Pedaling technique and energy cost in cycling

Because cycling is an extreme endurance sport, energy saving and therefore efficiency is of importance for performance. It is generally believed that gross efficiency (GE) is affected by pedaling technique. A measurement of pedaling technique has traditionally been done using force effectiveness ratio (FE; ratio of effective force and total force). The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship among GE, FE, and a new technique parameter, dead center (DC) size in competitive cyclists.

Twenty-one competitive cyclists cycled for 10 min at approximately 80% VO(2max) at a freely chosen cadence (FCC). GE, FE ratio, and DC size were calculated from oxygen consumption and propulsive force recordings.

Mean work rate was 279 W, mean FCC was 93.1 rpm, and mean GE was 21.7%. FE was 0.47 and 0.79 after correction for inertial forces; DC was 27.3% and 25.7%, respectively. DC size correlated better with GE (r = 0.75) than with the FE ratio (r = 0.50). Multiple regressions revealed that DC size was the only significant (P = 0.001) predictor for GE. Interestingly, DC size and FE ratio did not correlate with each other.

DC size is a pedaling technique parameter that is closely related to energy consumption. To generate power evenly around the whole pedal, revolution may be an important energy-saving trait.