4 Effects of new technology

In both cycling and wheelchair racing factors such as wider participation, better training methods and new technology have led to continually improved performances over the years. As in all sports, it is often hard to identify which factor is most important in enabling improved performance. However, given the large impact of technology on wheeled sports, you might wonder if we could identify the effect of technological advances in, for example, improvements in world record times.

In this section we ask you to consider the effect of changing technologies on wheelchair racing and track cycling. As well as gaining a better appreciation of the role of technology in these sports, you should also gain a better understanding of the benefits and limitations of using the internet as a study resource.