The current gold standard treatment for bone defects is autologous cancellous bone graft, which involves increased surgery time and donor site morbidity, and limited supply of bone and cells for regeneration. Bioreactors may aid in the generation of mechanically conditioned bone grafts with more cells compared to traditional grafts. However, the specific parameters of fluid flow and mechanical loading which contribute to osteogenesis and cell viability in bioreactors are not fully characterized. Here, a perfusion-compression bioreactor system was developed to study osteogenesis in porcine trabecular bone explants. Loading accuracy was over 88% across six bioreactors at a 0.1 s-1 strain rate and 20 N target force, akin to running. A flow rate of 0.2 mL/min appeared to be more favorable for cell viability than 1 mL/min. Overall, this work offers a foundation for future efforts to enhance cell viability and osteogenesis in bone explants.