Measuring Force Applied to a Bicycle

HowieR

Hi all,

I am currently researching into different ways to measure the calories burned by a cyclist during a ride. Looking at the ride specifically (i.e. not taking into account factors such as age, lean body mass etc.), I have considered calories as energy and consequently the energy expended by the rider would be based on the force the rider applies during the ride multiplyed by the speed at which they are cycling at. In regards to different ways of measuring the force expended by the rider, one way that I have found would be to use a strain gauge on either side of the pedal. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where on the bicycle the best place would be to measure the force exerted by the rider, and also other ways of determining the force applied by the rider? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Thorman

This site should get you started. Andy also has a spreadsheet somewhere on his site that you can use to enter power and cadence to determine forces applied at the pedals. I have it, but it's around 10 meg. It's just as easy to simply setup your own spreadsheet using the formulas.

http://home.earthlink.net/~acoggan/quadrantanalysis/

Smartt/RST

I'm a little confused by your query...I take it you do not own a power meter?

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Smartty

biker-linz

Sounds to me like you might be reinventing the wheel (excuse the pun). Power meters reading in Watts (J.sec-1) are accurate and relatively inexpensive. They will give you energy expended; all you need then is an idea of your athlete's gross efficiency (GE) and you will be able to calculate kcal consumed. Most people assume a GE of 25%, and as there are approx. 4 kcal to the Joule they use the energy measured by the PM (in J) and convert it 1-to-1 into kcal.

Lindsay.

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