How to get more women into cycling

[Trek420]

Thoughts on this article?

http://glittergravel.com/how-to-get-...-into-cycling/

[Penny4]

It didn't really strike a chord with me. Obviously I would support ways to get women into biking, but the article just struck me as women need extra help BECAUSE we are women. I needed extra help because I was a BEGINNER!

I guess I was lucky because as a beginner, I found a great shop on my second try. The first shop was condescending, but I didn't think it was because I was a woman...more because I was not knowledgeable about bikes and they just have overall crappy cust svc. Second shop was great. I was also able to find some great beginner groups to join, that just so happened to be all women's. I would have gone to a co-ed beginner's group, but couldn't find a single one. How do beginner guys learn??

As for telling bike shops to stock more small bikes for women...umm, not all women are small I can't exactly walk into any shop and find bikes in my size to ride. (I prefer WSD which are not usually stocked in my size) Shops aren't going to stock a ton on either side of the norm, so this just goes with the territory of not being an average size (whether you are short or tall).
And while I get that lots of women don't want to wear pink or purple clothes all the time, I would just be happy if they could make cycling clothing for women that matches how street clothing is sized.

[Penny4]

Just read the facebook posts too....I see her frustration a bit more.

[Koronin]

I guess I've also been lucky, had an awesome bike shop where I used to live. Those guys are great and treat everyone the same when you walk into their shop. The new shop that opened here is also great. I've had mixed experiences with shops in Raleigh, NC. There's a Trek dealer downtown that is great and a Specialized dealer near one of the small universities that is also good and Preformance is good. Then there's another Trek store that is horrible. The stores in Fayetteville are also both pretty lousy. One of my huge frustrations that was not even mentioned in her article is that not all women even want women's clothing or bikes. With my build men's clothing fits me so much better and men's bikes (if I can find them small enough) are also a much better fit. I prefer men's bikes and I can promise that they will never stock the size I need in men's version of the bike.

[Owlie]

It didn't really strike a chord with me. Obviously I would support ways to get women into biking, but the article just struck me as women need extra help BECAUSE we are women. I needed extra help because I was a BEGINNER!

I guess I was lucky because as a beginner, I found a great shop on my second try. The first shop was condescending, but I didn't think it was because I was a woman...more because I was not knowledgeable about bikes and they just have overall crappy cust svc. Second shop was great. I was also able to find some great beginner groups to join, that just so happened to be all women's. I would have gone to a co-ed beginner's group, but couldn't find a single one. How do beginner guys learn??

As for telling bike shops to stock more small bikes for women...umm, not all women are small I can't exactly walk into any shop and find bikes in my size to ride. (I prefer WSD which are not usually stocked in my size) Shops aren't going to stock a ton on either side of the norm, so this just goes with the territory of not being an average size (whether you are short or tall).
And while I get that lots of women don't want to wear pink or purple clothes all the time, I would just be happy if they could make cycling clothing for women that matches how street clothing is sized.

I didn't get "women need extra help" out of it at all, at least, for the non-industry side of it (bike shops included). I got "stop being obnoxious." I think the bit where we do need extra help is finding appropriately-sized bikes. Last year we had only a few women's road bikes (and one mountain bike) at work, and small ones only in the lowest-end. We got a glut of WSD road bikes early this year, and we've sold most of them already! We have a hard time keeping them around. But I do understand where you're coming from. I can handle WSD or unisex bikes--it's just a matter of getting the top tube length right. (I'm looking a unisex Fuji or a WSD Cannondale and Specialized for my next road bike.) I'm too tall for what many shops stock in WSD bikes, especially Specialized, but too short for shops to stock unisex bikes in my size.

There's no consistency in street clothes sizing, so I'm not sure that matching cycling clothes sizing to street clothes sizing is going to help anything!

