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Why are there womens and mens bicycles?

Wyndru

Wyndru

Diamond Member
Is it just a size thing? My wife and I were shopping for bikes and I compared a men's to woman's last night, and the seat doesn't seem that much different and riding it feels normal to me...just a bit smaller.

Are there functional reasons or is it mostly cosmetic?

And could I save money and just buy 1 bike for us to share, or would I get my ass kicked if I rode a woman's bike around town? :hmm: With the kids we won't have much opportunities to ride them together anyhow.

I asked her if we could get a men's bike and share it but she wasn't down with that.
 
Wyndru said:
I asked her if we could get a men's bike and share it but she wasn't down with that.
Click to expand...

That's why there are women's bicycles.

Back in the old days a bike for women had the v-bar to accommodate riding in a skirt. Now a woman's bike is anything the manufacturer says it is. Some are smaller or lighter, some have different seats or pedal lengths, some retain the old style v-bar and some have a straight bar, some are simply a normal mens bike with a different name and different paint.
 
A lot depends on how far you are going to be riding. For zipping around town it probably will not make that much of a difference. For long distance riding a gender specific bike will make a difference.

Seats - Women have a wider pelvic area than men
Frames - Women's upper bodies are shorter than men plus women frames can come in smaller sizes than men's
 
cyclistca said:
A lot depends on how far you are going to be riding. For zipping around town it probably will not make that much of a difference. For long distance riding a gender specific bike will make a difference.

Seats - Women have a wider pelvic area than men
Frames - Women's upper bodies are shorter than men plus women frames can come in smaller sizes than men's
Click to expand...

Surely the seat issue is trivial - get a second saddle and swap them over if its really a problem. Five minute job, no?
Frame size depends on what size the two individuals concerned actually are, so may not be a problem.

A lot of 'womens' and 'mens' bikes appear to be the exact same bike with a slightly different seat attached.
 
Here's an idea: buy two bikes and go riding as a family. Your marriage will thank you for it some day.
 
Wyndru said:
Is it just a size thing? My wife and I were shopping for bikes and I compared a men's to woman's last night, and the seat doesn't seem that much different and riding it feels normal to me...just a bit smaller.

Are there functional reasons or is it mostly cosmetic?

And could I save money and just buy 1 bike for us to share, or would I get my ass kicked if I rode a woman's bike around town? :hmm: With the kids we won't have much opportunities to ride them together anyhow.

I asked her if we could get a men's bike and share it but she wasn't down with that.
Click to expand...

First off, let me ask you this, are you the same height as your wife? If not the bike will be a compromise for one of you in fit. Also, do you never plan on riding together? Bikes last for many years, your kids will grow and start riding bikes of their own and you will most certainly be able to ride together as a family.

As for the differences it depends on the bike but women's bikes tend to be a bit smaller and may have slight differences in the saddle and geometry. They also tend to go with different (more feminine) paint schemes/colors vs men's bikes.
 
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Olde Days:

bicycling-1910-56624706a.png


These Days: It's usually a sizing thing.
 
As was pointed out the curved down top tube was for women who wore long skirts/dresses while riding.


There are also “women’s” sized bicycles that have a straight top tube, but are proportioned differently.


On average women have a wider pelvis, longer legs, and a shorter torso than a man of a similar height, so the frames will be sized with slightly different length to height top tubes to better fit a woman’s proportions, along with other subtle changes.
 
yes there is a reason. it's called geometry. women's bodies, as mentioned just above this post, have different proportions. therefore the bike's require different proportions as well.

even with that, a good bike fitting is important if you are going to ride a lot. a bike fitting will take an hour with a trained professional and will make more fine-tuned adjustments on the perfect seat height, distance from seat to handlebars, handlebar adjustments, etc.... those measurements are then saved and used on a future bike purchase. i worked at a bike shop, we had guys buying 10,000K bikes - take their measurements from their last whip and apply them there, and then still fine tune it.

the bike fitter puts them on a bike on a trainer and works with them until it's perfect to the 1/10th of a mm.
 
if youre refering to geometry, its mostly marketing. some companies claim that women have shorter torsos and longer legs and therefore need different bikes, but this is actually not a scientific fact. also chick bikes tend to be a little more upright, so theyre less sporty, cuz chicks are less sporty

casual chick bikes have a lower bar so you cant see the riders vagina when she mounts the bike while wearing a dress

if youre getting a more expensive road bike id just get a dude bike since it will be more resellable if you care about that
 
PixelSquish said:
the bike fitter puts them on a bike on a trainer and works with them until it's perfect to the 1/10th of a mm.
Click to expand...

This type of bike fitting is mostly bike shop perpetuated BS for a huge majority of riders. Especially new riders where the perfect "fit" will change as they gain strength and experience.

People will adapt to differences. I have several bikes with vastly different geometries and wheel sizes that I frequently ride and, contrary to what the bike fit gurus will preach, I am not a cripple due to having 180mm cranks on one bike and 170's on another.
 
pmv said:
Surely the seat issue is trivial - get a second saddle and swap them over if its really a problem. Five minute job, no?
Click to expand...

My wife has a cheap bike from Target. The seat post makes adjusting the saddle anything but a 5 minute job. But it takes less than five minutes on any decent brand.
 
Modesty and dresses. Back when these things were adopted, it would have been considered indecent, vulgar, or lewd for a woman to hike her leg over the bar to climb on, particularly with a dress on. Lots of ridiculous things were considered vulgar, improper, or indecent, particularly when women did them. In many communities, a woman riding a bicycle in and of itself would have been borderline outrageous. Think Saudi Arabia or Kuwait, or some of those fucked-up places. We weren't all that much better 150 years ago.
 
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