In the interests of our bank accounts following the Festive Period, I discovered this journal article and though I would share it with you all.
The aim of the review was to look at the many factors which influence power production. These include physiological factors and also mechanical and environmental factors. These factors were summarised and ranked in order of their importance. Improved performance was assessed as changes in 40km (25 miles in English) time trial performance. Additionally, riders were categorised by ability ranging from novice through to elite cyclists. Here is a table of the main factors reviewed.
Internal factors.
- Training.
- Altitude training
- Carbohydrate.
- Caffeine.
External factors.
- Bodyweight.
- Body position.
- Clothing.
- Bicycle.
- Wheels.
The review found that training is the most obvious way to improve power production, improving 40km time trial performance by 1-10% (1-7 minutes). It was also noted that altitude training could add an extra 23-24 seconds improvement to this figure.
Carbohydrate drinks may decrease time trial time by 32 -42 seconds and low doses of caffeine by 55-84 seconds over 40km.
Reducing the power demand by riding with hands on the brake hoods (improving aerodynamics was found to increase performance time by 5-7 minutes. Riding with hands on the handlebar drops would increase performance time by 2-3 minutes compared with elbows on time trial bars. Aerodynamic frames would save riders 1.17 - 1.44 minutes. Additionally, an aerodynamic wheel set can improve performance by 60-82 seconds.
In conclusion, it seems that novice cyclists can benefit most from suggested alterations in position, equipment, nutrition and training compared with elite cyclists. This is simply due to the fact that the better rider you are the better these factors are already and there is less scope to improve. Training is the most important factor but sometimes large changes can be achieved by simply altering body position. The expensive options of altitude training and bike modification also offer additional performance gains but not as much as training itself. So send back those new wheels and frames and buy a second hand road bike for £10 on eBay. So what if it's made out of iron and has wooden wheels - just do an extra 1000.