I stopped by a LBS today to buy a floor pump for my road bike. The one I have is old, and only goes up to 100 psi. I wanted a good pump that I could keep in my car for before my thrice-weekly rides after work.

So I stopped into the shop, knowing exactly what I wanted and asked the guy working for a recommendation. He showed me what they had, and I picked one out easily enough. As we headed to the register, he told me he had to show me one more pump, mostly because they hadn't sold one. It was over in what I term the 'girly' corner. That is, the corner of the bike shop reserved for women's specific gear, most of which is in shades of pink, violet, and baby blue.

There, in the corner stood a WSD tire pump (!!?) in a shade of bubblegum pink with white hawaiian style flowers. It was smaller than the other pumps, almost childlike in size. I shook my head, told him I was fine with my pump, and checked out.

At the register, another (male) salesperson came up and tried to sell me the pink pump. They insisted they just wanted one person to buy it. I guess it's not selling too well.

What I want to know is, is there a point where the WSD gear gets just a bit too much? Do women need specifically designed everything? Or is there some point where the marketing people are taking advantage of the fact that women shop more than men, and that anything labelled 'women's specific' will be bought by women, even if it is unnecessary?

I have to end this by saying that I myself recently bought a WSD bike. There are certain things I feel should be designed specifically for women's bodies. However, I'm not quite sure that tire pumps (or helmets, for that matter) are one of those things.

(edited to include picture of said tire pump)