By Melissa Page

Just like high-speed F1 racing or mountain climbing, cycling is a sport that depends heavily on gear. This becomes truer year after year as cycling-equipment technology evolves with advanced research to improve the performance of the bike and the cyclist.

This is why getting a gear update every now and then has become a necessity, to say the least. Updating your equipment is as important as physical training, especially if you participate in big-league competitions.

In 2019, the trend points to streamlining the human capacity through maximizing physical potential and enhancing external cycling power. Here are the hottest upgrades you should consider for your own this year.

New Set of Road Wheels

Nothing impacts the function and performance of a bike more than a change of wheels does. A good set of quality hubs affects the feel of your ride and directs the accuracy of your steering.

Unfortunately, choosing the right set of wheels isn’t an easy task. The fruits of material science over the years now present plenty of options for the meticulous cyclist. Nonetheless, you should be able to select a good set based on the following criteria: (a) rim width, (b) rim depth, (c) quality tire set, and (d) frame for the brakes.

Read more about the best road bike wheels for every reasonable price range from Cycling News here.

Data Monitoring

If you are training for a big event, data tells you everything you need to know to evaluate your performance and aim at a proper target. This is where a good bike computer comes in handy.

Measuring your ride output precisely and gleaning a pattern from available data can tell you which aspects of your training must be improved.

Thankfully, data monitoring in cycling has ripened in the past decade, giving way to ample quality choices for power meters and data-monitoring technology to extract performance analytics.

These tools are able to analyze individual rides and compare them with your own personal ride history and provide statistics. They even harness the power of the internet to connect with other cyclists, compare data, and among its most vital features, be actively used as a safety measure.

Better Vision with Improved Cycling Lenses

A comfortable perspective is first and foremost, one of the most important yet often overlooked factors that determine success in cycling. When you’re scaling difficult trails or cruising through a treacherous path, having good vision is paramount to your safety and convenience.

Be sure to equip yourself with the perfect pair of lenses that perform three important things: reduce glare, increase contrast, and reduce warp.

Choose glasses that are designed for optimal wind protection—not to mention, one that locks on your face perfectly. This will prevent the glasses from needing constant adjustment and slipping during the ride.

Find out more about the best cycling glasses for 2019 in this buyer’s guide from Cycling Weekly.

Comfortable Saddle

It’s 2019, and there’s no excuse for spending your ride locked in discomfort. Improve your comfort and increase your performance with ergonomically designed saddles designed to be lightweight and body-type sensitive.

The newest comfort-standard models today are devised to prevent numbness, reduce joint pressure, and provide adequate support for the most comfortable cycling cruises in all types of environments.

The Perfect Cycling Shoes

Here’s a great roundup of the best cycling saddles to date in the market.

Shoe science just keeps evolving every year, and this 2019, it remains one of the front-runners when it comes to important performance upgrades. Because it’s a critical point of contact between biker and bike, manufacturers hatched the most impressive combination of efficiency, power, and comfort to provide top-level control during any bike run.

Best cycling shoemakers like Shimano and Fiziklead the game for the perfect bike shoes in the sport. Here’s a great list from TriGearLab.

Final Word

Some of these revolutionary gear pass as fast as they come into the market. But that does not mean you should buy only the latest to get ahead. Manufacturers today tend to zoom into specifics, catering to the most detailed needs that differ greatly from one cyclist to another. Needs and preferences change, and one gear may simply not serve your personal training goals anymore.

Here’s an extra tip

Online is the best place to shop if you really want to find the best bang for your buck. Here, you can sell your old gear or swap it with another. You can also compare prices among retailers and get recommendations from reliable niche reviewers.

So the next time you shop for gear, think long and hard about what your performance targets are. Shop around your comfort. A gear is only as good as its goal.