By impressively modeling nearly 500 cycling hour record (CHR) attempts, Harnish et al. (1) found only a small effect of altitude, with an improvement of 0.075 km-h-1 at an optimal altitude of 1200m. Yet, previous physiological models predicted larger improvements at optimal altitudes of 2500m (2) and 2500m (3). Thus, is it still worth attempting the CHR at altitude? To answer this question, I updated two physiological models addressing CHR (2,3). One was developed by di Prampero (2) and focuses solely on aerodynamic resistances. In the other, Bassett et al (3) quantified both non-aerodynamic and aerodynamic resistances.
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