Elite Arion B+ Digital Rollers

I bought them from Performance Bikes because Hub does not carry them.  They were $600 http://www.elite-it.com/en/products/us/trainers/interactive/arion-digital-smart-b.

I have only used them to do Trainer Road workouts.  I don't know how well they work with Zwift, but my buddy Paolo uses them there and he says its great.  When I use them for Trainer Road I have to shift gears sometimes to match the Erg mode because the rollers only do up to 5% resistance.... this is not a bad thing.  Sometimes if I have to get off the rollers in the middle of a workout, when I start back up I need to go to the TR settings and switch the rollers from Erg->Resistance->Erg so that they remember to go back into Erg mode, there must be a small bug in their software or something, its not a big deal.  I notice that if I use Ant+ instead of Bluetooth that I don't have this problem.

I can't stand up and put in maximum watts on these rollers.  If I do then I end up jumping forward off of them.  If you want to be able to do something like that then you will want to get the super fancy E-Motion Digital Rollers from Inside Ride http://www.insideride.com/buy/emotion-h (select the Digital option $1200).  Local rider / friend Sean has them.  He told me that the software is not perfect but that he can totally stand up and do a full out sprint without any problems.. thats kinda cool!  I am able to do 600 watts while seated on the Elite rollers, but I can't stand up while doing that many watts.  I have not tried to go higher than 600watts but that is not something I ever need to do in my Trainer Road workouts.

I recently purchased trainer/roller specific tires from Continental http://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle/tyres/race-tyres/hometrainer.  They are much smoother and I can stand up much easier.

The one advantage to not having the e-motion is that you need to use more of your core/stability/balance to stay on the rollers at all times.  I can stand up on the Elite rollers but I am just not very stable, it forces me to be stable using my own strength.  

I have seen an increase in my performances ever since I started riding these things.  At first I could not do the same workouts at same intensities that I could do on the Kickr... but after just a few weeks I could do it!  Then I started getting faster at WsW and other rides.  It was great.  I love it that they work my core.  The kickr never did that nearly as well.

I will never go back to direct drive... unless maybe I get into the indoor racing on Zwift.  Rollers are farrrrr superior if your goal is training and not racing.  And they are way more fun and engaging.  I just love them.  I have so much fun every time I ride them :)