This likely depends on your priorities:
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There is a case to be made for training with no outside influence, and being able to get every ounce of effort from your body. It leans on the idea of stressing yourself to the max in order to drive maximum adaptation. If you have to split your mental and physical energy towards riding the bike, you may well be limiting the peak effort you have within yourself.
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There is also a case to be made for training with “realistic” demand on the mind and body. It leans on the idea of trying to more closely replicate the actual demands of your outside events. Bike, body position, balance and such that you will actually be doing in the moment. Adapting to these demands in addition to the training stress may lead to more success in the actual event.
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Ultimately, there are likely reasons to use a bit of both, with particular choices based on event needs and individual workouts. There may be times to focus purely on the effort, and others where the full blend is beneficial.
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Essentially, I see no single “perfect” answer. As with so many things in our area, you need to review the pro’s and con’s of each choice, consider their relationship to your training and event needs, and use the proper mix that is appropriate to your needs.
- From my Rocker Plate thread:
When you have a bike that is perfectly comfortable outside, and then leads to problems when ridden inside, I feel it is important to look at what is different. When you do, there are two key differences.
- Lack of wind resistance on the body riding inside. That is a difference that I find because you end up with slightly more weight on the hands and arms, because you don’t have the wind pushing your upper body back.
- To compensate for that, I recommend that people raise the front axle about 1"-2" [25mm-50mm] higher than the rear axle. This shifts the weight slightly back onto the saddle and off the hands and arms.
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Even with the additional freedom of lateral movement on rollers, you still lack the “push-back” that we get from wind resistance outside. That alone could alter the weight distribution, and even the relative position you use on the bike as a result.
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Add to that, despite the movement on rollers, it is still a bit different when compared to real riding outside. Look no further than the reality that many people struggle riding rollers compared to being quite competing outside. There are real differences in what we do and how we ride rollers, and those may manifest in related differences in our position and how we move on the bike.