Do you have the same position on both bikes?

The construction isn't the issue. Most people are just more uncomfortable on the trainer. Rollers theoretically might be a bit better than a fixed trainer, but you are just sitting in the same spot for a long time. Outside allows for more repositioning more frequently.

Clearly you need a new bike.

You’re welcome.

-- Clearly you need a new bike.

LOL! pretty much the solution to everything. It is 20 years old.

I am in pretty much the same position on both bikes, except the road bike has aero bars and the aluminum one on trainer does not. I've been in the same position for 15 years since a professional fit from Paul Levine. I am riding about 3x's more than I have in the last few years, so it's daily pressure that is not getting as much relief as it has in the past. I've been riding a carousel of saddles this year and can't find one that goes aaahhh.

thanks
Barry

Are you comparing alu to carbon on rollers, or alu on rollers to carbon on road? (I'm assuming you actually mean rollers, and not a trainer.) I ride alu on both, and I find the rollers can get uncomfortable after a while. I assume it's because my form is more static on the rollers. Which is kind of the point of using them, right?

Maybe try dropping a couple of psi in your tires.

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my .02 + $1

I have owned half a dozen bikes with different frame materials: C+AL, C, and AL, and found out through riding that for myself I like the feel of aluminum for responsiveness. You don't give up much weight if any in a high quality AL frame compared to carbon. It does ride more harsh (read as less absorbing ) over rough road or bumps. But ride on surfaces like that all day and any bike will beat you up.
I own 3 bikes: AL BMC road bike, AL Cervelo p1, Cervelo p3c. All purchased used and built up to my fit by my own trial and error. The P1 and P3 have identical size frames, fit, cockpit, basebar, drive train, shifters, brakes, bar tape, short cranks, saddle... you get it. I can ride any of the 3 all day and that has come down to getting the contact points sorted. Comfort is the number one puzzle piece between loving or hating the bike.

I can relate to seeking comfort and I couldn't stand riding more than an hour due to saddle discomfort. Whether that was outside on the road, in a race, or on a fixed trainer (kicker snap). I spent time and money on two bike fits from fitters listed on the st fitter database and I know that they were high quality and knew their stuff. But comfort did not improve. Numbness, hot spots, sores, never improved or went away. Contacted the fitters back and seems that I am just a difficult case and didnt have any real answers. Got to the point where I was starting to feel despair. So took the basic fit numbers, spent a lot of time researching on ST threads, articles and studying pro/am bike fits to get an idea of an ideal position and went to work on my own fit. (my education is in exercise physiology so I have spent a lot of time studying movement patterns). Learned two things over two years of experimenting: finding the right saddle for you is key and your posture on the saddle is just as important.

I am sure I am forgetting some, but I tried 6 different ISM, 1 Cobb, 8 Selle SMP, 1 Mystica, Dash in both widths. (Amazon prime is the key to trialing most of these brands of saddles. Especially if you order early December you have a return window through February of the next year).
Anyways, I started to figure out that I have stupid wide sit bones and that I am sensitive to any soft tissue/perineal pressure. With somewhat success with the standard width Dash saddle I had an idea of what I was looking for. Noseless/Off the front, wide for sit bones, huge cut out for no soft tissue contact. = Bi-saddle for the win. Took fine tuning on my end to get it set just right. Once I did I learned that I could ride inside or out with no saddle distraction. Next FTP test 30w jump. Its like the key to cycling was unlocked. If anyone is having saddle troubles give bi-saddle a shot. I won't ride anything else on TT bikes.

Figuring out the saddle was the single biggest piece for me. With that sorted I could tweak things like the front end and notice differences in tires. All because I wasn't distracted anymore.

So long story short, I do not think it is the bike, but the saddle. Our bodies change over time, less or more fitness, flexibility, injuries, weight. It should be revisited when things begin to not feel comfortable. Saddle could have shifted, elbow pads worn out, bar angle shifted, etc. It is just like servicing a car, have to keep you and your bike in good order or they do not perform well.

Now on to the rollers. I had dumb trainer for 3 years and a kicker snap for over two years. The saddle unlocked potential to really train and push myself. I noticed a difference in comfort from riding outside vs on the fixed trainer. I could handle it until I kept getting sores only after riding on the snap. Spent time video recording myself and took an educated guess that my body moving on a fixed bike was leading to the issues. Sold off the snap and moved to a used set of inside-ride rollers. Night and day difference on the first ride. As you know, rollers provide bike movement similar to you riding outside and has lead to further improvement in my quality of training. I think some of the previous comments do touch on how its still not as dynamic as riding outside. This could be why it leads to noticed pressure because you're not getting out of the saddle or changing body position comparative to outdoor riding. But in my opinion it is the best for me and my training even if it is a "dumb" trainer. The inside ride does have manual adjustment for resistance and moves (shifts forwards and back) so it might be slightly fancier that ordinary rollers.
So to sum it up, I do not think it is the rollers either.

In regards to tires: I have noticed that 25mm on a standard box rim is more stable and less twitchy on rollers. It is more comfortable than 23mm.

I can only run 23mm on HED jet + wheels due to tire clearance on the P1 and P3 and they are just as comfortable on race day as the 25mm on the box rim for training. The training wheels are run on the BMC road bike and 25mm will always be my go to for training on any and all bikes on a standard box rim as long as it clears.

Realized I wrote a bunch here and would be happy to answer more questions.

Drop a couple psi in the bike he rides on rollers? Why? to absorb some of the bumps? How bumpy are those rollers?

