the same wheelbase. Note wide spacing of rear rollers.

Another benefit of the heavy flywheel is the long coastdown, 30 seconds from 20 mph. By comparison, the largest drum Kreitlers coast down in 5 seconds! This extra time allows you to shift around and get comfortable, relieving pressure where necessary. Even if you never learn how to pedal out of the saddle, you can still do extended rides on these rollers without going totally numb – just stand and coast every once in a while. You can also start up without a handhold, using the optional platform. Pump one pedal a few times to get the wheels spinning, and you have about 10 seconds to get up and situated before having to pedal again. One legged drills are great as well, as you now have all the time in the world to coast and clip back in.

So how do they ride? TruTrainer claims that their rollers are easier to learn on. Having already learned how to ride rollers, I found them a little tricky to get started on. The sluggishness of the deeply set rear wheel seems to transmit lateral forces to the front wheel, making the bike a bit harder to handle when you start up. The extra resistance adds to this as well. You’re still working at 8 miles an hour, so there’s going to be more lateral swaying than on free spinning rollers. Once up to speed, the ride is super stable, much smoother than Kreitlers (I didn’t think I would ever say that!). There are two possible explanations for this. One, the greater overall weight of the TruTrainers dampen vibration better. Two, the TruTrainer’s drums are not only very round, they’re also very uniform in wall thickness. Better balance means less vibration while spinning.

The TruTrainers (right) are smooth enough for a razor sharp closeup, even with a slow 1/10 sec shutter speed. Kreitlers (left) are still very good, but noticeably rougher.

The resistance is just a dream. I could get over 500 watts in the 53×14 in an acceleration, and TruTrainer says you can do around 375 watts at a steady speed. The inertia of the flywheel duplicates road momentum very well. I find that I have to fight through the dead spots much more on a trainer, and my knees get beat up as a result. This is not the case with the TruTrainer. High wattages are hard on the muscles and lungs, not on the joints. Standing up is real easy. The wide set rear rollers keep you planted, so you don’t have to rise out of the saddle as gingerly. I always thought that regular rollers forced me to ride out of the saddle TOO smoothly, making me focus on keeping the bike from bouncing off the rollers instead of just putting out power. I usually keep a percentage of my body weight on the rising pedal, which is a habit you don’t want to get into for real riding. On Kreitlers, standing was just something I did to give my butt a break. Standing is much more realistic on the TruTrainers. I could rock the bike hard enough to get well over 500 watts, with an aggressive downstroke that would put me in the emergency room on standard rollers.

Since we try to have a shtick for every review to compensate for our lack of real qualifications, I thought I’d revisit riding the rollers on aerobars. My two previous attempts lasted about six seconds total, with the back end swaying so violently I barely kept the bike upright. I’ve been haunted by my inadequacy ever since. So with the TruTrainer adjusted to compensate for my TT bike’s longer wheelbase, and me covered in flop sweat, I dropped my elbows down on the pads. Remarkably, it was doable. Mildly terrifying, but doable. Maybe I could’ve pulled it off with Kreitlers as well, but knowing that I could coast if the rear end started to sashay in rhythm with my pedal stroke did inspire some confidence. Maybe the sluggish rear wheel worked to my advantage here. After an hour I was almost totally at ease, totally ok with making some jerky saves when my mind and front wheel wandered.

Time for hate Three things: weight, price, and noise. These babies are 35 pounds, 11 pounds heavier than Kreitlers. That mass might contribute to the smoothness of the ride, but would make me less likely to take them to a race for warmup. The unit I tested goes for $880 ($700 base price, $100 for folding option, $80 for the platform). That’s a lot of money, but more reasonable if you consider that it replaces a trainer and rollers. Lastly, they’re not as quiet as regular rollers, somewhere between a fluid and a wind trainer at high speeds.

Where does that leave us? Well, I’m seriously thinking about selling my Kreitlers and Kinetic, if that tells you anything. These babies are smoother than Kreitlers and duplicate road feel better than anything else I’ve tried. I can do all of my workouts on them. I can even ride my TT bike. Workmanship is excellent, and the design is clever. If you’re one of those die hards that train through the winter, you should seriously consider these rollers. There’s also an optional quick release that disengages the flywheel, making the TruTrainer ride more like regular rollers. Our test unit didn’t have this option. Follow up to review here.