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How to choose a cycling testing service

By Damian Ruse

Before booking a cycling performance test, ask what the service measures, how the test is run and what you will receive afterwards. Choose a provider who can connect the results to the question you brought in—whether that is understanding your aerobic fitness, setting training targets or tracking a change over time.

The name of a package is only the starting point. A “VO₂max and lactate test” still needs an explanation of the equipment, protocol, analysis and follow-up included in the price.

In a Cycling Performance Club conversation I co-hosted with Jason Boynton and Cyrus Monk, exercise-intensity researcher Nicholas Jamnick discussed how testing methods influence the numbers riders receive. These are the questions I would take from that discussion into a conversation with a testing provider.

1. Which test answers my question?

Tell the provider what you want to learn before choosing a package. For example: “I want help setting my endurance training intensity” or “I want to compare my fitness before and after a training block.” Ask which assessment they recommend for that question and what it cannot tell you.

For VO₂max testing, ask whether oxygen uptake is measured from your breathing or estimated from performance. For lactate testing, ask which thresholds the report identifies and how they are calculated. If training zones are included, ask which measurements those zones come from.

A useful opening question is: “What would we do differently with the result?” The answer helps you decide whether the service is worth booking for your particular need.

Start with the decision, then choose the measurement

Early in the interview, Jamnick describes bringing testing conversations back to their purpose: why perform the test, and what value will its result add? For someone booking a service, that is a useful way to separate an interesting number from information you can act on.

If your question is about setting training intensity, ask the provider to explain how their report will help you and your coach make that decision. If your question is about progress, ask whether the service is designed to give you a useful comparison when you return.

2. What is the protocol, and why does it suit the measurements?

Ask the provider to walk you through the appointment: the warm-up, how resistance increases, how long each stage lasts, when samples are taken and whether there are separate test efforts.

In a 2018 study of 17 trained male cyclists, Jamnick and colleagues varied stage lengths and lactate-threshold calculations. Their results showed that protocol design and analysis affected the values obtained. This gives a practical reason to ask how a combined package handles its different measurements. It does not establish one universal protocol for every cyclist or testing service.

You do not need to choose the protocol yourself. Ask: “How does this setup support the results you are promising to report?”

Two threshold numbers can differ because of the method

Jamnick explains that his team examined 14 lactate-threshold calculations across four stage lengths: three, four, seven and ten minutes. That produced 56 combinations. This detail matters because the reported threshold depends on both the test and the calculation applied to it; a label on its own does not describe the measurement.

When comparing a new report with an older one, ask: “Did we use the same protocol and threshold calculation?” A difference in reported watts should prompt that check before you interpret it as a change in fitness. The published study sets out the methods behind this part of the conversation.

3. What do you mean by “threshold”?

If a report offers a single threshold number, ask what it represents. Is the provider identifying a first or second lactate threshold, a ventilatory threshold, critical power, or a different measure? Ask them to define the term in the report and explain how it was obtained.

Jamnick's 2020 review with colleagues evaluates ways of prescribing intensity against physiological exercise domains. The useful distinction for a customer is between the measurement, its interpretation and the training target built from it.

Ask to see an anonymised sample report. If it includes training zones, can you follow how the measured information becomes the recommended range? If it uses a fixed blood-lactate concentration, ask what that marker is intended to represent and why the provider uses it.

A training-zone label needs an explanation

Jamnick distinguishes exercise domains, defined by the body’s physiological response, from the labels used to prescribe training. In the conversation, Jason Boynton describes training zones as a way for coaches and riders to communicate; Jamnick agrees that zones can be useful without every boundary representing a distinct physiological transition.

For your booking decision, ask which zone system the report uses and how its boundaries relate to your test results. If your coach or training app uses a different system, ask how the provider will help you interpret the report within it. A numbered zone without that context leaves you with another translation to make.

4. Will I be tested on a cycling setup I can use consistently?

Confirm that the service offers a cycling test. Ask whether you will use your own bike on a trainer, a laboratory ergometer or another setup, and what adjustments are possible.

If you plan to use the results with your own power meter, explain that before the appointment. Ask which device supplies the reported watts and how the provider handles differences between that device and yours. Confirm whether you should bring your bike, pedals, shoes or power-meter information.

The aim is to leave with a clear connection between the test equipment and the equipment you use when training.

5. What preparation and repeat-testing instructions will I receive?

Ask for written preparation instructions covering recent training, food and drink, and anything else the provider needs you to keep consistent. Follow their instructions rather than designing your own preparation routine.

If you intend to return, ask what they will keep the same: equipment, protocol, sampling, analysis and preparation. Then ask how they distinguish a meaningful change from ordinary measurement variation.

A useful follow-up question is: “If my next result is a little higher or lower, how will we decide what that means?”

6. What is included after the test?

Confirm the total price and whether it includes a written report, explanation of the results and time for questions. Ask whether you can share the report with your coach and whether clarification or a follow-up appointment costs extra.

Before you book, you should know:

A report is easier to use when the provider explains what was measured, what remains uncertain and what they suggest doing next.

Find a service that fits your question

Compare cycling performance testing providers, or start with VO₂max testing and lactate threshold testing.

Use the listings to narrow your options by services and location, then confirm the protocol, inclusions and availability directly with the provider. A capability that is not publicly confirmed in a listing is a question to ask, rather than evidence that the service is unavailable.

About the original conversation

Nicholas Jamnick, PhD, researches exercise testing and intensity prescription. He joined Jason Boynton, Cyrus Monk and producer/co-host Damian Ruse for The Cycling Performance Club. Part one of “Down the rabbit hole of exercise intensity” was published on 18 April 2022 and discusses the graded-exercise-testing research.

This guide applies themes from the archive conversation to choosing a service. The questions and recommendations are Damian's editorial interpretation. Jamnick has not reviewed this guide; interview material is paraphrased rather than presented as an audio-verified quotation.