Huge bike shop, limited women's cycling apparel

2 days ago we visited a huge bike shop for the first time (for me). Impressive inventory of bikes and different price ranges. MTB, road, hybrid, cruisers, etc. This store has 3 stories of inventory, alot of it devoted rightfully to bikes.

Accessories not bad.

And women's cycling clothing was nice, kind of expensive. OK. But no, lycra skorts?
Now this shop was on the edge of suburbs. Really, I doubt the majority of women living at that end of town, are into serious road riding, time trials, etc.

And of course for women's cycling shoes there was only 2 different lines for mountain biking (which I wear because I don't use clipless pedals) and all other 8 types of women's cycliing shoes were for clipless.

Meanwhile if you want a lycra skort you had better go back downtown to find them. Sheesh.

This is in a city of over 1.3 million. The people with income to buy stuff live both in suburbs AND downtown. Some of our local bike retailers had better evolve. It appears that the women's cycling clothing at that huge shop doesn't offer styles and pricing for women who would be just getting into cycling/can't afford to pay the $$$ but still want a plain jersey, etc.

Boy, that would really annoy me. I feel for you. It's bad enough to be in a small town but to not find choice in a large city has to be frustrating.

The weird thing about this is that our favorite LBS is pretty tiny, but I'd say close to 60% of their apparel is women-specific--and the women's stuff is better displayed than the men's. They have several female employees and the owner has made a real point of appealing to the female cycling market.

I'm so used to this that it doesn't bother me. While I don't shop much at REI, they are the only place I know of that carries a lot of women's stuff on the floor.

Try Mountain Equipment Coop. They often have the skorts.

Sure, Mountain Equipment Co-op is the place but I think the city is getting pretty big with lots of more people actually...living in the suburbs.

The city is still sprawly, etc. so it is within this bike store's best interests (especially where they are located) to sell some women's cycling apparel that is still good, durable and nice but not as expensive. As mentioned earlier this huge bike store sells not only road and serious racing bikes, but also cruisers, hybrids, mountain bikes.

Yesterday we went to another bike store downtown which didn't sell any apparel (and probably for good reasons) but were focused on recreational bikes and bikes for transportation, touring.

So the choices for women's cycling apparel are down to:
*MEC
*a bike store downtown not as big as the 3-level bike store in suburbs- women's cycling clothing is still expensive and more geared for road and racing. Decent selection if you want to drop some serious $$$.
*another bike store near downtown. Smaller with alot less apparel.


As for skorts....I actually wear chamoisless running lycra skorts and can cycle fine for 50 kms. or more. I tend not to do this distance in skort because they are not cheap. I save them when I get off the bike to visit a place, go to a restaurant, etc.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

So the choices for women's cycling apparel are down to:
*MEC
*a bike store downtown not as big as the 3-level bike store in suburbs- women's cycling clothing is still expensive and more geared for road and racing. Decent selection if you want to drop some serious $$$.
*another bike store near downtown. Smaller with alot less apparel.

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We *do* ship to Canada, ya know. ;)

Seriously, though, your experience is not uncommon. Most bike shops, even in large urban environments do a poor job of stocking women's apparel. Many owners just don't "get it". It's why I know I'll never be run out of business...

I'm curious Shootingstar-

Did you take the time to tell the shop what you were looking for/expecting that they didn't have? They can't carry it if they don't know why they're losing sales.

I'll continue to support TE - the customer service is amazing. However, I also think it's important to let the LBS know what they could do to earn more of my business. Of course, they haven't done it, and probably won't.

Just an FYI- I was at a Marshall's store a few weeks ago in Ohio and in the athletic department they had Sugoi Skorts for $29.99.

I know all Marshall's are different but sometimes I have lucked out and got really good cycling stuff on the cheap :)

I don't recall ever seeing skorts in an LBS, or REI for that matter. And the bike shops near me generally have as much variety in women's clothing as they do in men's.

I just saw skorts in the REI in Minneapolis. But no tights that I liked. They did have those odd skirted tights that I don't quite understand.

So instead of using my 20% off coupon on bike stuff I bought a pair of those Vibram five finger shoes. Comfy!

Ummm skorts are a very niche product. I mean not to disrepect anyone here but most women (and pro racers) don't wear them. In fact some women might find them offensive ("like you want to ride in a skirt!?").

I woulnd't expect any LBS to carry these as the market for skorts would be very small.

For items like this I would expect TE to be the place to purchase these.

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Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas

We *do* ship to Canada, ya know. ;)

Seriously, though, your experience is not uncommon. Most bike shops, even in large urban environments do a poor job of stocking women's apparel. Many owners just don't "get it". It's why I know I'll never be run out of business...

