Media – Page 2 – Kath Bicknell

Do I need a women’s specific bike?

Or perhaps the better question: what are the most important considerations when it comes to person-specific bike fit, regardless of gender?

And the question I wish more people were asking: what has an increased focus on fitting bikes for women taught us about bike set up for, well, everyone?

Having worked in cycling media for over ten years, and often tasked with reviewing bikes aimed at a female market, I’ve heard the ‘women’s-specific’ debate from many angles. Where it gets most confusing for consumers is that a large number of early designs for women were (in hindsight) a load of bollocks. More recently, most of the companies that invested heavily in well-researched designs for female riders such as Trek, Specialized and Scott, seem to have back-flipped and have returned to gender-neutral designs, particularly at the racier end of the spectrum. Reducing the marketing for these changes to single, snappy sentences seems to confuse consumers even further.Continue reading “Do I need a women’s specific bike?”

Media, cognitive science and career advice for students

How do the skills you’re exploring now relate to the things you might do in the future? Or to answer a question I also get a lot: ‘What is it that you actually do again?’

Mark Parry shot a series of videos answering these questions for the Department of Cognitive Science at Macquarie University in Sydney. It was initially developed as part of a third year undergraduate course called ‘Cognitive Science in the Real World’. The series interviews all kinds of interesting people about the professional work they do, shares advice for current students and cleverly reveals the smaller moments and interests that brought them to where they are today. Like any good content, it’s enjoyable and relevant to people with much broader interests as well.Continue reading “Media, cognitive science and career advice for students”

Humbled to be named as one of Ride Guide’s Top 50 influential people and events in mountain biking

But most of all, thank you to Ride Guide for considering the writers. No one ever thinks of the writers!

Without words and the perspectives of the writers and journalists, mountain biking may well have been another gear based sport, but there is something more to this than riding and racing. It can be the struggle, the exhilaration, the adventure and mis-adventure, the highs, lows and tragedies. A writer has a gift to transport you to another place and take you on a journey, drawing you in with their with their words, and for a short period, you become transfixed to the page (or screen). The writers below have the ability to do just that, so still do it, while others have moved on. Either way their legacy and future work will continue to shape this sport for years to come.

Continue reading “Humbled to be named as one of Ride Guide’s Top 50 influential people and events in mountain biking”

Reviewed: Specialized Women’s S-Works Epic

The Specialized Epic is one of the world’s most lusted-over cross-country (XC) mountain bikes. It’s the main bike choice of current XC world champion, Kate Courtney, former world champion, Annika Langvad, and a whole stack of privateers – riders who usually pay for their bikes making their vote for the Epic perhaps the most discerning of all.

Specialized Womens S-Works Epic-1 — The women’s build is designed to be fast and efficient, just like the women who seek this bike out.

Clean lines, minimal clutter.

Secret tools.

The kind of tech that makes strangers start up conversations if they catch you standing still.

Continue reading “Reviewed: Specialized Women’s S-Works Epic”

Yes Day: Tropical North Queensland

Imagine if you said ‘Yes’ to every surreal opportunity that came your way for a day. What would you do? And where would you base yourself to do it?

Yes Day: Tropical North Queensland is a short film I wrote, produced and directed with Wade Lewis and Chris Baker (Tokyo Swim Team). It developed in response to the adventurous tourism opportunities that kept coming up when planning and shooting Like a Local.Continue reading “Yes Day: Tropical North Queensland”