Huge bike shop, limited women's cycling apparel

[ny biker]

I don't recall ever seeing skorts in an LBS, or REI for that matter. And the bike shops near me generally have as much variety in women's clothing as they do in men's.

[goldfinch]

I just saw skorts in the REI in Minneapolis. But no tights that I liked. They did have those odd skirted tights that I don't quite understand.

So instead of using my 20% off coupon on bike stuff I bought a pair of those Vibram five finger shoes. Comfy!

[Kiwi Stoker]

Ummm skorts are a very niche product. I mean not to disrepect anyone here but most women (and pro racers) don't wear them. In fact some women might find them offensive ("like you want to ride in a skirt!?").

I woulnd't expect any LBS to carry these as the market for skorts would be very small.

For items like this I would expect TE to be the place to purchase these.

[Susan Otcenas]

Ummm skorts are a very niche product. I mean not to disrepect anyone here but most women (and pro racers) don't wear them. In fact some women might find them offensive ("like you want to ride in a skirt!?").

I woulnd't expect any LBS to carry these as the market for skorts would be very small.

For items like this I would expect TE to be the place to purchase these.

They aren't as niche as you might think. We sell lots of them and regularly see women riding in them on "event" rides here in the Northwest.

And RUN skirts have exploded. I ran the Portland Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon this weekend and probably 10-20% of the women were wearing skirts!

I personally cycle in dresses (with cycle shorts) underneath them quite often in the nice weather. It fun, and no one ever mistakes me for a man.

Susan

[Kiwi Stoker]

Susan, that's interesting. However I wonder if that is a country/hemisphere thing?

When working in the industry for Australia and New Zealand which included a major Australiasian women's cycling brand (with clothing), skorts were not considered and not even wanted. Other bicycle clothing brands also didn't offer them (Pearl Izumi, Sugio, Vermac, Netti, Ground Effect, NZone etc).

Living in Singapore and Malaysia was the first time I ever saw a skort in a bike shop but there were very little. I only ever saw them being worn by Muslim women cyclists who had to dress modesty (they also wore long tights, long sleeved shirts and a tight scarf under their helmet).

[Susan Otcenas]

Other bicycle clothing brands also didn't offer them (Pearl Izumi, Sugio, Vermac, Netti, Ground Effect, NZone etc).

Pearl & Sugoi have both offered cycling skirts in the States and Canada for years.

[zoom-zoom]

They aren't as niche as you might think. We sell lots of them and regularly see women riding in them on "event" rides here in the Northwest.

And RUN skirts have exploded. I ran the Portland Rock-n-Roll Half Marathon this weekend and probably 10-20% of the women were wearing skirts!

I personally cycle in dresses (with cycle shorts) underneath them quite often in the nice weather. It fun, and no one ever mistakes me for a man.

Susan

One of the top-ranked cyclists here in MI regularly races in a skort...she cracks me up. The first time I saw her on the starting line of a CX C race I saw her in her skort and crooked helmet and thought to myself "ha, I can take her"...and then she totally smoked my a$$. She has gotten MUCH faster since that race, too. She generally leads B races, now.

I've been running in a skort for years--definitely before they really took off in popularity (and caught some flack from "real" runners for it ). I sometimes wear compression shorts, too, but prefer skorts. They are comfy and flattering and I don't get that unsightly and chafing wad of fabric up my crotch that I get with regular running shorts. Big thighs and narrow hips don't tend to work well with traditional running shorts.