After finally clearing out my shed, I put my rollers in there and jumped on for a test run. Wound it up to threshold; lovely, all good. Spun down and reached across to the metal racking lining the wall for support. SNAP! Static electricity shock! I appear to have made a Van de Graff generator. I love life, it’s so random.
Started fiddling about trying to earth the bike with a bit of rope but decided looping a line around my fork leg and tying it to the racking would provide an amusing anecdote at my funeral, so instead I just went freeform and moved mid shed, away from temptation.
Anyone else experienced this
Yep, plastic rollers and rubber tyres somehow seem to combine to create electricity. I discovered this when teaching my GF to ride the rollers, at first was holding her hips to stabilise but as she got better I let go for a decent amount of time, when I next offered her a hand for stability we were zapped with an electric shock! Luckily she managed to stay on or I’d have got the blame for that one I’m sure…
Embarrassingly, I rode off the edge of the rollers when it happened. It completed the comedy effect nicely. Snap! Aaaaargh! Swerve! Crash! Clatter! You know how it goes. One second serenely peddling along, the next in a heap, half attached to the bike, equipment everywhere.
Just imagine what it sounded like to somebody standing outside your shed!
I think in factories they use a grounded strip of thin copper sheet that is brushing lightly against the roller.
Would one of those grounding straps you use to work on computers work instead? Maybe clamp it to a stainless steel bolt/screw or metal shelving unit.
Was just treated to a flashback of working on my own PC when I used to still build them in my younger years and remembering to use that grounding strap so I wouldn’t fry my motherboard.