I have ridden rollers for 30 plus years. I liked rollers. They gave me the chance to ride meaningfully when the weather or schedule did not really make that feasible. For many years I rode at least four times a week for 30 to 60 minutes. They really help your stability and the smoothness of your peddling style. It was instrumental in increasing my peddling to 80 to 90 rpm. I often described ridding rollers as riding a road that is 2' (two foot) wide.
I bought my first set from Sears. They were an end of season special that I purchased in about 1982. I had a nice basement to ride in. with a flat concrete floor and windows to look out. The ceiling was high enough to let me get on the bike, low enough that I could grab a rafter if I started to go off the rollers. They had wooden rollers made of pieces of wood glued together and then milled into a concave rather than flat surface. I used them for about ten years, before they started to come apart.
I replaced them with a set of plastic rollers. I did not like the new frame, so I continued to use the old frame, and just changed the rollers. I bought the set used at a garage sale at Fort Leavenworth. They did not look like they had been used very much. The plastic was not very thick, and they were not very heavy. The wood rollers had a lot of heft to them, and really poor bearings that combined to a lot of resistance. Changing to the new rollers was so much easier that I did not feel I could get a good workout.
I replaced them with a used set of Kreitler rollers that I bought in Columbia. I was living in the far north Missouri at the time. I had stopped by Walt's Bike shop for some parts. I saw a picture and a phone number. I called, the seller was available, I stopped by and purchased them. The seller was motivated, since he had tried to sell them for months, and was scheduled to get on a plane the next day for Japan. They included a front fan that ran off the rollers. Again I did particularly like the frame, so I adapted the rollers to the original frame. I rode those rollers for 12 years before I noticed that the resistance was increasing. I took them apart and found the bearings were shot on two of the rollers, the salt from my sweat had taken its toll on the rollers. I found that Kreitler would rebuild the rollers very reasonably, so they were quickly back in service
I guess I should go through the records to see how many miles that I rode each set of rollers.....a bit anal, but hell that is why I write all of this down.
If you look at the picture you can see the main tubes of the bike are covered in duct tape.....again a reaction to the sweat generated by riding. I ruined my best bike riding it on rollers. The corrosive effect of the sweat eventually impacted the steel bike. Over the years I built three bikes that were dedicated to being ridden on rollers. They can be cheap bikes, the important thing is the geometry, the handlebars and the peddles. I traded a mower for this bike, and have replaced the wheels so that I can use the 27 by 1/14 tires. The bigger the wheel, and the bigger the tire means they last longer. I tried riding 700c but went through tires quicker than I did on the road. The contact point of the tire to the roller is quite small, which means maximum deflection of the tire unless it runs high pressure. So I went to 27 inch tires to get the 125lbs that I wanted.
I have been in search of a bike for my wife. It has taken me to Craig's list. While I have not found a suitable bike for her, I did find a stationary bike for sale, and on impulse went and looked at it and purchased it. It is made by Schwinn. It was a spinning bike. I reworked it, including adding a bike computer and have started to ride it along with the rollers.
I had thought about using a trainer, but I did not like the contact points to the bike, and did not like the way the bike was raised in the rear unless you put the front wheel on a block. None of it was particularly stable to me. I had not considered a stationary bike. Most that I had seen were of dubious value, and did not match a bicycle's geometry, meaning your position was not at all like it would be when riding the road or trail. This seemed like a different thing entirely. The only downside is that it does not give me an accurate comparison to the road. It is not like you can change gears. You can change resistance, but that does not relate to more speed or higher revolutions. I did work out an equivalency that I put into the bike computer, and it seems to be reasonable. I enjoy riding it when I do not feel like concentrating on staying up right on the rollers!
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