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I don't always think its a matter of not getting it. It can be a marketing issue which turns into a chicken and egg thing. You know this. ;) The old, "we can't sell enough of it so we don't stock it" kind of thing. Or something like that. Sometimes when I've specifically asked for women's things, I've been told that they didn't sell, or no one ever asks for it, etc...Try finding women's mountain biking clothes in a brick and mortar store. Anywhere but interior BC, that is.

I was actually looking for some place that sells skorts a bit over a year ago. I had to go to a funeral at Alrington Cemetery last June (husband's brother-on-law's father was buried there last June). I don't wear skirts or dresses (hate them) so I typically wear pant suites, but knew it would be too hot, so decided to get a nice skort to wear to it. The ONLY place I could find them was at ****'s Sporting Goods store. I'm not sure if they were intended for women golfers or tennis players. At that point I didn't really care, because I was so happy to find one.

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Originally Posted by Blueberry

I'm curious Shootingstar-

Did you take the time to tell the shop what you were looking for/expecting that they didn't have? They can't carry it if they don't know why they're losing sales.

I'll continue to support TE - the customer service is amazing. However, I also think it's important to let the LBS know what they could do to earn more of my business. Of course, they haven't done it, and probably won't.

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Yesterday I checked on their website..the owners/managers are male. Store has been around for ...last few decades. (They also sell motorcycles at a separate store..) They do have female employees but don't know the pecking order for the firm.

So I will shoot off the suggestion but framed under a much broader trend that's actually happening on cycling ....especially when they are selling cruiser bikes, etc. in addition to all the other types of bikes that range from $500.00 to $7,000CAN. (ie. they sell townie cruisers plus Cervelo road/racing lines).

It wouldn't be surprising unless a woman golfs, jogs, etc., is even aware of skorts or where to even get skorts. But rather than choose a more atypical women's garmet, how about just simply nice, solid coloured cycling jerseys, that doesn't look shout too loudly "athlete"?

I appreciate TE exists and hopes as an online retailer/supplier, you will be there. But from a standpoint of paying customs brokerage fees for US pkgs. bound for international customers, I'm not keen at this time.

Admittedly I am a shopper that buys clothing in person, not online.

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Stoker

Ummm skorts are a very niche product. I mean not to disrepect anyone here but most women (and pro racers) don't wear them. In fact some women might find them offensive ("like you want to ride in a skirt!?").

I woulnd't expect any LBS to carry these as the market for skorts would be very small.

For items like this I would expect TE to be the place to purchase these.

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They aren't as niche as you might think. We sell lots of them and regularly see women riding in them on "event" rides here in the Northwest.

And RUN skirts have exploded. I ran the Portland Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon this weekend and probably 10-20% of the women were wearing skirts!

I personally cycle in dresses (with cycle shorts) underneath them quite often in the nice weather. It fun, and no one ever mistakes me for a man. :)

Susan

Susan, that's interesting. However I wonder if that is a country/hemisphere thing?

When working in the industry for Australia and New Zealand which included a major Australiasian women's cycling brand (with clothing), skorts were not considered and not even wanted. Other bicycle clothing brands also didn't offer them (Pearl Izumi, Sugio, Vermac, Netti, Ground Effect, NZone etc).

Living in Singapore and Malaysia was the first time I ever saw a skort in a bike shop but there were very little. I only ever saw them being worn by Muslim women cyclists who had to dress modesty (they also wore long tights, long sleeved shirts and a tight scarf under their helmet).

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Stoker

Other bicycle clothing brands also didn't offer them (Pearl Izumi, Sugio, Vermac, Netti, Ground Effect, NZone etc).

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Pearl & Sugoi have both offered cycling skirts in the States and Canada for years.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

...I appreciate TE exists and hopes as an online retailer/supplier, you will be there. But from a standpoint of paying customs brokerage fees for US pkgs. bound for international customers, I'm not keen at this time.

Admittedly I am a shopper that buys clothing in person, not online.

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T.E. uses the postal service, not UPS. (Yes, I've been burned by UPS.) I ordered shorts from them and didn't have to pay any customs fees. Unfortunately, they didn't fit, and the postage back was a bit pricey, but if I'd kept them it wouldn't have been much more expensive than buying from a local store. So why don't I buy from local stores? Because they only offer tiny sizes. The assumption is that any woman who rides a lot must be a lean athlete, size 10 or less.

I wear casual skorts to work for much of in the summer. I don't care to ride in a bike skort, though I have seen a lot of women wearing running skorts this year.

There are several of the casual/dressier skorts (for tennis or hiking?) that I like at REI (Royal Robbins, Isis brands) as well as at Lands End and Title Nine. The Royal Robbins discovery skort in particular is one that I've worn while teaching, traveling, and jumping on a trampoline (though not all at the same time!) and it seems that there's more of a selection in the past year or two.

