An advert for rocker plates:
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Awesome work! 
I know I wouldn’t try anything 2 hours or longer with out motion these days. I did a 3 hour one once on rigid and it was torture.
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Nice endurance ride. I know I need to up my time on longer rides this winter.
I havent had my rocker plate long but it really is amazing how better I feel doing a longer ride.
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I train in an old outbuilding which has a floor which is far from even. I also have a rocker plate on order which am very excited about! I currently have a large piece of OSB on the floor with various shims to get it roughly level for my static trainer.
My question is whether I need to get the base for my rocker plate (Lifeline, full length one) perfectly level? My second question is whether I need the rocker to be level with the trainer mounted or unmounted?
Thanks
The base of the rocker doesn’t have to be “perfectly level”, but close is better. The nature of the separate decks allows for some amount of mismatch between them, still allowing the top deck to be level as desired.
The issues can come in two basic forms:
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For vibration mount pivots, they have a natural “center” or “home” angle. As such, if you have notable mismatch between the bottom and deck, there will be “preloaded” tension more on one side than the other. It can affect the functional tilt with one side feeling different than the others. In the grand scheme, it is a minor difference and one that is likely not noticed, but my OCD engineer brain dislikes the potential hiding within.
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If you have enough mismatch, it is possible that the “high” side of the bottom will lead to a more limited rock angle to that side, when compared to the other side. Meaning, you could have 5* max lean one way, while having 9* the other way. This assumes a typical 7* lean per side for a normal rocker in a level position.
Both of those are likely non-issues, but they may be for some riders and setups.
Wow! Chad you have been very busy on this thread. I thought the FB group admin. would keep you plenty busy. I just finished this thread and enjoyed all the subtle learnings being shared, most particularly by you. It seems like folks may not be aware of Velocity Rockers as an option for fore/aft & side-to-side motion. We are a solid mid-priced option. And these discussions help to seed ideas for innovation. Thank you for that!
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Ha, I waste time in all kinds of places 
Glad you liked the read. I spend a fair bit of my free time still thinking about the next stages of rocker design. My current blend is getting better and I hope to get off my tail and document it in a video soon.
There are others with some great ideas too, some starting to show and I think we are headed to a great place in the next few years.
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So the MP1 is on sale dirt cheap. Like 50% off.
@mcneese.chad thoughts? Worth it at that price?
At half of the original MSRP, that is a good deal IMO.
That’s even better than my Employee Purchase price.
The main knock against it for me, is the lack of leveling spring adjustment, but many people seem to be quite happy with that anyway.
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So I pulled the trigger on the sale. Have used it for a few workouts
I get why people were hung up about the price. It’s a “nice to have” not a “need to have” for many.
For me, however, I can be in the saddle for 30 min with only a 30 sec out of the saddle period in between with the rocker plate. Without it, I need to get in and out of the saddle every 10 minutes.
For those scanning for answers, I think if you get trainer fatigue from sitting on it (like I do), a rocker plate really addresses those issues well.
Edit: I do think its also cause I’m a heavier rider. When I lost weight, I didn’t really need to get out of the saddle much. More reason to lose weight
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Great to read!
Saddle comfort is the leading benefit to adding motion to a bike/trainer setup in nearly all cases. It’s probably 80% of the reason that people try rockers. The additional freedom for standing and such is nice, but such a small part of the overall indoor riding picture compared to the time most spend seated (over 90% by my guess).
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I’ve been using a rocker plate for about a month now (Rockr Pod Lite) and like it a lot. I haven’t done anything high intensity on it since I’m still coming off covid, but I can do a couple of hours of boring endurance on the trainer without much trouble.
I have been seeing something weird with the power distribution, though. On my outdoor rides, I almost always have a 50/50 split on power with my duo Assiomas. On the Rockr and still with my Assiomas, it’s always 53/47 or more. I’ve level checked the bike and it’s all square with the balls underneath. The ball pressure seems to be the same, although it’s just a rough check. My whole trainer (Hammer H1) is lined up off of the Rockr’s true center to ensure the driveline is square. So there is a bias towards the left side of the plate and I can see this affecting how the power is distributed throughout the whole setup, but that drastically? Anyone encounter something like this with their rockers?
- Can you take a picture or clarify this? I am not sure I understand.
Overly simple, the “best” setup method for a rocker is as follows:
So, your trainer will be offset to the left side a fair bit with the Hammer, such that the bike itself is dead center over the rocker plate. The heavier flywheel and left placement mean you are best to add a counterweight, which allows equal pressure in your leveling springs.
Unequal pressure and/or a bike placed off-center, will mean that the “level” appearance with just the bike and trainer on it, will change once the rider is in place. You want the bike and rider perfectly centered to minimize odd feel or asymmetrical forces for lean directions.
Does that make sense?
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You explained it perfectly! Makes total sense. Wasn’t sure the counterweight was a common addition to a rocker setup.
