Cycling Level is a cycling standards platform created by Michael Clark and launched in 2021. It helps cyclists compare ride times across distance, age, gender and bodyweight while connecting road speed with estimated power and fitness measures.
Enter your distance, time, age, gender and bodyweight in the Cycling Level Calculator. The result reports speed, estimated power, watts per kilogram, functional threshold power (FTP) and effective VO2 max, then compares the performance with cyclists of the same gender and age.
The model connects speed, power, bodyweight and distance before applying age adjustments and percentile distributions. This makes the public cycling times bodyweight-aware rather than treating the same road speed as an identical effort for every cyclist.
Beginner means faster than 5% of cyclists, Novice 20%, Intermediate 50%, Advanced 80%, and Elite 95%. The calculations are estimates for comparing performances; terrain, wind, elevation, equipment, riding position and drafting can make an outdoor result differ substantially from the model.
This timeline is based on the original implementation and analysis records, launch references and public web archives.
Strength Level defined Beginner, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced and Elite at the 5th, 20th, 50th, 80th and 95th percentiles. Cycling Level later applied that exact scale to cycling so a ride could be interpreted in the same language as a lift, run or row. See the Strength Level standards timeline.
The first Cycling Level distance standards were implemented on . Before launch, the calculator was rebuilt around published cycling formulae that estimate the power needed for a speed, with bodyweight carried through the standards for men and women.
Power, watts per kilogram, FTP and effective VO2 max joined the time and speed result in early December. Strength Level introduced Cycling Level across the public fitness network on . Compare the current calculator with the earliest useful public archive.
A shared site switcher connected Cycling Level with Strength Level, Running Level, Rowing Level and Swimming Level. This completed a consistent path between five sports that all explain performance using the same explicit percentile thresholds and five ability names.
Michael Clark created Cycling Level and is its lead developer. He holds a master's degree in Computer Science from the University of Cambridge and previously worked as a Technical Lead at Redgate Software. Michael designed the site's performance model and leads its software development and operation. Read more about Michael Clark's work.
Strength Level Limited (company number 14076102) was incorporated in England and Wales on 28 April 2022. It operates Cycling Level and the wider Strength Level family of fitness standards websites.
We improve Cycling Level using feedback from cyclists, coaches and researchers. Report a problem or suggest an improvement through our feedback form, email support@strengthlevel.com, or contact us on Facebook.