With the launch of the cleverly designed Bike Balance Board, TOGU have created an inventive piece of equipment for mountain bikers. Intended to improve reaction speeds, coordination, and proprioception, the Bike Balance Board is the go-to training tool of choice for many pros, including Fabien Barel. It claims to instill and embed certain bike-specific actions into your memory so that you’ll carry out the same range of motions once back on the bike without a second thought. But can a real state of flow really be trained?

Das Bike Balance Board scheint simpel, soll aber sehr effektiv sein.
The Bike Balance Board looks simple but claims to be very effective.

Theory

The Balance Board doesn’t proclaim to teach expert riding techniques, but it should deliver fundamental training for your core and motor skills. These movement processes that you’ll pick up are then stored in the part of the brain responsible for motor control, making them easily accessible while riding without having to consciously recall them. Consequently, fears are dispelled and flow is taught. With such an innovative concept for training, the TOGU Balance Board was crowned with the coveted Design & Innovation Award 2015.

Endurance is naturally vital but you shouldn’t neglect your motor skills, which are more than deserving of a workout. Yet should you try to train them directly on your bike, then you might risk the odd crash or two. Hence, the welcome entrance of the Balance Board, whose position puts you in a similar stance to riding. By altering the pressure in the ball underneath your feet, you can adjust the difficulty level; the lower the pressure, the more stability is granted. A similar concept to training with a Pezziball, this is an effective way to train your balance and reactions.

Die Positionierung auf Board und Bike soll sehr ähnlich sein.
The stance on the board is highly reminiscent of your riding position.

Training with the TOGU Bike Balance Board

Nailing the right position at the start can be tricky: the board offers a ton of options and there’s no specific newbie-position given. Should you position yourself above the hole in the middle or behind it? In any case, the closer you are to the bars then the more similar it is to riding a bike with a very short reach. The birch wood surface is pretty slippery and a touch of grip tape would be a good idea. After a hesitant start, our testers managed to find a stable position and kept themselves on the board for short periods.

Soon after, their sense of balance grew as they got used to the training tool, opting for grippy flat pedal shoes. The concept of the board challenges you to stand for longer on it or to change your position. It isn’t a quick fix training tool; the more weeks and months spent training on it, the more long-term the effects. We’re not yet able to prove whether these workouts have led to improved stability and flow on the bike, but the actual coordination while on the Balance Board has significantly improved after a few sessions. By increasing the pressure in the ball, you can gradually turn the heat up on the level of difficulty until you reach the maximum.

Das Board kann eine Menge Spaß bereiten.
The Board is a fun way to train indoors.

Conclusion

The TOGU Balance Board can definitely serve as a brilliant accouterment for any mountain biker’s training plan. Instead of just opting for the rollers when the temperature drops in the winter, you can fine-tune your technique on one of these Balance Boards so that come spring your stability and flow should be nicely tweaked. TOGU deliberately selected sustainable materials and employed high-quality manufacturing methods so the board shouldn’t just be a short-term dalliance. But having tested the top of the range 600 € version, it’s naturally a question of budget. So how much is your balance worth to you?

The Bike Balance Board comes in three different models:
Easy for 279 € | Pro for 379 € | Classic for 599 €

More information can be found on the TOGU Bike Balance Board Website

Words: Noah Haxel Photos: Fabian Rapp, Christoph Bayer


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