Wattbike at Rodborough School

Filed under: General — Tags: — Steve Marshall @ 1:51 pm

We’ve been following up how our customers are doing with their Wattbikes and have heard many great uses of the bikes. Here is one from Ann Harding, Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at Rodborough School in Surrey. This is some good feedback, but we also want your recommendations for improvement so if you have any feedback from your time with the Wattbikes, please let us know:

Hi! 

I originally got it to use as part of an alternative to the P.E curriculum for three disabled youngster in the school.  We asked the physiotherapist for each child to give us advice on what they could and couldn’t do so each one has an individual programme.

This has all gone according to plan but we have extended the use of the Skills Gym to work with some of the students who present more challenging behaviour. They have been given a programme of exercise to do every day – including the bike – and we have found that they are less disruptive in class and have such a fantastic sense of achievement when they achieve the targets they have been set. In fact we are finding now that they are setting more challenging targets for themselves and look forward to their time in the gym.

I took a bit of a gamble with this idea but the bike has been so successful that I am really glad I did. The support and advice has been gratefully received and I would recommend the bike to anyone.

Many thanks.

Ann Harding

(Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator)


In the back of an Artic!

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Alex Skelton @ 3:36 pm

 

After a day in London yesterday discussing the future of the Wattbike website with our friends at Metia  it would seem obvious that I should spend this morning in Stoke-on-Trent at Don-Bur in the back of a DHL Artic. It was certainly an educational morning, but the important question is “Why?”.

Wattbike have teamed up with DHL  to provide a travelling Wattbike activity area – it just happens that for DHL  that can be delivered on the back of an Artic. The basic premise is that the trailer will have up to ten Wattbikes, three screens, a registration table and if all goes to plan, hundreds of people around the country trying out the Wattbikes. The Wattbikes will be positioned facing outwards, on one side of the trailer with the three screens behind the bikes. When the trailer arrives at its desired location, the curtain on one side will be rolled back, the power plugged in, and the Wattbikes will be ready for action. If the weather is good the roof also peels back to allow some indoor cycling in the sun. The trailer is being fitted out by Don-Bur, who are the countries leading specialist in the design and manufacture of commercial vehicle trailers and bodywork, and as well as fitting some clever safety features they will be fitting the racks for the screens and the Wattbikes. As the global leaders in international express and logistics, DHL  will be moving the trailer around their sites to introduce the Wattbikes to their staff and raise money for Unicef, but for one weekend only  the trailer will be available to the general public at Bikeradar Live. We will be running races, raising money for Unicef and generally putting all-comers through their paces on the Wattbikes, so come to Donnington Park on the 30-31st May, have  a great weekend out and find out about the Wattbikes at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

A Conference in Adelaide, a Wind Tunnel and James Cracknell

Filed under: General — Tags: , , , — Alex Skelton @ 12:32 pm

Well, it has certainly been a busy few days.

Eddie and his team are on a round the world trip at the moment. This week they had been invited to present at the ‘Identifying and Developing Australia’s Next Generation of Cyclists’ Conference in Adelaide. This inaugural conference, organsied by the National Talent Identification and Development Program from Cycling Australia attracted delegates from throughout the country from the state’s cycling, triathlon, sports academy and sport institute organisations, with the speakers including Simon Jones the former head men’s track coach for the British team. There have been a few interesting Tweets and a blog post from Come Cycling with Me. 
Currently topping the 4k individual pursuit Wattbike Ranking is Rhys Gillett a young cyclist from Ballarat within one of the talent programs and overseen by Tammie Ebert, the Senior Coordinator for Cycling Talent ID in Australia. Awareness of Rhys’ utilisation of the Wattbike in his training encouraged Tammie to invite us to present.