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Originally Posted by Susan Otcenas

They aren't as niche as you might think. We sell lots of them and regularly see women riding in them on "event" rides here in the Northwest.

And RUN skirts have exploded. I ran the Portland Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon this weekend and probably 10-20% of the women were wearing skirts!

I personally cycle in dresses (with cycle shorts) underneath them quite often in the nice weather. It fun, and no one ever mistakes me for a man. :)

Susan

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One of the top-ranked cyclists here in MI regularly races in a skort...she cracks me up. The first time I saw her on the starting line of a CX C race I saw her in her skort and crooked helmet and thought to myself "ha, I can take her"...and then she totally smoked my a$$. She has gotten MUCH faster since that race, too. She generally leads B races, now.

I've been running in a skort for years--definitely before they really took off in popularity (and caught some flack from "real" runners for it :rolleyes: ). I sometimes wear compression shorts, too, but prefer skorts. They are comfy and flattering and I don't get that unsightly and chafing wad of fabric up my crotch that I get with regular running shorts. Big thighs and narrow hips don't tend to work well with traditional running shorts.

I wear small sizes across all types of clothing, cycling and non-cycling. Usually small sizes are either lst gone or they are last sold from a clothing line.

It's become a bigger problem (literally) in the past few decades because even a size 0-2, the top may be too wide: because I've inherited narrow shoulder width, back width, my bone frame is just smaller/petite.

But great: I didn't know there would be regional market differences, availability of clothing styles. Maybe if a woman hasn't actually seen a type of garment on other women in her area, she might not know or who to ask for recommended suppliers/retailers.

I'm just using skort as an example and it's practical, since it allows women jogging and cycling to wear something that they perceive as more flattering, if they feel self-conscious about their thighs/butt.

***********But really, the topic is much more broader on practical women's cycling clothing who want mid-priced range stuff and just want to cycle comfortably without wanting to look too "athletic"....just to get to work or go grocery shopping by bike.

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Originally Posted by shootingstar

I appreciate TE exists and hopes as an online retailer/supplier, you will be there. But from a standpoint of paying customs brokerage fees for US pkgs. bound for international customers, I'm not keen at this time.

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It's OK, shootingstar. I was just kinda teasing (hence the " ;) " icon.) I participate on the forums because I want to, not because I want to try to sell forum members stuff with my presence. :)

(BTW, your point is well taken about shipping fees, duties and customs. I think, though, that you wouldn't pay customs on small value packages, or on items made in North America re: NAFTA. We publish the country of origin on every product. You'd need to check with your postal service to be sure, though.)

But, I digress. Irulan makes a good point about the "chicken and egg" issue. Shops that haven't done well with women's apparel in the past stop stocking it...women figure out the shops don't have it any more...they stop coming in and/or stop asking.... shop owner doesn't hear demand....shop owner doesn't carry any more...round and round we go.

At TE, we often see trends that our vendors say they don't hear from shops. And I think that's because we aggregate such a broad market that we can say with authority that YES, women want cycling skirts, or YES, plus size women ride bicycles, or YES, print jerseys always far outsell solid color jerseys. And so on. But the average shop, being in a relatively narrow market compared to us, simply doesn't see the same trends. It costs a lot of money to invest in apparel inventory, and for the smaller shop, that can be a huge risk

I've never seen anyone wear a skort, and I wouldn't dream of wearing one. I wonder if it's an age thing -- I'm old enough to remember when women/girls weren't "supposed" to wear pants in many situations. So to me a skort would be symbolic of an oppressive era.

I looked at some cycling skirts online, and I can't figure out how they differ from a regular skirt over bike shorts.

Most of the bike shops I visit are small, and I wouldn't expect them to offer much in the way of clothing. It just wouldn't be practical for them to maintain the inventory.

I love biking in skorts! Some of them are not designed for long distance riding so you have to check the label/description to make sure it has an appropriate chamois for what you intend to to.

I've found two that I've used for longer distances. One from REI - their Novara brand - which is ok but the chamois is a little bulky, I've biked up to 65 miles on that one. I have one from Castelli (used it for an 85 mile ride plus lots of 30-60 milers) that I got last year which I LOVE. I just received another one but am sad to discover they changed the chamois, even though they still call it the Elle Skort. The chamois is much wider and therefore doesn't work for me. Such a drag when companies change their product from year to year and you just want to get the one that works for you!

I've seen non-chamois skorts at L.L. Bean. I love their fitness skort for wearing both dressed up with tights and boots or dressed down with t-shirt and flip flops or if I'm just biking down to the store for something. Athleta also has quite a few although I haven't tried theirs.

