LBS question

[pooks]

I'm wondering if some of the women who are uncomfortable are uncomfortable about their size. That has been brought up in other discussions on this site -- larger women worrying that people will think they're crazy/stupid to want to get on a bike at "their size," whatever that size is. Offhand I can imagine that a display of photos of people on bikes (possibly people in that area if possible) that shows all different kinds and sizes of people riding might be reassuring.

Also, I'm kind of on the border between XL and 1X clothes and it's hard to figure out what to buy. It's even harder when an XL in one cycling brand is a size 12 (!!!) and in another it's (hopefully) more realistic. The man at the LBS motioned toward the women's cycling clothes and said, "Eventually you may want to invest in cycling clothes, most people prefer them," and he explained the reasons in general. I was aware that his "eventually" could be interpreted as "when you've been cycling longer" or "when you're read to invest more money in the sport" or "if you've lost weight," since he probably wondered if I'd fit in anything he had. It was a tactful way of handling it.

HOWEVER -- if I had a bike shop one thing I would do in addition to having whatever kinds of cycling clothes I could affort to stock is have printouts of websites or brands to give people. I'd probably have them arranged in a file where people could fish their own out, or in a notebook where each printout was in a different clear plastic sleeve, and I would make it a point to include and find a way to indicate those that have "plus" sizes for men as well as women. It's a way to acknowledge that not everybody is going to find what they want in the shop and you're trying to help them.

Edited to add: I'd also be ready to point out in a heartbeat that cycling clothes often run small, ahem.