# Measuring cycling durability from everyday rides: our Science in Cycling 2026 talk

**URL:** <https://forum.aiendurance.com/t/measuring-cycling-durability-from-everyday-rides-our-science-in-cycling-2026-talk/222>\
**Category:** Research\
**Created:** [October 5, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://forum.aiendurance.com/t/measuring-cycling-durability-from-everyday-rides-our-science-in-cycling-2026-talk/222 "2026-10-05T20:40:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![MarkusRummel](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex003/user_avatar/forum.aiendurance.com/markusrummel/32/8_2.png) [@MarkusRummel](https://forum.aiendurance.com/u/MarkusRummel)\
**Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 8:40pm UTC](https://forum.aiendurance.com/t/measuring-cycling-durability-from-everyday-rides-our-science-in-cycling-2026-talk/222/1 "2026-10-05T20:40:43Z")

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Last month I presented our durability research at the [Science in Cycling symposium in Bromont, Quebec](https://centrenationalbromont.com/en/scientific-symposium-quebec/). **The question: can you measure how well you hold up over a long ride from the data you already record in training, without a lab test?**

Short answer: yes. Using rides from 105 AI Endurance athletes who consented to research use of their data and fulfilled all the study requirements (e.g. high quality HRV data), we compared 5-minute efforts ridden at the same power early and late in a ride. At the same power, heart rate, breathing rate and DFA alpha 1 all drift as work accumulates. After about 15 kJ/kg (roughly two to three hours of solid riding), heart rate was about 10 bpm higher, in line with what lab studies report.

Key findings:

- The drift is repeatable per athlete and clearly tells athletes apart, so it is a real individual trait, not noise.
- The obvious alternative, looking at how much your best power drops late in rides, barely works for amateurs. Most of us don’t go all out at the end of a training ride, so a lower late-ride power mostly means we chose to ride easier.
- Durability changes over a season, so the most useful comparison is you against your own baseline.

The full write-up with figures is on the blog: [Cycling Durability: What Your Everyday Rides Reveal | AI Endurance](https://aiendurance.com/blog/cycling-durability-everyday-rides)

Slides from the talk (PDF): [https://aiendurance.com/files/measuring-durability-bromont-2026.pdf](https://aiendurance.com/files/measuring-durability-bromont-2026.pdf)

A paper based on the talk is in preparation for the Journal of Science and Cycling. Happy to answer questions here, and hear how you think about durability in your own training, or your experience with our durability features we have launched so far.

If you want to be part of future studies like this please check the ‘Use data for research’ button in the [account page](https://aiendurance.com/dashboard/account)