Supplementary data for the article: Personal Preference or Intrinsic Quality? A Study on Bicycle Handling Quality

DOI:10.4121/3268cec4-be6e-4be3-863e-41ba1e0b20af.v1
The DOI displayed above is for this specific version of this dataset, which is currently the latest. Newer versions may be published in the future. For a link that will always point to the latest version, please use
DOI: 10.4121/3268cec4-be6e-4be3-863e-41ba1e0b20af

Datacite citation style

Ronné, Jules; Moore, Jason K.; Dubuis, Laura; Robert, Thomas (2025): Supplementary data for the article: Personal Preference or Intrinsic Quality? A Study on Bicycle Handling Quality. Version 1. 4TU.ResearchData. dataset. https://doi.org/10.4121/3268cec4-be6e-4be3-863e-41ba1e0b20af.v1
Other citation styles (APA, Harvard, MLA, Vancouver, Chicago, IEEE) available at Datacite

Dataset

This dataset contains post-processed data from an experimental study investigating whether bicycle handling quality is a matter of personal preference or an intrinsic, measurable property of the vehicle. Nineteen cyclists performed a controlled riding task on an instrumented cargo bicycle with four adjustable configurations (A, B, C, D), modified by changing the position of a 3 kg mass on the steering assembly. This alteration affected the steering inertia and handling dynamics while remaining visually concealed from participants.


The experiment took place indoors on a flat surface using a predefined track including straight-line riding, a U-turn, and a slalom. Each participant completed 8 trials, experiencing all pairwise transitions between configurations in a balanced order. They were instructed to maintain a constant speed of 5 km/h and to ride as straight as possible, minimizing deviations of the front wheel contact point.


Performance was objectively measured using three inertial measurement units (IMUs) embedded in smartphones (Nokia 3.4), sampling at 200 Hz.

The performance metric, normalized front wheel path length, was computed using ground plane kinematics and bicycle's parameters.


Workload was assessed using a relative version of the NASA-TLX questionnaire, focusing on five dimensions: Mental Demand, Physical Demand, Temporal Demand, Effort, and Frustration. After every two consecutive trials, participants reported perceived changes and estimated percentage differences, later normalized per participant to reduce inter-subject variability.


Participants were 19 adults (4 female, 15 male) with varying self-assessed cycling expertise (Medium: 6, High: 5, Very High: 7). All provided informed consent. The study was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of TU Delft.


The dataset includes performance metrics, workload assessments, trial sequences, and configuration parameters.

History

  • 2025-10-07 first online, published, posted

Publisher

4TU.ResearchData

Format

*.py,*.csv,*.md

Funding

  • TKI/ClickNL grant “De Fiets van de Toekomst”
  • Société de Biomécanique travel grant Société de Biomécanique

Organizations

TU Delft, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Department of BioMechanical Engineering;
Université de Lyon, Université Gustave Eiffel, Université Claude Bernard

DATA

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