Foam rollers

As the title suggests, I'm in the market for foam rollers. Typical pricing seems to be around the £40 mark. Are they worth the investment? Like most, I suffer with the odd niggle and feel I could benefit from using them 2/3 times a week.

I got mine for less than £20 on Amazon - with free delivery too - and it's been worth every penny. Has sorted out a number of long standing niggles and just generally loosened everything up a bit. You can spend more but I think the cheaper ones are probably every bit as good as the dearer ones. It's just a bit of foam after all!

Ah amazon, how could I forget... Thanks, I'm spolit for choice. £20 does sound more reasonable.

I have this one from Argos for £20. 

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9367892.htm

Has Jessica Ennis on the packaging, but I liked it becuase it's a bit longer than some of the others you get, so is good for back/both legs etc. 

I got the grid roller as had vouchers to use...it is great as had little grooves on it to attack those niggly bits with gusto..lol..it is much sturdier than the foam

I got a bright green one reebok one off amazon.  I went for the long run as others have said it's better if you get a long one, as you don't have to keep moving it.

I've stopped buying from Amazon.

3 billion pounds of sales (and rising) in the UK.  But they choose to base themselves in Luxemburg. So no Corporation tax paid - well not to the UK, where those sales are made.

Blood suckers.

I just bought the cheapest, £11.99 from amazon (sorry Wales!)

Run Wales - Amazon still employ people in Wales at the Swansea Distribution Centre (amongst others round the UK) so pay the employers NI contribution and HMRC get the income tax from those workers.  So they are directly contributing to the Welsh economy and the UK economy?

stutyr,

Just because they've only found a way of avoiding 25% of their fair tax bill does not mean that we should give them 75% support! (I make the figures up, for illustration)

By paying much less than their fair share, they undercut thousands of fair-minded, tax-paying businesses on the high street and on-line.   You might expect that the fair-minded businesses will lose market share, which increases their overheads, which will further improve Amazon's competitive position... so we are replacing good, fair, tax-paying, people-employing businesses with this unethical giant.  The sums just don't add up.

I believe that Amazon know that one day, the consumer will wake up and force them to  take a more ethical stance. That will be delayed as long as possible, when they've banked billions in profits and have become a dominant force with many competitors removed.  They will then feel confident enough to hire top PR people to manage their conversion to an ethical company, and we'll all say what good-eggs they are.

Hi Run Wales, I was just surprised that someone had such a strong reaction to Amazon avoiding (NB not evading) corporation tax.  They are not the first and not the last, as Starbucks and Facebook were also mentioned in the article I read. Tescos and other large companies have also been highlighted in the past, so its not even just foreign-based companies.  I used Google to do a search on Corporation Tax avoiders - and Google is one of the biggest culprits!   

Whilst these stories make headlines, it is standard business practice to maximise profit, which includes paying as little tax as you legally have to.  

Its your money, and your choice where you shop.  But you might want to check the other places where you shop to see if they've paid tax on their profits.

Well, I didn't want to turn this into a tax debate, but as mentioned above, tax avoidance seems to be an awfully common occurence amongst big retailers these days.

I prefer to buy from my local shop, both in running and cycling, but when the cheapest foam roller I can find in my local shop(s) is £40, and I can find one online which does the same job for £20, well, it's a no brainer... Franny- I will take a look at the grid roller, thanks.

I got given: tigertailusa.com as a present. It looks a bit strange but really does the job of loosening out niggles. Hurts like a bi*ch to begin with!

+1 for the trigger point one

yes it's more expensive but unlike the others it does not compress with use, so the extra spend might be worth it in the longer run

its surface is also ridged and harder, allowing me to extract even more pain from my IT band...

have  a look at the rumble roller - it's agony but seems to be the only thing that gets into my hamstrings

the "normal" blue foam ones were great at first lasted little time (month tops) with me before becoming soft and egg-timer shaped. For me at least, a waste of money, I have now gone for a solid-core one and yes they are about £40 at the moment which is a rip off - you could pop down B&Q and buy a pipe and some foam and make your own very cheaply if so inclined! Mine is also the Grid, but I consider the grooves to be a gimmick to help "justify" the inflated price tag. 

After getting sever cramp in my calf, I got the Grid Roller, within a week I was running cramp free.. worth every penny and glad I paid the extra as I'ts still solid after months of use.