The ecological validity of traditional standing and novel bicycle balance and agility tests for predicting performance in mountain bikers

Abstract

Falls are a common mechanism of injury in mountain biking and may be related to a loss of control of the bicycle. Traditionally, the components of bicycle control (balance and agility) are measured in standing and running, which may not reflect the skills required in mountain biking. In this paper, we present the validity of both traditional standing and novel bicycle-specific balance tests in mountain bikers. Twenty-nine male and female participants completed indoor laboratory tests and an outdoor downhill trail. Participants completed single-leg stance balance, Y-balance test, one static and four dynamic bicycle-specific balance tests, a bicycle agility test, and an outdoor downhill trail. Single-leg stance balance and Y-balance tests with eyes open had poor validity when associated with bicycle control. The static (r ​= ​−0.57, p = 0.001) and four dynamic bicycle balance tests (r ​= ​−0.51 to −0.78, p = 0.005 to 0.0001), and the bicycle agility test (r ​= ​0.87, p < 0.0001) had moderate to strong relationships with the outdoor downhill run. Single-leg stance balance and Y-balance tests with eyes open are not valid measures of performance on a mountain bike, and should not be used to assess these populations. Our novel bicycle balance tests have adequate validity to be used as measures of performance in mountain bikers.

Keywords

Bicycling / Control / Proprioception

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The authors would like to thank and acknowledge Mr Charlie Fethney for his data capturing assistance, and A/Prof Jeroen Swart and Dr Mike Posthumus for their professional input on the development of the dynamic bicycle balance tests.