What cycling data can FormBeat Cycling Analytics analyze?

Updated

FormBeat Cycling Analytics is built around ride files rather than live sensors, so the practical answer is: it analyzes whatever your head unit or watch records and exports — typically power, heart rate, cadence, speed, and GPS position. You get useful output only if those channels are present in the file you upload. A ride recorded with just speed and GPS will still produce distance, elevation, and route analysis, but no power or heart-rate trends.

Data types FormBeat works with

Data channel What it comes from What FormBeat does with it
Power Power meter or smart trainer Power trends, peak efforts, training load
Heart rate Chest strap or optical sensor HR trends and comparison against power
Cadence Cadence sensor or power meter Cadence patterns across a ride or season
Speed GPS or wheel sensor Speed and distance analysis
GPS Head unit or watch Route and location context

The key constraint is that FormBeat reads recorded files, not a live data stream. If a channel was not recorded, it cannot be reconstructed later.

What the analysis output looks like

Three output types matter most for training decisions:

  • Trends — how a metric moves over weeks or a season, so you can see whether form is building or flattening.
  • Peaks — your best efforts at given durations, which show where your strengths actually sit rather than where you assume they do.
  • Training load — a combined view of how much stress your rides have accumulated, used to judge whether you are absorbing the work or digging a hole.

These are descriptive outputs. They tell you what happened; you still decide what to change.

Using the results to adjust training

A workable loop looks like this:

  1. Record rides with the sensors you care about and export the files.
  2. Upload them to FormBeat.
  3. Check trends and peaks against what you intended to train.
  4. Adjust the next block — more or less load, different emphasis — based on what the trends show.

For example, if peak power at short durations is flat while training load keeps climbing, the data suggests you are accumulating fatigue without building the quality you wanted. That is a signal to change the mix, not a prescription.

What you need before you start

  • A head unit, watch, or trainer that records ride files.
  • Sensors for any channel you want analyzed — power and heart rate in particular cannot be inferred from GPS alone.
  • A consistent export routine, since analysis quality depends on getting files in regularly.

FormBeat's site lists Paddle as its payment platform, which indicates a paid product; check the current pricing page before assuming any tier is free. No specific device compatibility list or file-format documentation appears in the available site data, so confirm export format support with your own device before committing to a workflow.