Instrumentation of pedals of a road bicycle as a proposal for analysis of applied force

Abstract

Cycling has grown as a leisure activity, means of transport and mainly as a professional sport. Therefore, deeper studies and research aiming at maximizing the performance of high-level athletes have been made necessary. Additionally to such studies, the area of instrumentation schemes has developed seeking to make possible the measuring and characterization of several parameters for researchers interested in cycling. Regarding the vibrant surging of systems that allow the measuring of magnitudes such as the force and mechanical power generated by the cyclist, the present research aims at implementing and characterizing the measuring of the forces and mechanical power deriving from pedals and crankset for a road bicycle so as to analyze the results with appropriate statistic methods. The purpose is to compare and verify if that the measurements made on the pedal are equivalent or not to the measurements taken on the crank. Considering the mechanical limitations inherent to the bicycle—the movement of pedals and crankset—independent electrical systems charged by batteries were created, as well as the synchronization for the beginning of acquisitions through ZigBee modules. Ten volunteers participated on the practices. They generated twenty sprints of data each. Such data served to statistically evaluate and conclude, based on variance analysis, that the power applied by the cyclists are significantly different for one of the load cell.