How to get more women into cycling

[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....

[shootingstar]

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!!


http://www.disabled-world.com/artman...ht-chart.shtml Height charts for all over the world here.

This chart should be shown to large bike retailers in big cities across North America....especially when local population has a huge base of people whose family origins are from outside of Europe. However, I should add that differences in diet have a strong influence on height for those born and raised in North America.

[Biciclista]

i can't figure out how come bike manufacturers DON'T pay attention.... they want more women? build more bikes for us.

shooting star, that may be true, but what I say still goes.

I was at bike expo the other day and there was a booth where this young company was selling bike pants and shorts. I was wearing my amazing wool knickers and asked, did they have wool? (NO) and did they have anything for women (NO!)

too bad, i liked their stuff.

[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.

[nuliajuk]

"Unfortunately it seems like all the bike execs up top got together and had a conference at which it was decided that everything made for women should have pink or purple accents, and that women love swirls and flowers and butterflies on all of their clothing and accessories..."
Well, I'd be willing to put up with swirls and butterflies if they were on jerseys that actually fit me. Men's cycling clothing usually goes up to size huge (5XL in some manufacturers) while women's only goes up to a small XL at best. Some of these same manufacturers have a really tiny offering of "plus" size female clothing, which implies that, while being a really large tall man is perfectly normal, a large tall woman is just a freak. And even these "plus" size clothes rarely fit. The last pair of "Athena" shorts that I bought only had an 8" inseam, which made me feel really self-conscious.

[Penny4]

"Unfortunately it seems like all the bike execs up top got together and had a conference at which it was decided that everything made for women should have pink or purple accents, and that women love swirls and flowers and butterflies on all of their clothing and accessories..."
Well, I'd be willing to put up with swirls and butterflies if they were on jerseys that actually fit me. Men's cycling clothing usually goes up to size huge (5XL in some manufacturers) while women's only goes up to a small XL at best. Some of these same manufacturers have a really tiny offering of "plus" size female clothing, which implies that, while being a really large tall man is perfectly normal, a large tall woman is just a freak. And even these "plus" size clothes rarely fit. The last pair of "Athena" shorts that I bought only had an 8" inseam, which made me feel really self-conscious.

Agreed! Shorts aren't as difficult for me to find, but tops are a nightmare.

[Catrin]

Agreed! Shorts aren't as difficult for me to find, but tops are a nightmare.

I hear you! I've no problems finely shots-though that could change. If the chest is large enough then the rest of it is too large. IF the chest is large enough.

[jusdooit]

Two things, I hate being referred to as a "girl" especially by other women. And I hate the "pink it & shrink it" mindset. I personally don't like the color pink.
Our local rides are usually one third to to one half female. Unfortunately, many of the women feel compelled to get fast enough to keep up with the men. This just perpetuates the problem & ends up making average female cyclists feel inferior.

[Catrin]

I hear you! I've no problems finely shots-though that could change. If the chest is large enough then the rest of it is too large. IF the chest is large enough.

ummm, sorry about this - I had posted from my phone and didn't realize it had "assisted" my spelling. I was trying to say that I've no problems finding shorts that fit properly (so far), jerseys are different...

[Biciclista]

Two things, I hate being referred to as a "girl" especially by other women. And I hate the "pink it & shrink it" mindset. I personally don't like the color pink.
Our local rides are usually one third to to one half female. Unfortunately, many of the women feel compelled to get fast enough to keep up with the men. This just perpetuates the problem & ends up making average female cyclists feel inferior.

i don't see why women excelling should perpetuate the problem. Although i will never be the one in the front, I find it inspirational when I see a woman that CAN out ride the guys.

[Biciclista]

I hear you! I've no problems finely shots-though that could change..

this cracked me up..