Pam, I'm on the edge of a generation that does remember wearing jeans was a big deal in senior public school (which is middle school in the U.S.). (am 53)

Interesting that wearing even a skort could ever been seen as 'oppressive' in a feminist way. Not exactly in the same league as near bikini wear for competitive beach women's volleyball.

Biggest difference /convenience of wearing shorts built into skirt is just....1 waistband, not 2 layers of waistband and pulling up/down 1 garment vs. 2 garments.

But yea, a wrap skirt over lycra shorts would do with some extra layers in certain areas. I agree, skorts not for distance riding but for cycling and get off and on to do stuff. It's great when travelling overseas on a cycling trip. Plus a regular pair of shorts or tights also packed away. There are times a woman doesn't want to look so cycling sports oriented among a bunch of many other women cycling in their streetwear or when cycling is a more rare activity.

My comments are pertaining to a bigger bike store that already is offering cycling apparel for both men and women. I saw women's cycling jerseys at this shop that were beyond my price range. Lovely but willing to settle with equally flattering, practical results in 1 solid colour/with a 2nd solid colour as an accent.

OK, I am 58 and I have worn skorts for years. I have one favorite one for cycling, the Terry Coaster skort. I like the liner it comes with, as it has a chamois that approximates the one in my other shorts. Do I wear this for long rides? No, but I would, if I could wear a liner that had the same chamois as my Bellas or S Pros. This skort actually has a separate liner, so you do have 2 waistbands. But somehow, it does not feel compressive like when you wear shorts under tights.
I wear a skort cycling for errands, destination rides out to lunch, etc. Mostly rides up to 25 miles. It makes me feel dressed up. While I haven't seen a lot of riders wearing skorts here in the Boston area, no one has looked at me weirdly when I wear mine.
I run outside almost exclusively in running skorts. So much more flattering on me and cool in hot weather. I also wear them at the gym. The Brooks running skort I bought here on TE looked so tiny when it arrived, but it fits me much better than the Athleta one I have had for a few years.
I don't see what age has to do with this. I'm petite like Shooting Star, but she is probably a little smaller than me all around. I don't mind people seeing my cycling thighs; I'm proud of them. One thing you learn from living in a desert climate is that you are much cooler and comfortable in a skirt or dress as opposed to shorts or pants.

I'm 44 and I love to wear skorts. I wear them on club rides--even fast ones--and multi week high mileage tours, and of course on my daily commutes and city utility cycling. I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!

/rant

Oh, and I'm not a big shopper, but when I do buy cycling and swim clothing, TE is my first, and often only, stop.

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Originally Posted by tulip

Oh, and I'm not a big shopper, but when I do buy cycling and swim clothing, TE is my first, and often only, stop.

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:) Thank you, tulip!

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Originally Posted by tulip

I'm 44 and I love to wear skorts. I wear them on club rides--even fast ones--and multi week high mileage tours, and of course on my daily commutes and city utility cycling. I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!

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I'm 42. My personal apparel choices run the gamut from some fairly racy stuff, all the way to skorts and dresses. Far from being oppressive, I actually find wearing skorts and dresses on a bike to be somewhat empowering. I kinda like the idea that I can be purposely feminine in appearance, yet keep up with the boys when I want to. It always seems to throw them for a loop when the chick in the dress doesn't get dropped. To me, it's a way of *busting* stereotypes about what women are capable of, and communicates that "appearances" can be deceiving, so perhaps they'd be better off not having a pre-conceived notion about what someone is capable of simply based on how she looks.

It can also be a great conversation starter. I wore dresses for the better part of PBP last year, and it was remarkable how many people asked me about them. And not just women (since there were hardly any women on the ride anyway). Had I been dressed in standard kit, I'd bet far fewer people would have had a reason to speak to me, and I'd have been the worse for it. I like meeting new people.

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Originally Posted by tulip

I cannot stand the notion of some feminists that what I choose to wear is somehow "oppressive" in their eyes. The whole point is that women have a choice on all matter of life decisions, including what to wear. Don't judge me because I wear a skort, goodness!.

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I didn't say anything was oppressive; I simply mentioned skirts/skorts seemed that way to me based on experiences from years ago. And I certainly didn't express judgement toward you or anyone else.

If you go back and read what I wrote (and it was very carefully written), you will see evidence of open-mindedness on my part.

All of us, whether we realize it or not, have attitudes and opinions based on past experiences. An awareness of these influences, which is what I expressed, is a good and healthy thing. It's also interesting to share with other people (though perhaps not you).

I have had many fascinating discussions on topics like this with a much older friend (and much younger friends, for that matter).

Tulip, here is something that might help you understand what I'm talking about:

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014/