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Cycling training aids are available to help improve your cycling performance. A few bicycle training aids are cycling computer, Turbo Trainer, and more.

Bike riders are always looking for different aids to help them go further, go faster and recover quicker.

Here is a list of just some of the training aids which can help you achieve this.

List of Cycling Training Aids

Computer/ GPS Device

A modern cycling GPS bike computer can provide accurate recording of your speed, distance, heart rate, power output and more. With the help of one of these you can accurately record your progress with accurate scientific data.

Group Runs/Races

Riding races or group sessions on the bike are a great way to lift your speed and add variety to your training. Just make sure the group or race you participate in is a suitable level for your abilities.

Otherwise you may find your motivation and speed dropping.

Personal Cycling Coach

A good cycling coach is well worth the money. Their knowledge and experience can help you take a lot of the guesswork out of your training. With your GPS cycling computer and an internet connection you can have coaching from anywhere in the world.

Check out our cycling coaches directory for a professional cycling trainer.

More Cycling Training Aids

Rest and Recovery

Probably the most important of all the training aids for a cyclist is ensuring to get enough rest and recovery. Make room in your training program for days off the bike and/or short easy spins.

Sports Supplements

Beetroot juice, cherry Juice, creatine supplementation, sodium phosphate, carbo /protein mix recovery drinks should all be part of the cyclist's kitchen.

Training Diary/ Programs

Following a sensible cycling training program and keeping an accurate cycle training diary is very important.

You can keep your diary on a computer or use a pen and paper, but in whatever form, it is very useful.

As time progresses you can analyze your training history to work out what is most beneficial for you in terms of improved cycling performance.

Turbo Training

The old faithful indoor trainer. Where would you be without one? When you hit the cold dark wet nights and days of winter thank goodness for a turbo to keep your fitness levels up. Also great for short intense interval sessions.

Modern turbos come with computer/TV connection, DVD cycling videos and virtual reality opponents.... very easy to get addicted to.

Just do not forget the joy of cycling outdoors, when the weather improves.

In the coming months we will expand in more detail about the training aids we have listed and add some more.

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Bike Training

A look at the various bike training principles involved in the sport of cycling.

There are five main training principles which apply in most sports not just cycling.

These are:

specificity

overload

recovery/compensation

progression

variety

Cycling Training Program for Your Muscles

Your muscles gain strength through adapting to the stresses which result from exercise training.

After hard training your leg muscles are sore and the ability to perform increased training is reduced. This is as a result of slight damage in the muscle fibers.

However if you allow sufficient recovery then your body will overcompensate and your muscles will get stronger.

Your cycling training program should form a cyclical nature of muscle breakdown, recovery and performance enhancement through overcompensation.

Specificity of training is such that your muscular and cardiovascular system will adapt specifically to the exercise stress you subject it to.

If you train over long slow distances then your muscular endurance will improve. If you train at fast intense levels then you will become faster.

Your body will, with adequate recovery adapt and be more capable of enduring the specific exercise stress you put it under.

No matter how many kilometers you clock up, you will not become a lot faster until you include some specific bicycle speed training.

Training Overload

For you as a cyclist to become faster and stronger your training program needs to place demands on your body which it cannot comfortably endure. This extension outside your comfort zone provides the stimulus for adaptation and improvement.

If you wish to continuously improve, you will need to regularly increase your training load as your find your body adapts.

As time progresses you need to constantly challenge your system with training which constantly raises your comfort level.

Training Recovery and Compensation

In order for your bike training to bring improved performance, it is essential that you allow for adequate recovery after every training session.

In the recovery process your muscles will become stronger through adaptation and overcompensation.

Your neuro muscular system will reconfigure itself so that a similar training load will produce less stress to your system...the recovery process is the time during which your body becomes stronger.

When you begin a new cycling training program or undergo a number of intense training sessions, your body will respond by giving you tired and sore muscles.

However after repeating the same training (with recovery sessions) over a number of weeks your fatigue and muscle soreness will reduce.

Cycling training sessions plus more importantly, adequate recovery will allow your body to adapt and fitness to improve.

Inadequate recovery will by reverse not allow muscular systems to adapt and your fitness level will go into decline.

Most bike riders are very good at inflicting a hard training session on their body, but very bad at allowing sufficient recovery time.

Recovery duration periods vary amongst individuals and just because most of your club mates are able to race two or three times a week, does not automatically mean you can do the same.

Strength Training for Cycling Progression

Your rate of progression whilst undergoing a bike training program will depend on the amount of training stress and recovery time.

Too much training with too little recovery will lead to decreased performance, injury, illness and a loss of fitness levels.

