Hi Beth! Thank you so much!
Hmm… I can’t say these work outs are very hard for me. After each work out I still have much of energy for free rides. And even with more watts than it was requested during workouts. I guess I’ll try out this new ftp and if it’s really too hard I’ll get it back where it was.
Algis, you seem to be on a wrong track. Your problem is too much weight on your hands. This is a bike fitting issue, not a cushioning issue and not a handlebars issue. Cushioning of handlebards will not solve this issue. Cushioning only helps to reduce road vibrations which you do not have with indoor riding.
There are three adjustments which you can try, listed in the order from the easiest to implement to more difficult to implement.
Change the tilt of your saddle slightly by lifting the front end of the saddle. The range of this adjustment is limited as at some point it may start generating pain and pressure. This adjustment changes the tilt of your lower back which may be enough to change load on your hands.
Ideally, the seat should be close to horizontal position.
Saddle with a slit in the middle can go a long way to help you to reduce pressure on the sensitive area between your legs / a nerve that runs there / genital numbness, and would allow you to bring its tilt to a more horizontal position.
Move the saddle back. This change, which changes position of the seat relatively to bottom bracket, has a major impact on your fore-aft balance on the bike. You have some range of adjustment by moving the seat back and forth on its rails, but if the issue is bad, you need to buy an offset seat post with 20-30 mm offset.
Change height of handlebars. This is not as powerful of adjustment as the previous two and is the most difficult to implement because it is likely that you will need parts, perhaps a few of them, to even experiment with that. If it is a city bike with straight handlebars, you can try raising the handlebars. This will make your body more upright and will move more weight on your rear end. With a road bike, you best bet is to lower the handlebars. Lowering the handlebar forces your torso muscles to carry more of your weight (core muscles would not let your body bend any more and weight on your hands will decrease). Raising the handlebars on a road bike is unlikely to help within a reasonable range of changes because it will likely disengage your core and is likely to make things worse.
Yes this;
I use towels on my WattBike TT elbow rests so I can use them as a handle bar (as I hate the tuck when static).
Thank you so much! I’ve just tilted back the saddle and moved it back. It’s not so easy to say what impact these changes are gonna have. To feel the difference I need to ride it maybe about half an hour. So I guess I’ll see how it’s working tomorrow during the work out.
For now handlebars are at the highest level. I’m not sure if it’s possible to raise them more. It’s neither city bike, nor road bike. It’s just an exercise bike. This one:
Algis, it is good news that your trainer is adjustable. This makes it much easier to make changes.
You do not necessarily need to ride for half an hour to an hour to get a feeling which settings work better for you, in terms of fore-aft balance. There is a simple test: get on the trainer and start pedaling. Try to reach a steady, fairly high power at which you would ride if your workout was 10-30 minutes and you wanted to ride it fairly hard. Then, remove your hands from the handlebars while trying to keep the position of your torso unchanged. You can just lift your hands over the handlebars for some 5 seconds or so, or move them behind your saddle - whichever your prefer. Make a judgement how hard it is for you to keep your torso in this position without holding to handlebars. You might be falling on the handlebars and would not be able to lift your hands for more than a second - this is a bad case of poor fore-aft balance. You might find it hard but doable, or you might find it easy. Try to remember the feeling, then change the setting on your bike (move the seat or tilt the seat or change the height of the handlebars, or maybe even change the seat height) and repeat. You can test a number of positions within 10-20 minutes. Try to find a position in which you do not need significant efforts to maintain position of your torso.
Spin bikes, unfortunately, do not have an option of adjusting handlebars in fore-aft direction. Third party attachments can be purchased for some high end spin bikes, like Peloton (The Adjuster Compatible with Peloton Bikes (Original Models), Made in). but it is pricey. In this sense, they are more limited than real bikes, and of course much of the workouts on spin bikes is done standing or just relaxing in a sitted position without holding to the handlebars (at least, these are my observation from spinning classes which I took in the past).
Give this a try, experiment, and see how much better you can make it.
I hope you are not overstretched on this spin bike - if you are short, you might find it hard to move the seat further back, as you might not reach the handlebars very well.
Finally, with these handlebars, check if their angle is comfortable. I cannot tell if you can change the tilt, perhaps you can.
Thank you very much once again! You look like a real professional. I already learned so much from you.
I’m definitely gonna do this experiment tomorrow.
Nope, I can’t change the tilt of handlebars. The only thing which I can change for handlebars is height.
I’m not short. I’m tall. I even had to buy a prolonged seat for this bike. That seat is at the highest level now. Otherwise I bend my knee too much when peddaling and it doesn’t feel right.
You might be a genius… I experimented a little bit and decided to lower my saddle. Also I pushed it to the front but I’m not sure about it. I might push it back. We’ll see.
Anyway, look what happened today:
And also thank you everybody who commented on this thread. 
I think I’m getting on the right track little by little.
Glad to help. I hope you will eventually find settings on your trainer which eliminate your numbness and pain. Bike fitting is an art in its own rights!
