Affiliations: [a] Sport Performance Research Institute New Zealand,
Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand | [b] Capes Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil,
Brasilia, Brasil
Note: [] Corresponding author: Rodrigo R. Bini, Sport Performance
Research Institute New Zealand, School of Sport and Recreation, Auckland
University of Technology, Private Bag 92006, Auckland, New Zealand. Tel.: +64 9
921 9999 ext 7295; Fax: +64 9 921 9960; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Reliability of pedal forces during cycling specific
tests needs to be established if pedal forces are to be used in longitudinal
studies evaluating performance improvements. METHOD: We assessed the reliability of pedal force measures during
two incremental cycling tests to exhaustion separated by two to seven days. The
number of competitive cyclists completing each workload increment varied (n=10
for 100 W to 250 W; n=8 for 300 W; n=6 for 350 W). Pedal forces were measured
via strain gauge instrumented pedals and pedal-to-crank angles via angular
potentiometers attached to the pedal spindles. Mean and standard deviations,
typical error of measurement percentage (TE%) and effect sizes (ES) between
days across workloads for oxygen uptake (VO_{2}), peak
normal force (PNF), peak anterior-posterior force (PAPF), average total force
on the pedal (ATF) and index of effectiveness percentage (IE) for right and
left pedals were calculated. RESULTS: Averages across all workloads showed high reliability and
trivial differences between two to seven days of testing for all variables
(TE%, ICC, ES; VO_{2}=4%, 0.94, 0.1; PNFright=6%, 0.98, 0.1;
PNFleft=12%, 0.98, 0.1; PAPFright=13%, 0.95, 0.2; PAPFleft=14%, 0.96, 0.1;
ATFright=5%, 0.98, 0.1; ATFleft=11%, 0.97, 0.1; IEright=10%, 0.94, 0.2;
IEleft=14%, 0.91, 0.1). CONCLUSION: Pedal force measures during incremental cycling tests to
exhaustion can be used to assess changes in performance given the high
reliability reported in our study.
