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CCE is 14years old!
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not resolvedI'm thinking about buying a new bike. Something more suitable to riding to work than the old creaky mountain bike I have been using.
I was wondering, what are the benefits to women specific bikes? Is it just a patronising sales tool or are there actual differences? I can understand why the saddle is different (duh!), but why do they have lower bars at the top?
Oh god I just posted this in "Infrastructure"! Oops! I didn't notice the section button till after I hit submit.
Is it possible for an admin to move it to a more sensible section?
Sorry!
why do they have lower bars at the top?
So that we don't have to do that stupid swing leg over the back thing (esp. tricky with childseat on).
"Is it possible for an admin to move it to a more sensible section?"
Yes.
Not that most people seem to care!
I've given up 'correcting'.
Thanks for caring!
As I understand it ladybikes have subtle differences such as shorter distances between saddle and bars. In general if you have a man and a woman of the same height the woman will have longer legs and a shorter torso.
Thing is, it's not universal, and really there's nothing can beat going to a shop and trying some bikes out for fit. It might be that the conveyance allegedly for a chap feels much more comfortable (and probably gives you a better colour range to choose from - ladybike options seem to come in a variety of baby blue or pink...)
"why do they have lower bars at the top?"
Skirts and/or ladies' modesty. (trad)
Also it used to be that crossbars 'had' to be horizontal. Now any shape is possible.
The first mixte frame I saw was owned by a man who liked wearing kilts.
Ladies bike frames used to be regarded as less strong or 'whippy' so that many women bought 'gents' bikes.
This is less of an issue these days as most 'ordinary' bikes use thick tubing.
More bikes are being made with a single tube and even lower step through height.
Ah I suppose that all makes sense, thanks!
Mechanically speaking there is no difference.
As for step-through frame well that is just what you find comfortable in terms of bike mounting and what you like the look of. It will reduce the stiffness and overall strength of the frame but if you aren't looking to sprint or tour on it with 40kgs of luggage then you probably won't notice.
Some brake/shifter units are designed so that a screw or a shim can be used to bring the levers closer in to make them easier to use with smaller hands. In the world of road bikes, plenty of women ride men's bikes and adjust the stem length, saddle height, crank length etc. to suit. There are plenty of smaller men with smaller hands who ride "men's" bikes too!
You are right that a lot of manufacturers seem to slap different names and stickers and a more feminine paintjob on the frame in an effort to appeal to the ladies market. I will leave this up to ladies themselves to decide whether or not they are patronised by this approach.
The other issue that can be relevant is crank length - although this applies to less tall people of either sex (not a word often seen on this forum but there you go!).
As crank length is reduced then the saddle goes up on upright bikes. The ring size should also be stepped down. eg 44/34/22 on 152s instead of 48/36/26 with 170s on the compact geared ICE trikes.
On recumbents it doesn't alter the saddle height above the road. As people fit upright bikes with saddle to feet touching road measurement, then very short cranks could mean that they can't touch down easily! Most short cranks are only in the 155mm to 165mm area, though so not too severe a change.
The physics/dynamics of shorter cranks are interesting as of course you lose leverage but have less acute bend in your knees.
For children on a tandem this is useful to avoid over-bending/stretching legs. I can fit crank shorteners so that this mode is simple and adjustable / reversible as they grow. Handy for adults too if they want to see what shorter cranks are like.
Finally... you do have female cyclist who will not ride 'woman specific' bikes unless the spec is at least equal or better than the 'other version'.
If you Google 'oma workcycles' you'll see that their FR8 industrial behemoth with 250kg load capacity has the single tube that chdot mentioned.
Mixte frames look lovely, in my Humblebdore; they angles are so sleek and unlike most step-throughs they don't offend my sense of engineering conservatism by having a stress point halfway along a line.
@Uberuce ah but that's cheating because it's "designed" to be strong :)
"As people fit upright bikes with saddle to feet touching road measurement, then very short cranks could mean that they can't touch down easily! Most short cranks are only in the 155mm to 165mm area, though so not too severe a change."
I was about to disagree with this until I remembered that the BB on an upright bike can't be lowered to compensate - so switching from a 170 to a 155 crank would put the saddle up 15mm after all. Good point.
Designed to prey on my fetish for overengineering, more like. Do want.
Hi TT, have you tried swapping the knobbly tyres for road tyres? I have a pair of Schwabe Marathon Plus tyres on my MTB. Smooth ride, more stable so you don't get thet feel in the corners that the tyres are going to slip, and faster on the road. The 'Plus' bit means they are virtually puncture proof (murphy's law for me next time I ride). I also have mudguards to stop spray from the road when wet.
A new set of tyres and a cheap local bike shop service may work wonders if you're existing bike is feelling a little tired, and can save a small fortune over a new bike.
Dave C
ladybike options seem to come in a variety of baby blue or pink...
