Due to having young children, I spend a lot of time on a trainer vs the road. Around this time of year, it's nearly 50/50. After never feeling 100% confident with fitting over the course of 3 years, I've determined that I want one fit for the stationary trainer, and one for actual road riding.

On the road, I can handle a more aggressive setup... lower bars, bit more reach, a touch less setback. Overall I feel stable, balanced, and no pain/discomfort. Everything seems dead on for my style/speed of riding. On the trainer... yikes. With the same setup, I feel like like there's tons of weight on my hands, my neck/back is strained (reach too far?) and if I listened and adjusted to my body, I'd be running the setup of a beach cruiser.

What I don't get is... WHY??? Is this normal? Any fitting process I've ever seen is based on observing/measuring/jedi magic while the rider is on the bike on a trainer. It took me over 2 years before finding that just doesn't work for me. In fact, I've developed a "don't change the fit based on the feel of the trainer" policy after screwing it up several times. I only change if I feel one is needed after several long road rides.

For now, I'm using a commuter - rigid 29er with surly open bars - as my dedicated trainer bike. I really wish I could figure out the road bike problem though.

I think it's because road riding is so much more dynamic that the fit feels different on stationary. On the road we move around on the bike quite a bit, and move the bike around, all of which offers relief from the monotony of being in one position such as with a stationary. Sure, you can stand, or scooch forward and back, but it's not the same as all the little movements we go through on the road that engage different muscles.

Of course, on a stationary, you don't need to set up for aero, so when you think about it, the setup should be different.

Did you prop up your front wheel to be level with the rear?

That's an excellent question, and yes, I do. I've even tried running the front wheel an inch or two higher for fun. I think Chaadster is into it... simply the lack of movement and variety.

I wonder if rollers would be different...

This sounds crazy but believe it or not, there is enough wind resistance out on the road to help assist in holding your body back just a bit. Rollers will give you the same sensation but you are more involved on the rollers so you may not notice it quite as badly.