Yeah, they definitely connect differently due to the altered trainer frame. Might be possible to swap between them with parts from IR.
Are suffering from the pain of sitting on the seat or are getting abraded skin or the infected hair follicles?
In my experience even a small amount of side to side instability/movement helped with the pain a sitting on the seat.
I don’t know if it would help with the infected hair follicles though.
It might help with skin ghat is abraded since you could that ever so slight less pressure on the skin each time the bike moves side to side.
I can bore you with my take on the stock E-Flex. 
I had issues with it when I first got it, especially after years on my own rockers. I made my first modded versions of the E-Flex front to get blended steer and lean control. It works really well and made an updated version last year.
Just months ago, Insider sent me their 2nd generations front end for testing. It is much more to my liking and I like it nearly as much as my modded version. I think this new design hits all the stuff that matters to me and likely great for most other users. I can share my lengthy reviews if you want to learn more.
Occasional hair follicle but mostly they look like large boils (without any puss). They’ll go down if I don’t ride for a day or two. Severity depends on workouts. But at this point there’s scarring from six months of repeated sores.
Change of saddle was what worked for me having these issues in one particular spot (no pun intended). I don’t know whether there’s any logic, but I just used an MTB saddle I had to hand to see if it made a difference. It’s a bit shorter and wider than the road saddle it replaced.
In my case it is Rocker plate solved all my problems with sores.
it took me a few rides to get used to it and now it’s great!!
I use the same pants for indoor rides as I do outside
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How long do you ride per session whether indoor or outdoors? Are you seated the entire time you are on the indoor trainer? Are out of the saddle more when riding outdoors?
I’m in Aus and came to the same conclusion (not sure if you’re in Aus or not) , the price of ply is now ridiculous plus the time it would take me to DIY and find all the other parts I decided to get the JetBlack trainer, all the online sites here were ~ $600 AUD but from the jet black website they were $399 AUD plus $35 freight for me in Darwin. Might be worth a look, I’ve done 2 rides and am really happy with it.
https://jetblackcycling.com.au/indoor-cycle-trainers-and-accessories/rocker-plate/
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I have suffered from this as well. On average I ride 4/5 days indoors for up to 2hrs on the trainer. I don’t spend much time standing, almost 90% is seated power.
For me the following changes have helped:
1 - Changed from Buttr Chamois cream to Noxzema. Chamois cream was too thick and it seem to clog pores.
2 - Extreme cleaning of my Bibs - I DO NOT reuse bibs. I always wash them with Nathan’s PowerWash. Specialty soap for running and cycling equipment. Not sure if I will stick to this but it has “helped”
3 - I did make my own rocker. It helps on the dynamics of long rides.
4 - I have a fan hitting my back side to try to eliminate significant sweat moisture that used to build on the bib/chamois. I think this has helped the most.
5 - After riding, I shower almost immediately. Use Panoxyl soap bar for my butt. If things have gotten bad (as in I feel a boil), I will add Desitin (Baby rash cream) and overnight it will clear up.
I know how much of a pain (literally) these boils are… so I understand you looking in all possibilities.
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Indoor rides are 60 min twice a week. 90 min once a week. 99% in the saddle.
Outdoors rides are 3 x 3-4.5 hours a week. 95% in the saddle. Stop for lights and refuelling.
Alternate each day one indoor one outdoor. One rest day a week.
Awesome tips. Thank you
Anyone know where I could get some of these balls? I just got the foam mats but they seem extremely dense without much give.
thanks.
As the vid title shows, discount (dollar stores) are one option. But just about any place that sells sporting goods and/or kids toys is worth a look. When it comes to “foam/pads/etc.” there are MANY options. It’s hard to know what works for everyone because preferences vary. It takes some trial and error to find what works.
Thanks Chad. Do you know what you’d call these types of balls? Tried the foam pad today, it gave some give which was probably a nice introduction to it. Perhaps with a few more rides it’ll soften up a bit.
Sadly, I don’t know exactly which ones he has in the video. It can be a simple “bouncy ball” in the kids toy department, “stress ball” in a place that sells that stuff. Here is something on Amazon that looks similar:
Yeah, the current pads you have may loosen up a bit. One option to make them “softer” is to cut or drill some holes in them. Any holes you add will weaken it a bit. Depending on how stiff it is, you can do a series of holes in something like a Swiss cheese or honeycomb pattern. Size, spacing and quantity of the holes you make will soften it.
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Every few rides you will need to move the pads otherwise the foam just compresses and doesn’t provide the movement that is needed.
That can be true for some foam rubber, but not all of it. Particularly firm, closed-cell foam can be quite resilient. What also matters is the amount of compression applied to the foam in most cases. Keeping to something like 25% of compression can lead to long life with minimal “set” of the foam. But if you are getting more like 50% compression for longer periods of time, “set” can be more of a problem.
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Definitely not more than.
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I wonder if you could use something like this for a quick test or rocker plate.
You can easily cut them to fit into the legs of the trainer.
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Pool noodles are too easily compressed and not very durable. I’ve used segments of the on my handle bars when I was injured and needed a slightly more upright position on the bike.
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