I recently got some rollers and have been having some comfort issues. I’ve been riding 15 hours a week for the last three years and about 5-10 hours a week for the 3 years before that and I don’t have any comfort issues on the trainer or outside but on the rollers, I find my butt starts to get pretty uncomfortable after just a few minutes. Has anyone else experienced this and if so, does anyone have any tips?
Try standing up occasionally. If you have decent rollers, it’s not that hard.
You might also be putting too much weight on your saddle in order to stabilize yourself.
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I get exactly the opposite - on my trainer I tend to favour my stronger leg, end up sitting oddly on the saddle, always end up with saddle sores and get really painful hands.
On my rollers, prob because Im running such a big gear on my bike (usually 120plus) i have to be central and use both legs equally - the feet pressure thing on garmin never shows more than a 51/49% variance
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I actually find the opposite, just as Steve suggests. However, I have noticed that I can’t “get away” with a stupid position on the bike when riding the rollers as supposed to the trainer. On the trainer, you can actually adopt such fixed position that it is only rideable on the trainer. As soon as movement enters the picture, the bike is pretty much unrideable. This is the issue with fitting a bike on a static trainer and then just leaving the bike shop and thinking everything is fine. A common issue with this is saddle height, for example. While most research seems to conclude that a saddle that is slightly too high is more mechanically efficient on a trainer, most people would tell you that they feel much more comfortable with a saddle that is slightly too low rather than high if you put them in a fast group ride. Simply manoeuvring the bike becomes almost impossible with a position that is too high.
With all this said - if you find that you experience pain on the rollers and not on the trainer, I could speculate that your position may be a bit “too optimal”. Maybe your saddle height, reach, etc work great when you can hold the position completely static and distribute your bodyweight however you feel comfortable, but when you introduce movement, you start having to distribute your weight in a way that actually balances the bike, and this causes pain. I don’t have the answers here, but I did find that my “optimal” position on a direct drive trainer was basically unrideable outside or on rollers.
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Are you adopting a different position on the rollers vs trainer?
- Even slight changes in things like hand position on the bars can impact our body position and weight distribution on the bike.
Are you standing with any frequency and does this differ from the trainer use?
- Many people can tend to sit more in one use case than another, and this can have a large impact on comfort. Even brief standing breaks can lead to improvement to saddle comfort.
Are you riding stiff or nervous with the new motion vs the fixed trainer?
- This could lead to changes in loading of your body on the bike which could manifest in the saddle comfort.
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Good tips! Thank you all!
- I haven’t tried getting out of the saddle yet since I still feel a little unstable but I can try to work on that and see if that changes things.
- I don’t think it is a fit issue since I split my riding relatively evenly between a direct drive trainer and outside riding and haven’t experienced this comfort issue while on the trainer or outside.
- It seems most likely that I am in a non-normal position on the rollers, likely due to being a little stiff/nervous. Maybe just riding them more and paying closer attention to using my normal position and generally getting familiar with them will help.
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I think your 3rd point is most likely then. It may even be worth shooting some video of you on the trainer and then on the rollers, for comparison. It’s sometimes shocking how different we may actually be sitting between use cases without noticing it from the saddle.
As with anything new, especially a technical skill of riding rollers, it can all improve with practice over time. Keep at it and you should be able to ride more relaxed and mix in standing when appropriate. Both of those should make a positive difference.
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The video is a great suggestion since I don’t have a mirror next to my trainer so it is totally possible I am doing something weird. Thanks!
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Skip the door frame and use a portable bike work stand like a Feedback. Works double duty for getting the first shoe clipped in and I hang a towel or two on it as well. I can ride them without but it’s easier just having something you can hold on to when you need it.
I can provide a pic later if it’s helpful.
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Pic please. I think I know what you mean, but not sure.
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I believe this is what he’s talking about. Just one example with many other brands and variations available.
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Rocker Plates + Zwift has been a game changer for me in terms of comfort, motivation, and performance.
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For a moment there before I really looked at the picture, I thought - he’s riding rollers on a rocker plate???
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That wouldn’t be a pretty sight, or at least, not end well.
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It sure wouldn’t last very long anyway. No more saddle sores, that’s for sure.
I’ve used rollers before, do see the benefit and why many like them and continue to use them. I also have used stationary trainers for 20+ years and know its benefits [and discomforts] well. But once I built my DIY RP and now have 3+ months under my belt on it, nothing compares [for me].
Oh, I’m not a fan of that Park Tool, replace that with a sturdy Feedback tri-pod:
Set the stand to the side of your rollers to help support. I would advise heavily against using anything less than a tri pod style stand. Been using this one for at home bike repair and roller use for 15 years…
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Thanks for sharing the pic. It reminded me that I still have a reply planed on FB to your latest info about the lean motion and pedal timing. Gotta get to that soon 
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I look forward to it!
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I tried again today and intentionally changed position a lot more both on the saddle and with my hands. That seemed to help quite a lot - I finished a 2 hour ride! I didn’t have the time to try taking a video yet but moving my butt around helped a lot. I think the issue before was that I was sitting too far back on my saddle. I have a split nose ISM saddle and typically lean forward and support myself on the split nose and I think I was just sitting too far back and sitting up more than I normally do. Thank you all again for the comments and encouragement to keep trying the rollers!
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