Numb bum whilst using a turbo

Love the podcasts and have been using TR since December, I have a dedicated bike on a DD turbo, a 54cm specialized Tarmac expert .( my road bike is a 56cm genesis zero disc). I love riding it but find that i get a numb bottom( bum in the UK). I have adjusted the saddle height and fore aft and it doesn’t seem to make much difference. What could be the main cause for the numbness? Is it something such as vibration through the bike? Ot is it that it needs setting up? I never have this issue when on the road on my other bikes. It doesnt feel cramped riding it. I am 178cm/ 5ft 10inches tall.

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If you are getting pain or numbness on the sit bones (contact points) with the saddle that is very common on the trainer. It is painful compared to the road. I have tried to reduce this issue by wearing good bib shorts on the trainer and building a rocker plate. Also make sure to stand up once in a while during your rides. Time in the saddle also helps, as you ride more it is less of a problem.

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Had exact same problem on turbo and exactly as the poster before me: got a rocker plate and this really helped.

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You likely don’t feel it on the road because you would be amazed at how much you move around on the saddle on the road which gives those parts a break. Try moving around on the trainer bike frequently. Standing is probably the simplest thing you can do since a typical trainer is stationary. I’d do it every 10 minutes for a minute or longer. More complicated solutions can be found in the link Chad posted, including a rocker plate, which I use and it helps tremendously.

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raising the front wheel to be 1 1/2 -2 " higher than rear helps as well I have found. in addition to above mentioned suggestions

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It’s a process of elimination:

Do you have the same size saddles?
Measure the width across the broadest point, and then see if you can get the same type of saddle. You should be comfortable on any bike, in any position, unless you’re making a living from riding and need to win.

You said you made changes, which then affects other areas, like hip and knee angles, reach, and power output. Normally the common pain-point is the perinium, because of an incorrect fit. Saddle tilt and width usually affects this.

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Beside periodically out of saddle riding, biggest hardware changes for me:

  • Specialized Power saddle → Mirror variant
  • rocker plate
  • multiple fans (front and back)
  • clip-on tri bars, this has been biggest game changer for me personally, especially for long Z2. Before could do max 3h indoor, now pushing 4h+
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It could be your saddle is failing. Ive broke 2 of them on my turbo i believe its the extra stress of being able to concentrate on the up-stroke of the pedal stroke more than riding outside, thus putting more pressure on your bum and saddle. Plus you don’t move around as much indoors concentrating the pressure to the same area for longer periods. That being said the wings on my 4th saddle no longer support my ass and after an hour my bum goes numb. Assuming all other things are correct saddles can and do fail. Oh, i bought the bike new and now has over 10,000 miles on it. (16093.44 kilometers)

I suffer from this quite badly even after years of trainer. I agree that aero bars can be quite useful and will add that for me putting in 80mm spacers on the aero bars made a huge difference for me. I am on the aero bars about 50% of my zone 2 time which is where I suffer the most. I also use motion plates, and I use a suspension seatpost (Cane Creek Thudbuster) as well. It introduces additional movement in the saddle which helps a lot. All the above helps, and I stand for a minimum of 30 seconds every 5 minutes.

Throw a gel cover on while riding indoors. Makes a world of difference.