I recently purchased these compact 3" Kreitler alloy rollers to replace another set of rollers I'd been using for 4 1/2 years - also alloy, but from another company. Those older rollers became quite loud over time. Maybe they were always so? But when I first used these Kreitler rollers I was gobsmacked. They are exceedingly smooth and quiet. I can watch the TV with the sound at near normal levels while riding at pretty fast wheel speed. The smoothness also allows for one to do high cadence at low resistance and generate high wheel speed with confidence and no evident tire hop/skip.
I also purchased a Killawatt resistance bar and have used that one time so far (it is summer after all) and have found it easy to use and it provides reasonable resistance at the mid setting. I'll be trying higher settings the next few times I get on the rollers. This combination of the 3" rollers with the Killawatt resistance bar will, for me, provide more than ample range of resistance and variety of workout options for years to come. As usual, I overanalyzed the purchase of a new set of rollers from numerous companies. I should have trusted all the positive reviews over many years and immediately gone with Kreitler. They are the real deal.
I went from a 4.5" roller I had been running for 15 years, it needed replacement. The one I chose to buy is the 3" version of Kompact, about a third more resistance due to the reduced roller diameter. It is indeed a significantly greater pedaling load, but the 4.5" rollers were getting too easy and I would have needed a greater load.
I work to support domestic manufacturing and smaller business. and Kreitler has been a defacto reference for rollers for decades.
No worries, fast shipping, sweet quality and great Customer Support. Very pleased.