Your training progression will also be reduced if you do not train often enough or do not exercise sufficiently, outside your comfort level.

Progression in your FTP and bicycle training schedule is all about maintaining a balance between your hard (fast or long) cycling sessions and your recovery training (short easy cycling days or complete rest days).

Concentrating on getting this balance right for you as an individual athlete will help you achieve your results in a shorter time frame.

Bike Training Variety

An often overlooked cycling training principle is variety.

Training on the same roads, same days and with the same group all the time will limit your progression and can lead to a fitness plateau, mental boredom and loss of motivation.

Likewise training consistently at the same intensity level.

So for enjoyment and to get the best results for both your body and mind, add variety to:-

the training routes (go indoors/outdoors/mtb sessions)

your group runs (mix it up with a different club?)

your training session types (hills, speed, endurance)

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What Bike To Choose - Aero or mountain one?

Buying a new bike right now can become a headache due to the different types of road bikes that have been appearing: big bottom, aerodynamic, climbers, gravel ... We will try to clarify a bit the issue.

Aero bikes

Since there are now paintings called "aero", let us see what this word means. When we talk about aerodynamics in cycling we must clearly differentiate the bicycle from the cyclist, that is, on the one hand there is the position of the cyclist (70-80% of total aerodynamics) and on the other hand there is the aerodynamics of the frame, the wheels and other components. Although everything is a whole, it is important to differentiate both parts to talk about aero bikes. When we talk about aero bikes, we are referring only to the aerodynamics of the bike itself, not the cyclist. Some cyclists believe that an aero bicycle is a bicycle that places the cyclist in a more aggressive or lying down position, when in most brands this is not the case as we will see later. The main difference between a normal frame and an aero frame is that aerodynamically speaking, the aero frame is supposedly more optimized, that is, it generates less resistance by eliminating round tubes that are less aerodynamic than tubes with flatter or profiled shapes. Due to this aerodynamic optimization, frames with a more aerodynamic profile are slightly heavier.

Although we already know that aesthetics is probably the most influential variable when buying a bike, for those interested in going faster on the bike we must say that in general an aero frame is going to give us an extra speed "free", ie for the same power pedaling we will go slightly faster thanks to its lower wind resistance. The complicated thing is to know exactly how much we are winning. We recently did a velodrome test for Triathlon magazine comparing a Specialized Tarmac frame against a Specialized Venge Vias measuring an improvement of 0.5km/h with the Venge. This improvement is with these two models in particular and does not have to be the same with others.

Climbing bikes

Let's say they are the models of all life, the classics in terms of the shape of the tubes and geometries. They are manufactured looking for maximum rigidity and minimum weight. As for minimizing the weight of the bikes, we have made a simulation of the influence of weight on the time we gain or lose in a climb with a bike more or less light. If we think of the port of La Morcuera (12km at an average 6.5% gradient) and a 75kg cyclist with an 8kg bike pedaling at 250w, we know that it will take 49 minutes and 17 seconds to crown the port. With a 9kg bike, it would take exactly 30 seconds more to climb Morcuera applying the same force on the pedals. With this data in hand we can see that the influence of weight on speed going up is perhaps not as important as we sometimes think when we try to lighten our bikes a few grams. It is important to remember that the weight of the bike does not influence the speed when we go flat.

The big climbing bikes

The bikes called "great bottom" have appeared in recent years. They are bikes with a more relaxed geometry, that is to say, they are shorter and taller frames that allow the cyclist to go a little more upright and less stretched. In addition, they have the longest pods, the distance between axles is a little greater and the steering angle is a little more relaxed. In this sense, they are bikes with greater stability and a slightly more relaxed or less nervous behaviour in terms of handling. They are bikes that, although they are more relaxed, are still as efficient and rigid as a climbing bike. They are the bikes that best suit the majority of cyclists because of their more relaxed geometry.

Geometric comparison

We can see the differences in geometry between the three types of bike. To make this comparasion, we have consulted the geometry of 11 bikes of the most representative brands on the market and we have calculated the average for each of the measures. As you can see, the geometry of the aero bikes and the climbing bikes is practically the same, although in some brands there are slight differences that we will explain later. If we compare these two groups with the big climbing bikes we find the following differences:

Greater stack, which is the vertical distance between the bottom bracket axle and the top of the steering tube. This is the biggest difference between the aero and escalators and the big bottom. On average, the great depths are 2cm higher than the others. How many cyclists have 2 or more centimeters of spacers below the power? Most of them.

Less reach. With reach we know the length of a picture. It is the horizontal distance between the bottom bracket and the upper part of the steering tube. As we can see in table 1 the big bottom frames are, on average, 1cm shorter than the others. How many cyclists have shortened the power?

