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Sports Helmets
Published in Franz Konstantin Fuss, Aleksandar Subic, Martin Strangwood, Rabindra Mehta, Routledge Handbook of Sports Technology and Engineering, 2013
Aleksandar Subic, Firoz Alam, Monir Takla
Prior studies (Alam et al. 2007, 2008, 2010; Brühwiler et al. 2006; Kyle and Bourke 1984; Blair and Sidelko 2008) primarily focused on aerodynamic drag for recreational and/or racing bicycle helmets, however, few studies have investigated the combined effects of aerodynamic and thermal efficiency on recreational, road racing and time trial bicycle helmets. Aerodynamic and thermal comfort data on most commercially available helmets are not available in the public domain. Generally, it is difficult to judge the overall performance and relative advantages of helmets without undertaking a comprehensive study. To address this concern, a series of studies as part of a larger research programme has been undertaken by the Sports Aerodynamics Research Group at RMIT University on currently produced helmets for recreational, road racing and time trial cycling. The following case study provides some insights into these three categories of helmets in terms of their respective aerodynamic and thermal comfort performance.
Methods to determine saddle height in cycling and implications of changes in saddle height in performance and injury risk: A systematic review
Published in Journal of Sports Sciences, 2022
Rodrigo Bini, Jose Priego-Quesada
Two studies further explored if more intense cycling would be sensitive to changes in saddle height. One study observed better performance at higher and lower saddle heights, compared to cyclists’ preferred height during 30-s Wingate tests (De Moura et al., 2017), which is initially counterintuitive. Moreover, a study using 5-s maximum sprints observed reduced performance when saddle height was lowered by 2 cm (Vrints et al., 2011). These findings suggest that further research is needed exploring a range of supramaximal intensities to determine implications of saddle heights in cycling performance. This is particularly important for disciplines of cycling that involve greater intensities than road cycling (e.g., track cycling). In this regard, only one study assessed effects from changes in saddle height on aerodynamics of cycling with a time trial bicycle, demonstrating that higher saddle heights increase drag forces and potentially limits on road performance (Chabroux et al., 2012). Therefore, there is limited evidence on the effects from changes in saddle height on supramaximal cycling performance.