I'm just curious.
Right up until Easter last year, I had always ridden on bikes designed for men. This was mainly because the very concept of women's bikes away from the shopper type bikes which my mother had, was none existent.
My first bike was child's bike, so we can ignore that one.
I then migrated to my mothers shopper. It was very definitely a ladies bike with a basket on the front and a step through frame, but given when I started to ride it, it was that big for me I could not sit on the saddle and pedal, the step through frame was rather useful. I could only ride it standing up!
My first bike was what were called racing bikes. I had an old 2nd hand Raleigh racing bike. It was a man's bike that I road until it pretty much died a death from neglect. I have no idea if it was the right size for me, I know it was too big for me when it was first bought, but I grew into in as you do.
After that came a series of 3 or 4 (?) mountain bikes all needing the stems shortening by 10cm or more - all men's bikes . After 2 weeks touring on a man's mountain bike I reached the conclusion that a) I wanted to cycle around the world - don't ask and b) we would need to have custom built bikes because my left hand had gone numb and took a full 6 months to recover.
Next came the custom build off-road touring bike, an expedition bike for cycling around the world - it wasn't a pipe dream. It is a man's bike and was adjusted as needed to fit me. It is fantastic and I love riding her. But there is no denying that it is a man's bike based on a mountain bike design.
The came a man's road bike. I had to shorten the stem to get it to fit me and dramatically shorten the stem... It fitted the legs, but the reach was way too long. I also had to fit much narrower bars to it as well.
Next came another mountain bike. This was a chance buy 2nd hand and an opportunity not to be missed, so it was purchased and whilst the reach was great, I needed a longer seat post. In fact having a slightly smaller frame soon turned out to be a really good move because for the first time I actually felt really in control of the bike on trails and didn't have to worry about it feeling too large for me. I just had to have the bars narrowed....
Then my road bike died a death and I had to go out and come home with a new bike (I know but this is surprisingly hard on a bank holiday weekend!). I went to a bike supermarket and after looking at all of the men's road bikes was unimpressed. Then a sale guy directed me towards the women specific road bikes, something I hadn't even considered let alone noticed because they were tucked away in a corner and not that obvious and after 30-45 minutes of looking at all of the options and getting numerous ones out, I settled on a brand I had never heard of because it felt comfortable. I had my first women's specific bike and other than adding my own saddle and pedals, plus cross-levers, nothing needed changing! that was a first. I finally had a bike that was off-the-shelf so to speak!
My latest bike is a recumbent trike and I know, you are left thinking, how can that be a man's bike or not unisex? Well its the little things like even though I am on the taller side for a women, the boom which controls how far the pedals are away from you and is equivalent to changing the seat post length, hardly needed moving from its shortest level! The steering levers are almost as close to the seat as I can get them. I bought the smaller model, for lighter riders and the seat is well, I hardly need the neck rest, its more a head rest...
So out of my current 4 bikes, 3 are clearly designed for me and have needed adjustments, changes of stems, bars, seat posts... all to get them comfortable and fitted despite being the correct size for me. The other bike, a women's specific road bike needed nothing doing to it, other than my man's saddle adding!
Right up until Easter last year, I had always ridden on bikes designed for men. This was mainly because the very concept of women's bikes away from the shopper type bikes which my mother had, was none existent.
My first bike was child's bike, so we can ignore that one.
I then migrated to my mothers shopper. It was very definitely a ladies bike with a basket on the front and a step through frame, but given when I started to ride it, it was that big for me I could not sit on the saddle and pedal, the step through frame was rather useful. I could only ride it standing up!
My first bike was what were called racing bikes. I had an old 2nd hand Raleigh racing bike. It was a man's bike that I road until it pretty much died a death from neglect. I have no idea if it was the right size for me, I know it was too big for me when it was first bought, but I grew into in as you do.
After that came a series of 3 or 4 (?) mountain bikes all needing the stems shortening by 10cm or more - all men's bikes . After 2 weeks touring on a man's mountain bike I reached the conclusion that a) I wanted to cycle around the world - don't ask and b) we would need to have custom built bikes because my left hand had gone numb and took a full 6 months to recover.
Next came the custom build off-road touring bike, an expedition bike for cycling around the world - it wasn't a pipe dream. It is a man's bike and was adjusted as needed to fit me. It is fantastic and I love riding her. But there is no denying that it is a man's bike based on a mountain bike design.
The came a man's road bike. I had to shorten the stem to get it to fit me and dramatically shorten the stem... It fitted the legs, but the reach was way too long. I also had to fit much narrower bars to it as well.
Next came another mountain bike. This was a chance buy 2nd hand and an opportunity not to be missed, so it was purchased and whilst the reach was great, I needed a longer seat post. In fact having a slightly smaller frame soon turned out to be a really good move because for the first time I actually felt really in control of the bike on trails and didn't have to worry about it feeling too large for me. I just had to have the bars narrowed....
Then my road bike died a death and I had to go out and come home with a new bike (I know but this is surprisingly hard on a bank holiday weekend!). I went to a bike supermarket and after looking at all of the men's road bikes was unimpressed. Then a sale guy directed me towards the women specific road bikes, something I hadn't even considered let alone noticed because they were tucked away in a corner and not that obvious and after 30-45 minutes of looking at all of the options and getting numerous ones out, I settled on a brand I had never heard of because it felt comfortable. I had my first women's specific bike and other than adding my own saddle and pedals, plus cross-levers, nothing needed changing! that was a first. I finally had a bike that was off-the-shelf so to speak!
My latest bike is a recumbent trike and I know, you are left thinking, how can that be a man's bike or not unisex? Well its the little things like even though I am on the taller side for a women, the boom which controls how far the pedals are away from you and is equivalent to changing the seat post length, hardly needed moving from its shortest level! The steering levers are almost as close to the seat as I can get them. I bought the smaller model, for lighter riders and the seat is well, I hardly need the neck rest, its more a head rest...
So out of my current 4 bikes, 3 are clearly designed for me and have needed adjustments, changes of stems, bars, seat posts... all to get them comfortable and fitted despite being the correct size for me. The other bike, a women's specific road bike needed nothing doing to it, other than my man's saddle adding!
