RE: cycling?
I alway use balance connector when charging Lipo/Life. It has the effect of balancing mulitiple cells which is like cycling. Sometimes I have run a Lipo down to the point where one cell has to be restored by the charger before committing to the charge. The charger will indicate something like "335 Mv" and run until it is balanced, then start charging all cells. (I also use a low voltage alarm in my electrics when flying to tell me when a cell has discharged below a certain level. The alarm attaches to the balance connector on the battery.)
For NiCd/NiMH batteries I discharge/charge about once a year. I usually use 1500/2500mah packs and charge before flying. The invividual cells usually don't get so low that one will short out. The D/C restores all cells. I keep a spreadsheet and note the capacity of each pack. Over time I can see a trend of lower capacity and will discard one too low. I think the 70% of stated capacity is a good rule of thumb.