Intrigued by the product and the integration of it within British Cycling at all levels, Eddie’s presentation was enthuisiastically received. From our part we were hugely impressed at the healthy cross-pollination of ideas between both cycling and triathlon and the desire amongst all delgates to continue to innovate in order to stay ahead of the curve and the rest of the world. It looks as though the Wattbike will soon become an integral part of Australia’s Talent ID programme as well as an important mechanism to engage young people and drive membership within Cycling Australia. Numerous orders placed and many new friends made Eddie’s (or Fast Eddie as he has come to be known) trip enjoyable and well worth while. Next stop is US Cycling in Colorado Springs on Monday.

Back in the UK I was back at the Brawn GPs wind tunnel on Tuesday seeing the magic happen. I spoke at length with a couple of engineers and finally understand what a rear diffuser actually is, which while completely unrelated to cycling is interesting when they talk about it so much during the coverage of the Grand Prix. Simon Smart and his team from Drag2Zero where testing a number of athletes in the windtunnel. I was there to help them with some physiological data relating to how the new position impacts on their ability to produce the power required to ride fast. I met with Ed Waterston, Marketing Manager of Scott in the UK and tested him, if he agrees I will post some data and pictures here shortly.

Finally, to and a rather bitty post, I spoke with James Cracknell yesterday evening. He has enjoyed using the Wattbike, and some of that competitive flare that made him so good at rowing is back, especially when he realised that one of the Danish rowers, Soren Madsen is only 700 metres behind him. James will be a guest blogger over the next few months, so look out for his posts.

Wattbike compared to the SRM Crank

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Wattbike @ 2:48 pm

One question we are regularly asked is how accurate is the Wattbike and how does it compare to the SRM crank. The answer is that both testing tools are accurate to within +/- 2%, although they use different measurement systems. We have created a video to demonstrate the comparability of the data and posted it on our Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/wattbike, so if you already have data from using an SRM crank, you can compare with the data that you are getting on your Wattbike, but remember to ensure that your SRM crank is correctly calibrated.

Wattbike Expert Software v. 2.50.22

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Alex Skelton @ 10:16 am

We have been working hard over the last few months adding your comments and requests to the list of changes and updating the Wattbike Expert Software. As with every software update there are some changes that will make the installation and upgrading of the software quicker and hassle free, as well as some little tweaks to how things work that most, if not all, users will not have noticed – there was a slight jump on a race screen that has been removed, although even when it was pointed out to me I could not spot it! 

The main changes that have been released with version 2.50.22 are the ability to implement analysis by time period instead of per pedal cycle, and the ability to lock the bikes in order for races.

The ability to analyse the data in the software by time period means that you can select data periods of 1, 2 or 5 seconds and view the data produced in those intervals, rather than per pedal revolution. This reduces the amount of data that is viewed and will enable more of an overview of performance and efficiency to be identified. This can be changed in Setup dialogue box in the Wattbike Expert Software:

Analysis Settings for the Wattbike Expert Software

Analysis Settings for the Wattbike Expert Software

The other major change to this release is the ability to lock the order of the Wattbikes in a race situation, so that it is not necessary to re-order the bikes once you have set them up for a day of racing. This will certainly save some time when we come to running days of racing in schools, or at events like BikeRadar Live.  To lock the order of the bikes, simply set up the race then click the lock button!

 

Lock the bike order in a Wattbike Race

Lock the bike order in a Wattbike Race

Guest post from Alastair Campbell – Do muscles have memories?

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Wattbike @ 4:38 pm

Originally posted on AlastairCampbell.org

Do Muscles have Memories?

With a long journey home ahead of us, a quick blog to pose the above question. It has come to me many times as I have cycled around the Highlands.

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I took delivery of a wattbike, a tweet on which prompted a rash of ‘what’s a wattbike?’ responses. I explained that it is a static bike used by British Cycling for training and the spotting of talent.

The wattbike’s great advantage over the kind of bike you get in a gym is that it feels like a real bike, you can use proper cycling shoes and it has a stack of computer technology on there which enables you to race against yourself (previous rides) or others, or over well-known routes.

But the computer wizardry I use most is a screen which tells you what percentage effort each side of the body is putting into each pedal stroke. The goal is 50 50. As you pedal, a shape forms on the screen and the goal is 50 50 with a perfect circle.