My boss has been really good about hiring women, and I'm sure many customers, especially women just getting into riding (from my experience) appreciate that. They still tend to gravitate to the men for road bikes, and then there are men (and women) of A Certain Age who pretty much assume that we're stupid because we're young, female and working in retail. (Different rant entirely)

[Catrin]

I DO think that more shops should stock smaller bikes - at least one for each bike style. It is really hard to have to commit to something before you have a chance to try it on for size. That has nothing to do with being a woman and everything to do with being short. I am sure that some men would appreciate that as well... It is a hard balance. It is understandable why they don't want to stock the smaller sizes that have a smaller market. The ideal would be if they could work something out with their sources so they could perhaps return the smaller sizes if they are ordered and it turns out the bike doesn't fit. Not all WSD sizes even come small enough (as I learned with my old Trek FX)

As far as clothing size is concerned, there isn't consistency with street clothes sizing so there isn't a surprise that this is an issue here. Of course bike clothes, by their nature, are meant to fit differently which doesn't help.

[shootingstar]

I would say in the past few years, over 75% of the LBS staff have been fine in terms of addressing my questions and whenever I need a bike repair done. To me, it helps that I do talk knowledgeably, confidently by referring to bike parts, I am wearing (used) cycling shoes and some of my clothing does indicate I'm a cyclist without looking overly too kitted-out.

Some of the stores have female staff and those stores do make a difference overall in general treatment.

I am 5'1", so smaller bike size is a constant problem to me. There is a lot less choice on this smaller end.

[Crankin]

I, personally, understand everything the author said. Maybe I would state it a bit differently, but I have experienced every one of the issues she spoke to. I don't like any of the shops around here and my DH is my mechanic; enough said. I pretty much stay out of bike shops.

[Catrin]

last I heard, average height for a woman was 64". That's a 1/2 inch taller than me. Now, I ride a custom 50cm bike because most bike manufacturers do not go down that far and i got tired of trying to make bikes work. So here i am within an inch of average height, and they don't stock bikes my size??

That means a HUGE proportion of women that want to ride can't easily find a bike!!

I didn't think about this until your post. I am 63 inches tall and can never find a bike in stock that fits. If the average is only 64 then that tells me they don't even consider the average height for women.

[Penny4]

To clarify my comment about cycling clothing matching street clothing sizes...sorry, I didn't state it very well...I wear an XL, sometimes L, in most Misses tops. There is no way i can get a women's XL cycling jersey on. Even XXL's are too tight. I've tried a few plus sized on and the fit is all wrong. I know most cycling clothing is meant to be fitted for a reason, but the XL's / XXL's are just a joke on me. They are also way too short (like barely touching the top of my shorts in front...not attractive )
I usually just stick with regular workout/moisture wicking tops. Fortunately, i have been able to find awesome shorts on TE!

[Biciclista]

To clarify my comment about cycling clothing matching street clothing sizes...sorry, I didn't state it very well...I wear an XL, sometimes L, in most Misses tops. There is no way i can get a women's XL cycling jersey on. Even XXL's are too tight. I've tried a few plus sized on and the fit is all wrong. I know most cycling clothing is meant to be fitted for a reason, but the XL's / XXL's are just a joke on me. They are also way too short (like barely touching the top of my shorts in front...not attractive )
I usually just stick with regular workout/moisture wicking tops. Fortunately, i have been able to find awesome shorts on TE!

Penny you should CALL team estrogen. I bet they can help you, and it's a toll free number.

[Biciclista]

I didn't think about this until your post. I am 63 inches tall and can never find a bike in stock that fits. If the average is only 64 then that tells me they don't even consider the average height for women.

exactly!!! and when I think of Italian bikes, it's as if it doesn't occur to them that women can ride because ITALIAN women are an inch shorter than American ones....

[Trek420]

I didn't think about this until your post. I am 63 inches tall and can never find a bike in stock that fits. If the average is only 64 then that tells me they don't even consider the average height for women.

I'm 59" tall. Average is just that, an average. Retail need to cover edges of the spectrum. Shops can't have every size of bike and clothes. They should be able to get it easily and understand the need that they do.

[tulip]

Of interest...blog post on the Women's National Bicycling Forum held last week in Washington, DC

http://www.arlingtontransportationpa...cycling-forum/

[Biciclista]

I liked this point (from the article Tulip sent us to)

In NYC, the 9th Avenue protected bike line has seen a 64% increase in cycling since it was installed and a 50% decrease in crashes.