Discomfort on turbo

[Jd843]

Hi

Does anyone else get pain/discomfort on the turbo that they don’t get while riding outdoors?

I use the same bike indoors and outdoors, but for some reason I get pain in my right hip, quad muscles and shin when on the turbo. I don’t think it’s caused by being in the same position all the time as it happens fairly early in the workout. I’ve been doing sweet spot workouts so not extremely high intensity.

Has anyone experienced anything similar?

[531colin]

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=59332&hilit=string
Above thread is about cyclists who ride with their bike leaning to one side. (including me!)
Could it be that your "natural" way of riding is with the bike leaning, and having it fixed vertical in the turbo is causing you problems of asymmetry?
Steve Hogg has quite a bit about asymmetric pedaling and compensation for different leg lengths etc. There is a bit here, I'm sure you can find more with a bit of digging..https://www.stevehoggbikefitting.com/bikefit/2011/05/addendum-to-seat-height-how-hard-can-it-be-2/

[Vorpal]

I think that the lower body muscles are generally more active when they need to respond to conditions on the road, and that this prevents saddle discomfort, and muscle twinges that can occur on the turbo or spinning bikes.

I reduce this by setting a pattern for myself, where I pedal out of the saddle for intervals.

[drossall]

I sometimes get mild pain/cramps in the backs of my thighs on the turbo. I've not had that trouble on the same bike on the road. I keep meaning to check my saddle height etc. though. Haven't got around to it yet. It happens at random - just on occasional turbo rides.

[mumbojumbo]

A normal bike ride requires the cyclist to adjust their body position.Have never ridden a turbo,as seems tedious and futile,but imagine riders are in fixed position.Why usea turbo when you can ride outside.

[foxyrider]

A normal bike ride requires the cyclist to adjust their body position.Have never ridden a turbo,as seems tedious and futile,but imagine riders are in fixed position.Why usea turbo when you can ride outside.

When you can't ride outside? for example, my recent off meant i couldn't ride as i couldn't hold the handlebars or control the bike, the legs were fine - if i'd had a turbo i could have happily sat there getting some exercise without affecting the damaged limb. To be honest i hate the things but there are times when they can be useful things to have - bad weather, injury, setting bikes up etc, etc.

[mumbojumbo]

They come into their own when injuries impede but otherwise would not want to feature in thar advert where people pedal to purgatory,while some prat barks out orders.

[Vorpal]

I used the turbo when my kids were little & Mr. V was doing shift work. Sometimes it was the only way I could get any exercise. Otherwise, I prefer to be outdoors.

[drossall]

I've got drawn into Zwift, somewhat to my surprise, as a result of lockdown. I needed a replacement for short commuting rides. If I've got several hours, I'd rather be out on a bike but, if it's a more like one hour or less, it seems a better use of time to do it static. And, when we weren't allowed out at all, it was the only option.

My club is quite active with it, too. We had virtual club runs until rides in small groups were allowed. We've lost hearly a whole summer of club 10s, so now there is activity on Zwift on those.

[foxyrider]

. And, when we weren't allowed out at all, it was the only option.

At no point were we not allowed out at all, in fact just the opposite, we were encouraged to go out!

[SimonCelsa]

At no point were we not allowed out at all

perhaps in reference to 'self isolating' or 'aaagghhh, I've got the lurgeee, gotta stay home'?

[NATURAL ANKLING]

Hi,
Turbo in unlike any road riding.
You have to maintain constant effort around the whole 360 degrees of cranks.
So when you relax the effort you don't coast, just jump to dead stop or a hill start in a few seconds
You sweat more
Your rear gets sore
5 minutes seems like 30
Your face distorts after 10 minutes
Its boring
You need a drip tray under bike
And the frame will suffer corrosion from sweat / orange in the bottle spilling
You don't get far

Advise-
Fans more than one will help
Open windows or get a shed / basement / garage
A towel is handy
Cover exposed bike parts from sweat
Play some music with a lot of beats........drumming helps
In general I find heart rate is higher

After not being able to stand unaided after a fall, I got on the turbo.......................

[drossall]

At no point were we not allowed out at all, in fact just the opposite, we were encouraged to go out!

You're right of course, but there were mixed messages about for how far and how long, which resulted in encouragement to stay near home. Not a time for substantial rides. Whereas riding on a trainer was unlimited.

[RickH]

A normal bike ride requires the cyclist to adjust their body position.Have never ridden a turbo,as seems tedious and futile,but imagine riders are in fixed position.Why usea turbo when you can ride outside.

My regular tandem stoker is visually impaired & can't ride a bike solo any more so she uses a bike on a trainer to keep pedalling in between tandem sessions.

During the spring lockdown we did quite a few virtual tandem rides - we would talk on the phone (before anyone starts muttering, I've some bone conduction earphones so there's nothing in/over my ears & I can still hear what's going on around me) while I would go out on a ride & she pedalled along on her bike indoors. I would tell her things "we" could see as we went along.

[Jdsk]

Brilliant!

Jonathan