I’ve managed to get 50 50 often enough but never the perfect circle. But in working to make it happen I have been conscious of moving the power in my legs from muscle to muscle. Sometimes only the front of the thigh is working. Sometimes the back. Sometimes the calf. The closest I ever get to the perfect circle is when all are operating together, which may be more tiring but is more efficient.

When I first got the wattbike, there was a danger it was becoming my latest addiction. The weather at home was not so good, I could read a book, pedal away and keep an eye on the perfect circle.

So when we got up to Argyll, I was glad to get out on the real bike a bit more. And even more pleased to note I was riding a bit faster, and a bit further, than this time last year. Not by much, but enough to realise my muscles had learned to operate in a different way as I cycled along.

So in answer to my question, yes, muscles do have their own memory system.

Like I said, short and sweet, and not a hint of politics in sight. Normal service will be resumed on return.

Wattbike at Bikeradar Live

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Alex Skelton @ 3:19 pm

We spent the morning hammering out the details of the Wattbike area at Bikeradar live, and we are getting a bit excited. The event will have a load of exciting races, including a flying lap of the race track that will soon be used for the F1 Grand Prix, a downhill mountain bike race, a sportif and of course the Wattbike event. The Wattbike area will be supported by DHL who have become fans of the Wattbike through their DHL Sprint days where they use the Wattbikes as part of their testing and coaching of young athletes. 

Keep checking up on the progress of Bikeradar Live through any of Future Publishing’s titles

Training and Testing on the Wattbike

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Alex Skelton @ 3:45 pm

Over the last few weeks Eddie has been working hard on a range of tests that can be done on the Wattbike, most of them are currently being used in one form or another by British Cycling with their athletes and their talent ID programme. The tests will be delivered through the website when they are ready and also be available in a training and testing manual. Work is underway……watch this space. 

The ten tests that will form the core physiological tests are:

1. Peak Power Test

2. 200 m Test

3. Wattbike 30 Second Sprint Test

4. The Kilo (1000 m) Test

5. 3 Minute Test

6. Sub Maximal Progress Test (based on 3 minute Test result)

7. Wattbike Sub Maximal Fitness Test (Astrand)

8. 20 Minute Critical Power TesT

9. Wattbike Ramp Test 

10. Wattbike Step Test

We will also include a Cycling Efficiency Test to help monitoring of cycling efficiency.

Wattbike at Brawn GP

Filed under: General — Tags: , , — Alex Skelton @ 5:17 pm

Today Eddie and I took the trip to Northampton to visit with Brawn GP and Veloscience/drag2zero to demonstrate what the Wattbike has to offer for people doing testing in the windtunnel. The key areas of interest for Simon Smart of Drag 2 Zero and for Rachel Swift of the Brawn GP gym was how the body position of cyclists in the wind tunnel effects their power-output and so what is the best body position for reducing drag and maximising the bodies ability to produce power. We will be going back in a couple of weeks to work with Simon and Rachel when they are testing a Tour de France team in the wind tunnel. Watch this space.

Wattbike on ‘Something for the Weekend’

Filed under: General — Tags: , — Alex Skelton @ 1:10 pm

Dave Gorman and ‘Something for the Weekend’ host Tim Lovejoy raced on Wattbikes in the BBC studio to highlight Dave Gorman’s cycling stand up tour of the UK. The Wattbikes were used for a 200m race, which, Dave Gorman won (although Ella Williamson reported that Tim Lovejoy had won). The report can be seen until Sunday 5th April on the BBC iPlayer and takes place 1 hr, 13 mins into the show.

Once interesting thing to note from the results is that although Tim produced the higher average power he did not actually have a higher average speed than Dave. The reason for this is the faster you travel the higher the amount of power required is to increase your speed, so Tim’s riding at a higher power output for a short period of time would not have produced a fast enough speed to pull away from the more consistent Dave Gorman. The same would be true on the road or track, the most efficient way to get from A to B is maintaining the highest continuous speed/power output, not sprint then rest, sprint then rest.