An array of cameras is installed on the walls at Dr Borut Fonda’s Lab, surrounding a pneumatically controlled platform that can simulate hors catégorie climbs. A unique and incredibly accurate pedal-based tool is fitted to the bike placed on top of it, recording diagnostics of cycling biomechanics including three-dimensional forces and torque at the pedals. Designed in part by Fonda, it cost around €700,000 to develop. Only a few such pedal-based systems are currently in existence, most of them owned by universities and used in their sports laboratories.
As absoluteBLACK’s lead scientist, Fonda has been using this state-of-the-art setup to help riders such as Tadej Pogačar and Matej Mohorič hone their positions and work on their riding styles. Possessing a PhD in kinesiology, with an emphasis on inter-muscular coordination during uphill cycling, Fonda is well-placed to do so.
But this is only a part of his job. In the room across the hall is a testing and development workshop where the product arm of absoluteBLACK tests existing and upcoming products, as well as those of its competitors. The proximity
