Quote Originally Posted by Bluetree View Post
+ zillion

As if women don't think they're good enough for DA/Record/Red, lightweight frames, carbon cranks or fierce paint jobs. Stop the patronizing already!
As long as we're reviving this thread, it's now 2009, and things are very different from what they were when the thread started. (And very, very different from 1987 when I had a custom frame built because there was no such thing as a WSD bike.)

The "Big 3" now offer WSD bikes with full DA. Cannondale offers Red as well. Orbea can be had with Super Record, DA or Red.

Giant and Bianchi still don't offer the same level of componentry on their WSD bikes, but I'm having trouble thinking of any more mass-marketers who offer WSD frames at all.

Honestly, I really think this is a non-issue. If you're spending that much money, why aren't you building your bike up yourself? I'm more likely to believe that the sexism works the opposite way. A guy is a lot more likely to just lay down $8,000 for a complete bike, without putting any independent thought into the componentry, "because his friends told him it was the best one." When a woman's ready to spend that kind of money, she'll have a frame built, or buy an off-the-rack frame and build it up herself with whatever level of componentry she wants.