back injury - how to build a turbo trainer bike with very high handlebars

iancalderbank

due to an impending back operation, I will not be able ride for several months, and will need to regain fitness after the op.

indoors will be ok, but only if I can get my back comfortable. the expectation is that any kind of bent forward position for any long period will be uncomfortable.

I'm trying to think of a way to make the bike on the turbo trainer, give me a upright body position more like an "exercise bike". I don't want to go and buy an exercise bike, I don't need one. plan so far:
- Add stem height riser / steerer tube extender widget to bike to allow two stems to be fitted.
- Keep existing stem forward facing , clamped at bottom of extender. existing bars stay where they are. shifters stay where they are. basically don't mess with the existing bars.
- add a second stem backward facing at stop of stem riser. This is be a riser angled stem.

i've got both the riser/extender tube thingy, and a variable angled stem to use as the backwards rising stem , it has the standard 31.8 clamp size.

what I then need is a second set of handlebars to clamp onto the second stem. simply to give me something to hold whilst training. I've done this with spare MTB bars and some old school bar ends, but the total amount of rise is nowhere near enough. Another 600mm of rise would be good!
Something like BMX bars would be ideal, to achieve the mahoosive height gain. I am trying to get as high, as possible - torso upright with arms out more or less horizontal is the goal. of course this bike doesn't need to be rideable in this configuration!
however from what I can read, but never having had a BMX, they are 22mm in the clamp area so won't work with a normal stem.

I'll need probably need a change to a fat "shopper bike" saddle as well to cope with sitting upright , but thats much easier to sort.


anyone know of a bar type that would do the job? or some other frankenstein combo. doesn't want to be anything expensive.

joey54321

Could you turn the road handlebars upside down to hold on to the what would normally be the drops?

daniel_b

You can buy those bolt on extenders can't you - not sure what the technical name is though.

Or do what Matthew Hayman did:


Or rig some kind of harness from the roof to support your arms - that would be super adjustable then as well.
Maybe using an old handlebar, with some pipe lagging on if you want a ton of comfort.

kingstongraham

Does it have to be fixed to the bike? If it doesn't can you just put a rail in place in exactly the most comfortable position? I am guessing just riding no hands is not an option.

If you use erg mode on a turbo you shouldn't need to change gears often.

webboo

When I had my shoulder repaired and the result was my arm was in a sling for 4 weeks. I just sat and rode without my hands on the bars.

iancalderbank

no handed wouldn't be comfortable - upper body weight needs to be controlled by holding something. Its in the dining room so attaching to roof isn't an option! The stepladder is genius though , thats a very good the point, the arm support doesn't need to be attached to the bike. I will experiment with stepladder.

daniel_b

What about an adjustable bike workshop stand, where you use the clamp to hold a handlebar?

Or a stem that the handlebar is then connected into?

OR a handlebar in a vertical orientation, with the steerer end of a stem attached to it with shims, and then another handlebar attached to the proper end - IF you can't get it close enough in any other way.

Think this will take a bit of trial and error, but if you have a decent parts bin, you may have most of the bits you need already, otherwise, would be peanuts off of ebay etc.

webboo

What about Tri bars but raising them vertically, then as your back in proves you can lower them gradually.

daniel_b

Webboo wrote:

What about Tri bars but raising them vertically, then as your back in proves you can lower them gradually.

That's a clever idea, have a use afterwards as well.

Whatever you do OP, come back and show us please :-)

N0bodyOfTheGoat

For a hybrid or mountain bike, you could swap out the supplied bars for something modular such as the Modolo Dumbo touring bars. They have a huge range of adjustibility.