Tips and Advice

How can a performance test help your cycling?

Cycling is a data-rich sport and we often hear cyclists mention values of VO2max, peak power output (PPO), lactate threshold (LT), and the increasingly popular functional threshold power (FTP). All of these terms are associated with performance in cycling, but what is the true value of knowing these numbers and how can a performance test […]

Tips and Advice

The science of cross-country mountain biking: What does it take to succeed in XCO?

Cross-country mountain biking or XCO (the acronym given to the Olympic discipline) has increased in popularity in South Africa and globally over the past few years. So much so, that famed South African artist, Jack Parow, even wrote a song about it, Eksie Ou. Poor attempts at humour aside, the growth of this particular cycling […]

Tips and Advice

Podcast: Ask the experts at Science2Sport

Bike Hub and the sports scientists from Science2Sport will be doing a series of podcasts to address common cycling training related questions, and we want your input to fuel the discussion. The team at Science2Sport which includes leading sports scientists, Dr Jeroen Swart, Dr Mike Posthumus, John Wakefield, and Benoit Capostagno, will be addressing the […]

Tips and Advice

A scientific guide to race day nutrition

Dr Jeroen Swart and Ben Capostagno from Science to Sport look at the science behind race day nutrition. Pre-race meal: Our bodies store carbohydrate in the form of glycogen in two main areas; our liver and our muscles. The liver stores approximately 100 grams of glycogen, while our muscles can store ~ 500 grams of […]

Tips and Advice

Training with a power meter: the ins and outs

Cycling is a fairly unique sport due to the ability to be able to get a direct measure of workload. Power meters have been around for a few decades already and are able to measure your power output in real time during training and racing. Immediately after the power meters were first released to the […]