Trainer Leg Settings

Sarah, according to the picture you posted.  The position settings are set by measuring the O.D. (outside diameter of the tire on the bike you put on it).  Just take a tape measure and measure around the outside of your tire.  You do the same thing when you set up your bike odometer although I assume your bike shop did that for you. 

The other thing that your instructions said was that the tire should be about 1 1/2" from the floor.  That is the most important thing.  The closer to the floor that the tire is, the more stable it will feel. 

Hooooowwwever, it may be a while before it really feels stable to you even though it is set up properly.  If you mash down on your pedals from side to side instead of the "wipe the mud off your shoe" circular spinning stroke, it will feel more wobbly.  Try concentrating on your pedaling technique.  That may be why you do not feel stable.  Do you ever ride your bike with no hands on the handlebars?  This helps bike handling skills and forces you to use a more proper pedal stroke because you are not using your hands to counteract improper pedal stroke.  BT actually has a video listed on the home page today on proper pedaling stroke.  I will be interested in hearing what your final analysis is.

Ok, awesome.  Tire is exactly 1.5" from the floor (I'm on sealed concrete with a Flor carpet tile on top).  I had the settings right.  I think I hadn't done a very good job of centering the tire on the roller.  One concern I have is the derailleur being so close to one of the little arms, because the cup has to fit over the other side of the skewer.  I took a picture:

(Cupcake.jpg)

(Derailleur.jpg)

Oh, and Neal, I can't currently let go and stay balanced when I'm outside.  I do know that I have some dead spots, and definitely need to do some one-legged drills!  I think I've worked up to a smoother pedal stroke, but I'm going to get some feedback from my coach during my test since she'll be there. 

Sarah, If your rear tire is 1 1/2" from the floor as you mention in the previous post then  you have the bike trainer set up properly as long as it is tight as Brian (BigSmoothe) mentioned.  I suspect that you have it tight enough.  It looks fine from your picture.  The carpet is a thought as Brian also mentioned. Hoooowwwever, as I mentioned in my first post  and I will be a bit more direct this time.  I think the issue of feeling unstable is your pedal stroke.  Watch the video on BT's featured articles.  I watched it today and it is pretty good.  I do not have  the same trainer as you, but when people get on it for the first time they mention that they are afraid of falling over because they feel unstable.  I may be wrong, but I would bet the farm that you are pushing down with each stroke as opposed to the circular motion which is kind of like cleaning mud off of the bottom of your shoe.    While you do that with your bottom foot, you should be pushing forward with your top foot.  A lot of riders just push down with each stroke and they steady the bike with their hands which is why I suggest riding for a bit without hands.  If you want to try that, coast without hands first...  THEN pedal using the circular stroke.  If you push down the bike will wobble too much to ride without hands.  If you get comfortable with that, then I bet you will feel comfortable on the trainer without making any adjustments to it.  Good Luck. 

You might want to have a couple beach towels under the bike to catch your sweat.