The steering angle. It is slightly more relaxed the big bottom, ie tends to make the direction of the bike smoother, although missing to add other variables that few manufacturers provide to know the real behavior of the direction: the trail.

The angle of the seat tube. It is practically the same on all bikes.

Pod length. They are longer on the big bottom, giving a little more stability to the bike making it longer and subtracting a little reaction when accelerating.

Distance between axles. A little more on the big bottom as a result of the two previous measures: longer pods and more relaxed steering angles.

Comparison of aero bikes

The Specialized Venge is the lowest of all. 2cm lower than the highest, the Giant Propel. In this case, the Propel has a stack almost as high as a large bottom.

The longest (highest reach) is the Canyon Aeroad, with 2.2cm more reach than the shortest, the Cervelo S5, which is practically the same as a large bottom in terms of the reach of the frame.

This analysis can help us decide which bike is best for us in this category: Propel and S5 if we are looking for a short and/or high bike and Aeroad and/or Venge if we are looking for a lower and longer bike.

Comparison of climbing bikes

Among the climbing bikes we find some differences between the highest and shortest and the lowest and longest. The lowest is the Specialized Tarmac, with a stack of 543 in front of the highest, the Canyon Ultimate that goes up to 567mm, almost like a big bottom model. As for the length of the frame (reach), the TCR stands out as the longest of the comparison with 398mm. The Cervelo R3 is the shortest, 2cm less than the Giant, 378mm. If we go out of the extremes, we will see that the others are quite similar between them with differences below the centimeter.

Comparison of large climbing bikes

The large bottom models are very homogeneous in terms of reach, with less than 1cm difference between them. However, in the stack we find important differences between some of them. The lowest is the BH Quartz (556) and the highest is the Merida Ride (587).

Comparison aero bike vs. escalator bike of the same brand

Interestingly, there are several brands that use exactly the same geometry on both their aero bikes and climbers. For example, the Specialized Tarmac and the Venge share geometry as well as the Madone and the Emonda of Trek, the G7 and the Ultralight of BH, the Scott Foil and the Scott Addict and the two Cervelos (S5 and R5). Curiously, the Giant TCR is longer and lower than the Propel (aero). Canyon is the only brand whose aero bike is more "aggressive" than the climber.

Which bike to choose?

At this point and if we are thinking about changing bikes we may have a small dilemma about which type of bike is best for each. If we are looking for a bike that gives us extra speed, the answer is an aero bike. While if the preference is lightness and rigidity would be more advisable a stairclimber.

The big bottom, generalizing, are better adapted to the medium cyclist since the geometry is better adapted to a comfortable position. However, it is very important to note that a large bottom bike (or any other) does not have to be comfortable if it is not correctly adjusted to the characteristics of the cyclist.

A correct positioning of the saddle, a correct choice of the length of the stem and choosing to put more or less spacers is what is really going to make us fully enjoy our bike.

At this point it is important to note that a climbing bike becomes a great bottom as soon as we put 2cm of spacers and shorten the power, that is, you can get the same measures with two different frames playing with powers of greater or lesser length, more or less angle and with more or less spacers.  In fact, as we pointed out before, most of the cyclists that take climbing bikes usually adjust them pulling towards the geometry of a great bottom: they use 2 or 3 spacers and in many cases they shorten the power. Another issue is the behavior of the same, which can be slightly different between 2 bikes of different types.

As we pointed out at the beginning, the cyclist is 70-80% of the aerodynamic resistance, and therefore, whoever wants to improve his aerodynamics is going to obtain much better results trying to go more lying down than using an aerodynamic frame.

In this way, it will be much more aerodynamic a cyclist who is able to maintain a more or less crouching position on a big bottom bike than a cyclist who is more upright no matter how much aero bike he carries. Likewise, an aerodynamic helmet and clothing that fits tightly will give us the same or more aerodynamic advantage than an aero frame.

It is also important to make it very clear that all types of bicycles are good for all types of cycling, because in the end what matters is to be in good shape and comfortable on the bike. There is no problem in making a cycling tour with ports with an aero bike. And it is also possible to compete perfectly in master with a great bottom or do triathlons with a climbing bike.

As a final recommendation and to make a good purchase we recommend going to a store or biomechanics studio where they have a colt or adjustable bike where you can simulate the geometry of the bike we are thinking of acquiring and thus make a purchase 100% safe. Recommend size simply taking as a reference the height or length of the crotch is sometimes insufficient and can lead to purchases not very successful.

The flexibility of the cyclist, the years they have been riding the bike as well as the body proportions are variables that also influence when selecting the bike and the size that best suits us.