I ride a carbon road bike / TT bike, road has 28mm tyres, TT bike 22mm. On the trainer (trainer, not rollers) I use my old alu road mostly, but sometimes my carbon TT bike. 100% the trainer gets more uncomfortable quicker, but if you are struggling to that extent something is wrong. I've done 3.5 hours on the trainer and wouldn't say it was great, but discomfort wasn't the constraint.

On the road then yes, the carbon is slightly less 'harsh' than the alu (CAAD 5). On the trainer I don't notice any difference between bikes.

The key thing for me is that I need to use more anti-chafe on the trainer, which I believe is mainly due to a combination of sweat and staying in a much more constrained position than when outside (cornering, climbing, freewheeling, etc). Also, make sure you're wearing the right shorts. So tri-shorts if you are on the TT bike down in aero, cycling shorts if on a road bike and riding on hoods. The reason for this is the different pad thickness. If I try to use cycling shorts on my TT bike it's really uncomfortable as the excess padding bunches.

I think the impact (no pun intended) of bike frame and wheel compliance are over estimated. Most compliance comes from tyres, saddle, bartape, etc.
However, you're talking about riding on rollers, so i'm at a loss to understand why you'd need more than a smidge of compliance anyway? Surely there is no significant surface irregularity and resulting vibration or impacts on rollers!?

Your position, movement, stability and tension will presumably be rather different on rollers compared to the road. That's probably where any discomfort is coming from. On the trainer it's the rigidity of the bike mount that seems to cause problems for most (myself included, especially prior to using the Neo with it's bit of flex) but a tendency to stay in one position is likely also a cuprit.

Drop a couple psi in the bike he rides on rollers? Why? to absorb some of the bumps? How bumpy are those rollers?



More for stability. I find it make the bike less twitchy, which lets you make microadjustments in your position that you might be less likely to make if you are running 120psi. Once you're cool standing up, sprinting, riding hands off, etc, you can make those adjustments more easily, but I believe OP suggested they were not at that level.

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An hour on rollers has been my limit too if I try do do it non-stop. Rollers don't offer as much for microadjustments in position if you aren't as stable on them. After about 45 min, I have scheduled breaks where I lean against the wall or doorframe or chair and stand for 10-15 seconds; I do these every 10-15 minutes. At 1 hr, I get off the bike and do a few squats, eat some orange slices. If I go for 1.5 or more hrs I will switch bikes. Switching between road and TT bike gives me a fresh start that feels good all over - hands, arms, shoulders, neck, back, bum, legs.

thanks for your thoughts and the time it took to put that all together dcolv.

My old Cobb saddle was worn out. I measured my sit bones and I figured I needed to go wider, so I tried an older specialized one that was definitely wide enough, but I was still feeling pressure on the soft spot. I tried tilting the saddle down and then down more then up with no luck. I found my arms getting pretty sore from holding my weight back b/c of the downward tilt. I got a new prologo saddle with a channel and short nose that should have fit and that didn't seem to help either, even after lots of adjustments. I can get through a 60 min ride, but the last 15 are definitely uncomfortable. I do sit up and ride no hands to take some pressure off when on the rollers, and that helps, but it's only temporary. Right after I bought the prologo saddle I saw the ads for the bi-saddle and that might be worth a try. I have 5 different types of bibs I rotate and thick, thin, or medium pads haven't helped. I rolled down the psi yesterday to 100 from 110 and didn't seem to help either. I think another saddle is next on the list. It's just frustrating, b/c I've never trained this much indoors and would like to do more, but that 60 min limit is always there. I might have to take a break from racing and do more workouts where I can get off and take a break for a few min and go back, that has helped in the past, but racing is what's keeping me motivated.

thanks to all for the input. I'm taking something away from each one, especially the one about needing a new bike
Barry

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Great things never come from comfort zones.

I don't know yet if others have mentioned this but your position on rollers is like riding slightly uphill. Rear tire is deeper between the rollers than front tire on top.

Frame properties have zero impact on comfort on rollers. Its is all your tire pressure, saddle and how round your rollers and wheels are (or not)

Just wanted to call this out. Great posting. Hope it gets sorted.

Didn’t see it mentioned, but a thought was that the wheelbases may not be the same on both bikes. If so, the front wheel would sit differently on the front roller and handling would differ - and possibly comfort.

(BTW - if you really want to ensure a smooth and even pedal stroke on rollers, test this by riding eyes closed..... on second thought ... not recommended :-)

No need to use anything else but your « good » bike on rollers.
Static rollers are limiting indoor training possibilities. I do all my indoor training up to 5hrs and Zwift events on Insideride rollers, and my « good » bike. Never a problem. Out of saddle efforts are a lot easier on moving rollers.
I would use an Insideride type roller, ride my good bike on it, with basic wheels and forget about the bike you apparently are not enjoying riding.
Louis :-)

THIS.

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http://www.jt10000.com/

The issue is that you don't move around enough while riding your rollers, because a) there's no reason, and b) it's hard.

The best option is to just take periodic short breaks where you actually get off the bike for a quick walk/stretch/drink. It's really no different than easy pedaling between intervals. And, once you get back outside, you won't miss the breaks since you'll be able to move around like usual and won't be as uncomfortable for long stretches.

For example, if I'm doing the following workout...

WU
2:00 rest
4 x 10:00 on 2:00 rest
2:00 rest
CD

...I'll get off the bike for the first ~1:00 of each 2:00 rest and easy spin the remainder to prepare for the next work interval.

Your body will thank you.

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Steve

"If you ain't first, you're last." Reese Bobby Talladega Nights