Author Archives: michellearthurs

I love this industry to pieces, but in my time I’ve come across plenty of face-meet-palm moments… (feature image a HAPPY work memory not a blooper)

Before cycling accepts us? Thankfully, this piece is largely redundant now – since a women’s Paris Roubaix has finally arrived. But the point still remains. See it here.

  There’s a lot of buzz going on around aerosensors – little devices that, like power meters, Joe or Joanna Bloggs can purchase and use at home to optimise their training or set up. But – like early power meters – they might not be 100% user friendly. I investigated how they work, and askedContinue reading “Aerosensors and the everyday rider”

  Mass produced frames aren’t perfect – if they were to be perfect, they’d be a lot more expensive. But are these imperfections affecting riders? Are they so bad that we need to take matters into our own hands and have bikes tidied up and ‘finished’ after purchase? Probably not – but if you’ve gotContinue reading “Frame facing (and is the industry churning out rubbish bikes)?”

  Are gravel bikes a bit of a silly fad? Maybe. Quite a fun one though. My thoughts on the gravel bike vs hardtail debate here. 

  You’d like to think that having invested in a TT bike, you’re going to go A LOT quicker, right? Well – it depends how fast you are. For some riders, the difference between a TT bike and a road bike with clip on bars could be – well – minimal. Write up here forContinue reading “Are time trial bikes actually that much faster?”

  Women are harder to study – because menstrual cycles mean that our hormone levels vary from week to week and hormones play a big part in responses to assorted training methods, drugs and more. So, many sports scientists include only men in their studies because including women is costly and takes longer. That mightContinue reading “Is sports science ignoring women completely?”

  Amenorrhea is so rife in the amateur peloton that a lot of riders – and even coaches – think it’s ‘normal’. There’s also a tendency to believe that ‘unhealthy’ habits are evident in obviously low weight. Not true. After about a decade of switching between no periods and hormonal contraceptives, I decided to addressContinue reading “Cycling, underfuelling and amenorrhea”