Saddle Discomfort on Trainer Only

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi all,

I’m relatively new to triathlon and I’ve run into a problem that I haven’t been able to resolve. I have been riding my road bike for over a year now without any unusual discomfort in the saddle. I recently bought a trainer and the saddle is so uncomfortable I can only stand it for about 30 minutes. I have tried adjusting the height of the seat, adjusting the height of the front tire, and even different bike shorts. Nothing has helped much, but I’m fine when I’m out on the road.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Any tips or suggestions would be great.

Thanks!

2

Try pointing the nose of the saddle down a bit.
Stand up every so often.
Use chamois cream/butter.
Build up your “taint” slowly.
The trainer is usually more uncomfortable than the road because you aren’t shifting your weight around as much.
Consider rollers.
Use a saddle cover/cushion.
Wear two pair of bike shorts/tri shorts.
Buy a MTB or cross bike, slap some studded tires on and hit some trails.
I use to have the same problem four years ago…yesterday I was on the trainer for three hours with no problems…it takes time.
Good luck!

3

I have the exact same problem. It does get better with time.

4

I had the same problem. The solution: bike more. On the trainer and on the road. The synergy will build up the muscles needed and you won’t feel the discomfort anymore. I tried changing shorts, seats, etc, but the solution was just more time on the bike.

5

All very good advice.

6

I used to do 100% of my training on my indoor wind trainer and was able to do up to 3 hour rides.

  1. Make sure your bike is positioned virtually flat; most floors (especially cement ground floors) are tilted to some degree. Use a level and add magazines or other materials to get it level.

  2. Stand up and pedal for at least 60 seconds every 10 minutes.

  3. Change to a “fresh” pair of cycling shorts every 30 minutes.

7

I had that problem a few weeks ago. Here’s what I did.

  1. Lowered the seat slightly
  2. Moved my arm pads back further to shorten the cockpit so I could rest more of my weight on my elbows, not my taint.
  3. Shift around every so often.
  4. Wear shorts with little to no pad. The pad drove me nuts. With out the pad I did more on my sit bones and rotate forward to a better position
  5. Pedal faster and harder.

I did a 2.25 trainer ride today that was great. No numbness, no discomfort. Good luck.

8

Your hips are locked in place and there is no side to side motion of the bike on the road. Since the bike is locked in the vertical plane, there is a slight diff versus road.

Also on the road, wind resistance pushes you back (just a bit) in your seat. On the trainer, you don’t have that…some people actually point the front wheel up marginally versus having the bike level, to compensate for this.

9

Try different saddles. A trainer makes you really search for a saddle that fits you well. Many different saddles work for me on the road, but I had to search and search and adjust and tweak to find a comfortable saddle, particularly for aero bar positions. You can also switch saddles from time to time. My butt is bruised from the four hours on my Selle SMP yesterday, so tomorrow I’ll ride my Adamo Typhoon.