Trek Women Who Ride

[Trek420]

Sorry...I'm new here and don't mean to hijack y'all's topic.

Right here in the back of the pack militant with ya! No apology needed, you're right on the topic. Welcome to TE!

Oh, and the clothes thing? .... Check the selection right here 8-)

www.teamestrogen.com/categories.asp?catID=53

[PinkBike]

yeh i would've liked to seen at least one heavier bicyclist. but it's trek, they're trying to sell bikes, so they need to sell the image that if you ride you will eventually look like so-and-so.
i'm glad they did the project and hope it turns out ok.
so far it seems every other outfit that wants to do a "women who ride" type of thing end up concentrating on fashion and cookbooks and other redbook-type concerns. i dont care about fashion or cooking or makeovers, i just love to ride. i love aching lungs and burning thighs. i love fast descents. i love the feeling of riding and i wanna do it all the time. that's why i'm here at TE.
that's why i wanted one of us to be one of the trek women.

as for the people of color, i dont think you should force diversity for diversity's sake. they only chose 5 women. forcing them to select one black woman, one hispanic, one asian, one native american, one i-apologize-for-not-including-your-race, it really wouldn't be about the women who ride. it would be tokenism at best. i dont need to see someone of my race or even my gender to identify with them. when i'm struggling up a mountain i feel like i'm alberto contador, i picture him in my mind, i identify with that picture.

i'm going to wait and see if this "trek women who ride" ends up being about real women who ride, i'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

[rij73]

I'm glad to see at least *something* from a big company that really draws attention to women who cycle, but, yeah... I gotta say I didn't appreciate the lack of diversity. Not only are they all white, but they are super-white! Not even a black hair among them. (I'm a latina with black hair...)

On this page: http://www.trekbikes.com/women/ it says, "Five women just like you..." Oops!

[Zen]

I'm glad to see at least *something* from a big company that really draws attention to women who cycle,

I've been thinking about this.
Have you ever seen an ad for bikes on television on any channel other than versus or ESPN?
I would think TV advertising would be an effective tool. There must be women who would love to ride but feel intimidated. Seeing a woman on a Townie or riding with her family might make it seem possible.

[Trek420]

I've been thinking about this.
Have you ever seen an ad for bikes on television on any channel other than versus or ESPN?
I would think TV advertising would be an effective tool. There must be women who would love to ride but feel intimidated. Seeing a woman on a Townie or riding with her family might make it seem possible.

Not gonna happen I don't even think Trek or any of the other "big" bike companies have the funds for an ad campaign.

It would take all of them together doing ads for cycling.

There's a ton of "product placement". Seems like every TV spot has a bike.

[rij73]

It's a shame... I think it just doesn't even occur to lots of adults that riding a bike would be fun, healthy, useful, etc. Someone should be able to raise money for TV ads... What about Critical Mass or Transportation Alternatives? (Though we don't have to get into a discussion of those groups and their methods!)

[Kimmyt]

It's a shame... I think it just doesn't even occur to lots of adults that riding a bike would be fun, healthy, useful, etc.

I don't know... there has to be a reason all those pharmaceutical companies use screenshots of aging folks having fun riding bikes to give off a 'healthy' image and sell their ads.... if it weren't selling their product, they wouldn't use it, so obviously folks associate riding bikes with healthy living...or perhaps it is associated with youth.