Check out
www.rcbatteryclinic.com for good advice on the care of your batteries. If you are using NiCad or NiMh, cycling is only needed when you want to check the capacity of the batteries. The form charging of new (or batteries that have had many fast charges) NiCad and NiMh certainly does improve their performance, the manufacturer told you correctly. To for charge you need to charge at 0.1C for 16 hours as this insures that the highest capacity cells get fully charged but at a rate that does not hurt the cells that reached full charge earlier than the others. Charging at a rate higher than 0.1C could damage the weaker cells if left charging after the cells reach full charge. Also, if you are measureing capacity, you need to discharge at between 0.2C and 0.25C down to 0.8 volts/cell. If you discharge faster or to a higher volts/cell you will get a reduced reading. Other than checking capacity, there is no reason to discharge either NiCad or NiMh prior to charging.