And yes, the Hammer makes it asymmetrical. When I meant the driveline was square, I meant the bike was positioned center on the plate. But of course, the weight distribution is off. I’ll definitely tinker more with it.
Thank you!
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I’m late to this fad and finally got around to building out my own DIY rocker plate. I’ve been riding it for about 2 months and am happy enough with it to share. I went full-out on this; side-to-side and fore-aft movement. After using it for awhile, if I was to rebuild it, I’d probably skip the fore-aft movement as I don’t see it adding a ton of value. I can tell it moves when I stand up or surge a bit but is it necessary? I dunno. The side-to-side is great - my backside is grateful. 2hrs+ on the trainer is doable.
Full breakdown, costs estimates and some photos are below if anyone wants to try and copy. I wanted to do it for super cheap. For reference I’m in Canada (you Americans get everything for so cheap, I think it has something to do with our ‘free’ healthcare, but I digress).
Total cost: $95
Time to build: ~2-3hrs
- Half a sheet of 3/4" Plywood Cutoffs from old projects: Free (but if I had to buy a sheet of 3/4" plywood, it would cost about $80, so $40 for this project)
- 4 x 2" NON-swivel caster wheels: $21 (https://www.homedepot.ca/product/everbilt-2-inch-soft-rubber-rigid-caster-with-90-lbs-load-rating/1000100123)
- 4 x 24" bungee cord: $10 (https://www.homedepot.ca/product/everbilt-24-inch-standard-bungee-cord/1001063749)
- 2 x 7" Inflatable Dodgeball style ball: $10 (I got these at Walmart. I cannot find a link for them. Everything I found online was quite expensive but when I walked into the store, I found a very basic style inflatable ball for $5 each)
- 1 x Bubble Level: $6 (totally not necessary, but a nice feature. https://www.homedepot.ca/product/empire-bullseye-level/1000812274)
- 8 x Eyelet hooks and bolt hardware (to mount bungees to): $8 (cannot find a link, but these were about $1 each).
Build Notes
- I made up the profile as I went. I liked this general shape from some other ones I’ve seen and wanted to minimize plywood needs.
- I routered a channel in the bottom plate to keep the casters from walking. I’m not sure this is necessary but thought it couldn’t hurt.
- 4 bungees are required to keep opposing forces balanced. You might be able to get away with one on each side opposing eachother. But for the extra cost, it’s not a big deal. If I was doing another one, I’d be sure to have lots of clearance between the bungees. Mine rub together a bit but when I’m riding I cannot hear it due to trainer noise/music/my own death breathing.
- I didn’t put any finish on mine. I wish I did. I wanted to use it right away so I didn’t bother. But over time, little bits of dirty chain lube fleck all over. If I had 2-3 coats of polyurethane or something like it, it would clean up nicely. Now it’s just gross.
- I used 7" inflatable balls, and they do the job, but I’d recommend 5" or 6" as others have mentioned.
- I will likely pull it apart in the summer to cut some holes in it (reduce weight, improve aesthetic) and apply some proper finish.
Good luck!
The basic profile for upper/lower plates
The casters attached to the underside of the upper plate
Health and Safety rep checking in on me. Oh, and you can see the routered channel here and how the plates fit together.
Here you can see the bungee layout and the inflatable balls.
Final set-up
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Great build. I’m not handy at all so I purchased the KOM rocker plate. But I agree the side to side movement adds to comfort
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Nicely done and documented! Great to read that you like the results overall. The Fore-Aft is interesting. Tons of people ask about it and some swear that matters more to them than the side lean. Others hate it and some like in the middle.
I like it, but lived without it for 3-4 years, so I know it’s not essential for me at least.
I’m trying to decide between the Velocity Rocker and the Rockr Axis. Main goal is a more realistic feel so that I can sprint and climb out of the saddle with a motion closer to what I use outdoors.
Any thoughts on these two?
Not many people have touched the Axis at this time, so there is marketing from them and speculation by people like me.
From my own elevated roll axis testing, I think it is a move in the right direction to getting more intuitive and natural motion. As such, if all else was equal, I’d be tempted to go with that.
I’ve spent hears with low roll axis rockers, original Rockr Indoor Training Rockr Pro for one of them, and they work well. Getting low leveling spring force is the most important step, followed closely by proper control at the bars from the rider. It’s essential to have both of those or you will have the maligned bad timing.
All that said, the Velocity is a fine choice and a relatively proven design. The Axis is newer and less used overall since I am only aware of a handful even being sold at this time. But I know Chip (the owner) very well and think he is more than capable at making this new design very successful.
Does that help?
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That helps a ton. I’m an early adopter and usually don’t regret it: I think if I pull the trigger on a rocker plate it will be the Axis. At this point I guess I’ll likely wait for reviews to come in since I’ll be spending less time on the trainer in the coming months.
If the response was “no reason to go with the Axis” I’d probably jump on the Velocity now.
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