A New Bicycle Pedal Design for On-Road Measurements of Cycling Forces

Abstract

A pedal is presented that was designed specifically for the evaluation of cycling technique of different cyclists in real conditions. Most of the instrumented force pedals referred to in research literature have been designed for laboratory use, where pedal weight and dimension have not been considered critical characteristics. By means of this new instrumented force pedal, which is externally identical to one of the most popular clipless pedals, cycling forces under real conditions are measured. The interest in this pedal lies in the fact that it can be used in road trials like the sprint or climb, where tridimensional movements must be considered. Some measurements obtained in hill climb cycling, such as maximum normal force and force distribution during crank revolution, are also presented and discussed.