women / girls on bikes getting sore

[Dino Suegiù]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Are there NO Women who frequent this forum?

Speedychix??

Maybe they prefer not to be referred as girls at every other turn?
"boys on bikes getting sore"?

Originally Posted by simonov

26% of a market with reasonable potential for growth (the number of women getting into riding seriously is increasing rapidly where I live) is real money. All other factors aside, it's good business to cater to women.

Especially since a woman's dollar is actually $0.79 green compared to a man's $1.00 green, so not exactly Gummee's same green hue. Since women need to work that much more to spend in that lbs, let's just increase that market to ~33%, and throw in Laurie Anderson's Beautiful Red Dress for some extra added color.

Originally Posted by bcroslin

Like I said, blind spots. Many men on this forum need to get out of their own heads for a minute and imagine what it's like being a women cyclist.
I think many of the women who did participate in this forum left a long time ago for greener pastures due to the amount of obtuse misogyny often expressed here.

I don't know if it is outright misogyny but there certainly are some odd and disappointing attitudes being expressed here, among the positive ones. As someone else wrote, "ickier every time".

To so dismissively and haughtily claim that women-specific saddles are
"Smells and looks like marketing to me.
>>>>>>>>>ITS MARKETING<<<<<<<<<<
Everyone has parts that might get mashed, its not some special women's problem."
is truly absurd, given the incredible amount of marketing revolving around men's perineal zones for the last two decades at least.

[eddief]

the girl part was a play on the Netflix show of Comedians in the Car Getting Coffee. such a microcosm of society we are.

[colker]

Originally Posted by Heisenberg

i'm currently working in colombia.

the proportion of women to men on the road right now is about two to three. it's getting better every day.

cycling here is huge. and it's cool. and it's accessible.

down the road there's a shop devoted entirely to cycling apparel for women.

there is a way.

Awesome. I met a colombian girl and her entire family was into road riding.

[OtayBW]

I ride with several women all the time, including one who I used to go out with. I also used to ride extensively with a woman RAAM rider. No one ever mentioned it. I'm curious; I will have to inquire...

EDIT: I must confess that I was originally drawn to this thread mainly because I originally mis-read the title as 'Girls on Bikes Getting Some'.....
Must. Check. Glasses....

[buddybikes]

My wife had problem years ago, and she finally told me about it on a ride. Pulled out allen wrench, dropped the nose few degrees and never heard a complaint again. Certainly this can be far more complex, but communication is key.
When I worked in a shop moonlighting 10 years ago, for some reason the women would come to me with their questions, being a slightly balded later middle aged person with wedding ring on, I was less threatening.

Of course shorts are major piece of the puzzle also.

[twangston73]

If you see "women's saddle" and you immediately think "marketing gimmick" consider whether your issue is really with marketing gimmicks.

The overwhelming majority of equipment that is discussed in zealous and loving detail on the pages of this forum could be dismissed by the cynical as a marketing gimmick. 10 speeds, 11 speeds, 12 speeds, 28 versus 25 tires, take your issue. Not a lot of marketing gimmick dismissals in most equioment discussions.

The more women ride bikes, the more women will ride bikes, and if expanding the market to an underserved segment is the result of devious marketing devilry, i guess i am 100 percent on board.

[Yoshi]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Which model fabric saddles?

She said she runs them as recommended. Radius for MTB and shallow for gravel.
She’s not much of a roadie but a demon on the MTB. FWIW she is small, maybe 5-7, 100 at the most. Thirty something, couple kids.
She recommended the shallow for my gravel bike but it’s the flat that works for me on all my bikes. Could not stand the shallow.
Of course YMMV.

[buddybikes]

What's the definition of "cyclist"? Here in RI on our local bike trail guess it is 50/50 split.

Interesting to see what the $$ average is. I do tend to see the husband with more tricked bike than the wife, then again she's putting the extra cash into kids education fund..

[Clancy]

Originally Posted by RonW87

Specialized are acting as if they "invented" this issue. Seriously? Terry saddles has been around forever. Women-specific saddles almost forever. This whole thread is a testament to the success of Specialized marketing, nothing more.

No one else brought their ideas to market like this. Starting conversations using real language-and making it fun. Call it marketing because it is, no doubt. But give them credit at least for the manner in which they purposely chose to market.

[SpeedyChix]

A lot of the women mtb riders and some of the female road riders have been raving about the Mimic saddle. The challenge we face with saddles and chamois are quite real and can be extraordinarily painful. It can take a lot of trial and error to find the platform shape of a saddle that agrees with a rider (male and female). If the reception the Mimic is getting is any indication, they'll be making a good return toward their R&D expense.

And to those of you who note there aren't that many women riding, we're finding more and more women riding gravel and mtb locally. There are some group rides that are nearly 50/50. Those are groups who are welcoming to all, friendly and fun.

[mtechnica]

I just brought up the specialized mimic to my girlfriend and she says it's not worth it to her to spend money on it I guess the selle italia women's saddles are good enough.

[Doug Fattic]

I’ve been building and painting bicycle frames since the mid 70’s. I discovered early on with the help of others that one of the primary issues with a women’s bicycle position is that if they lean over too far because their handlebars are low compared to their saddle the sensitive areas in their crotch becomes uncomfortable. The solution for many is to raise the handlebars so they are at least as high as their saddle. This isn’t a hard and fast rule but for some a higher handlebar height solves their discomfort.

In the old days with level or nearly level top tubes, it could be difficult to raise the handlebars high enough – especially with production frames. If the frame was small enough so they could stand comfortably over the top tube it might not be possible to raise the stem high enough without going beyond the max line.

However one solution causes other problems. As the handlebars are raised the seat needs to go further back to keep the same torso/upper leg angle and that requires a shallower seat angle. This pulls the whole front end back bringing toes into possible contact with the front wheel. That is why 700c wheels are often too big for smaller women. The production bike solution of a steep seat angle combined with a swallow head angle (to get a shorter top tube) might keep their lawyers happy but not women riders wanting to find their best riding position.

I would guess that more than half of my custom frame customers over the years have been women with average to shorter than average height looking for ways to optimize their position without having to make compromises.

[Bruce K]

At the Greenfield (MA) Crit last weekend, the Women’ Pro, 1,2,3 field was bigger than the Men’s.

They are no longer a niche but rather a serious segment of the cycling population and deserve to have appropriate equipment designed and marketed to/for them.

BK

[Gummee]

Originally Posted by bward1028

I feel bad for anyone you’ve “helped”

Please explain to me exactly how you've jumped to that conclusion. G'head. I'll wait.

M

[bward1028]

Sorry, i can't post it publicly because it'll get the thread closed. if you really need it explained, shoot me a pm.