Influence of an engineered backpack ventilation technology on thermal comfort during cycling – a pilot study

Abstract

Thermoregulation in sports is an essential aspect for performance as well as thermal comfort especially in endurance sports such as cycling. During a lot of cycling activities athletes often wearing a backpack. Due to the limited air flow channels of conventional backpack systems there is potential to optimize the thermal comfort of cycling backpack. The present subject study rshould compare two new rear panel designs with a conventional full contact back regarding temperature and humidity related to microclimate and interlayer climate. Four male sport students performed a load profile of 30 min. cycling on a Tacx cycling trainer at a moderate intensity level of 130W. Temperature and humidity were measured with combi sensors (SHT25, Sensirion, Switzerland) and stored with a mobile data logger (MSR147WD, MSR Electronics GmbH, Switzerland). The results of the pilot study clearly illustrate the potential of the two newly developed rear panel designs to improve the convective heat transfer during cycling. Depending on the backpack design the headwind during cycling can be used to enhance the thermal comfort of athletes.