Now I realise I should be telling the wife to HTFU, but she has some real problems with nerve impingement in her hands when on the trainer. So far this winter,she’s only been able to manage 30 min max even when putting a cushion over the hoods. She likes the idea of being down on the aerobars (but currently doesnt have any clipons). Oddly enough, she still gets pins & needles when she’s using the cushion for that purpose.
Any ideas on position mods I can make? The position is super comfortable for her on the road, but she does have the bad habit of riding with her arms locked (I know ~sigh~).
The bars are currently slammed with 1" to play with in rise. Saddle-Bar drop is about 2". Could it be the riser block is just too low? I usually feel slightly pitched forward on the trainer, but dont have these problems.
Seat too High?
Maybe just a lack of time on th trainer? worth doing a gradul increase in exposure?
Cheers for any feedback… If I can convince her, I’ll post a pic.
I would not try to HTFU with nerve pain, bad idea. I think I would start by raising the front, the lower the bars are, the more pressure on the hands. I’d either “un-slam” those bars, or if the riser block is low, try a higher block. But I think more time on the trainer in the current position is more likely to result in nerve damage than it is for the pain to go away.
Also, make sure her saddle isn’t pitched downward, even slightly. This will cause her to put more weight on the hands. Does she ride with elbows bent? Make sure she’s staying very loose with her arms, as the hands shouldn’t be bearing much weight.
The usual difference between road and trainer is you tend to move around more on the road. She could try changing her hand position more often. Even ride with no hands every 10 minutes for 30 seconds or so.
By cushion, do you mean something big like a towel? Seems strange that a big cushion wouldn’t help a lot.