Now that is a bit patronising, Anth. Plenty of 'ladybikes' out there in other colours.
Speaking of mudguards, I have decided that MTB guards are antisocial - they protect the rider from the spray, but not those travelling within 5m behind!
"Now that is a bit patronising, Anth"
Patronising to who? Certainly in the last couple of years I've had female riders offering pieces on the paucity of choice of colours in female specific bikes to citycycling. might be better now (toddling off to check some websites...)
Damn, just checked a load of stuff with interesting results and then the computer froze and lost it - will redo from home.
But it does back up the start of that quote that was conveniently (:P) shortened, namely, "probably gives you a better colour range to choose from"
A friend of mine who is a lady had a horrible Apollo MTB in aquamarine with pink lettering that she hated.
She got a road bike - this year's Trek Lexa. It is quite androgenous in white with black and red details which seems to be the "in" colours for road bikes in general this year, but it did have a silly floral pattern on the inside of the fork that she didn't like. "hy do they think that women want chintzy road bikes? was her response. I am inclined to agree, it's not like men want decals of steam trains or spanners or pints of beer on the inside of their forks. Well, not all men ;)
I *like* cute bikes with flowers on them. Did not like nasty pale blue that my old bike came in though. Wanted racing green, but that model wouldn't fit childseat.
Black n white with red details... Sounds like some wall paper I had in the 80's. Reminiscent of Black Ash, White, melamine and horrid large RED glasses as work by Timmy Mallet....
Where o where can I get some stream train decals for my Cotic >X< please!!?!?!?!?!!?
I like pints of beer, and have a good collection of beer festival pint glasses and t-shirts to prove it. Quite fond of trains too. But would still rather have flowers on my bike!
@DaveC - "Hi TT, have you tried swapping the knobbly tyres for road tyres? I have a pair of Schwabe Marathon Plus tyres on my MTB."
Just came across this after doing a forum search, as this is exactly what I'm considering. I use my mtb for commuting and I'm happy enough with my current 2" knobbly tyres, as the terrain demands it. However, having just spent a week touring, mainly on roads, and, more to the point, intending to do a 2 week tour of around 900 miles, (on good paths/roads) my thinking is that it would be a lot easier/faster if I fitter Marathon Plus 1.5's to my mountain bike?
What I'm not sure of is the suitability of these tyres to not so smooth tracks, such as WoL and canal towpath, or are they primarily for good, tarred paths? Also, what are the actual benefits of these in terms of speed, comfort, etc. over my existing tyres?
Right now I'm totally undecided as to whether I should simply go for the new tyres, get new wheels to save the hassle of changing tyres all the time (especially Marathon Plus) possibly getting dropped handle bars, getting those clippy pedal things, or... just buy a new bike? It's all very confusing...
Thanks.
Marathon Plus isn't known as a particularly fast tyre. Its forte is puncture resistance. This makes them suitable for commuting where reliable ETA is important. Some would argue that it's less of an issue when touring and something with lower rolling resistance would be a better choice.
They might be faster than knobblies, I've not used knobblies for years.
They will be more comfy than off road tyres, possibly a wee bit faster. They can be a blighter to fit but then you rarely have to do it again as they rarely get punctures.
Whether or not you should get a new bike is a decision you need to make. I just heard that Schwalbe are going to produce a 349mm spiked tyre so now I need to ponder how I will work with that and how I convince the memsahib that I need another machine with spikes. I didn't use them at all this winter.
By far the cheapest and simplest option is to buy new tyres. The good news is that you don't need MTB tyres to ride on the canal or WoL paths, so unless you ride on real off-road terrain you aren't going to need to chop and change tyres at all.
I routinely ride Donkey Lane and the WoL from Currie towards town with Marathon Racers and there's no issue there at all. (I've also done it on my road bike but that was a bit rattly!)
I wouldn't bother with Marathon Plus myself - the regular Marathons are nicer and still pretty indestructible (and cheaper!). Sub £20 from Wiggle or CRC (i.e. link)
Any Marathon tyre will be massively faster than your knobblies, at least a couple of mph. I rode my wife's MTB to work and back to shake out a rebuild this week and it was absolutely agonizing.
Thanks, WFB and Dave, very useful info.
Even a couple of mph faster would be of great benefit on week-long routes. I spent last week touring the Orkneys, all the time wondering how much easier it would be with slicker tyres.
I've got this voice in my head, though, which is something to do with n+1, but I'm fighting it doggedly! And as my gears sort of fell to bits on my way home tonight, and I am currently 'bikeless' and facing the prospect of driving to work tomorrow, that voice is getting stronger!
Of course, don't let me stand between you and a new bike!
Ha! Cheers, Dave... I think?
Slug, apologies if I'm confusing you with someone else, but doesn't your commute take you over the Pentlands?
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