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07-07-08, 10:49 PM
I'm new to this forum and have been road riding for recreation and exercise for about 6 months. Being a clothes horse in the rest of my life, I've been shopping for some bike gear that (a) compliments my silver/royal blue frame, and (b) is bright and clearly visible to motorists.
Across the board I have been underwhelmed with the selection of colors and styles manufactured in womens' sizes. Baby pink, bright pink, fuchsia, pink-and-black, baby blue, baby blue with flower print, and pale buttercup yellow. Sometimes they branch out and make something in mint green or apricot.
What's up with this? Firstly, I'd like the option to be as visible as any man when I'm on the road. I wouldn't mind quality jerseys in a true yellow, or red. Heck, even royal blue is hard to find in a woman's size/cut. Then, too, there are many women who never wear pastels off the bike - why would they suddenly want to wear them while riding?
Many women spend a lot of money on clothing, and I'm sure we'd be prepared to spend as much as or more than male cyclists on our kit if there were things out there for us to buy. We don't want to look like fainting violets on our bike. We are out there to sweat, suffer and fly just like the guys are and we'd like our clothes to reflect that. The "pink" thing says to me that the manufacturers do not take us seriously as a consumer demographic.
When I am shopping for my next bike I will be checking out the women's specific design road bikes that are out now. I have to give a nod here to Specialized - their road bike line mostly avoids pink and other frou-frou. Good job! :thumb: PINK bikes are out of the running.
I don't see auto manufacturers out there trying to sell pink cars with flower decals to half the adult population. Why should bikes be any different?
Does anyone know any breakdown or percentage of how many cyclists are female? How many customers are female? Certainly we are in a minority but I don't know how much of one. And I think that will slowly be changing in the years to come. :p
Across the board I have been underwhelmed with the selection of colors and styles manufactured in womens' sizes. Baby pink, bright pink, fuchsia, pink-and-black, baby blue, baby blue with flower print, and pale buttercup yellow. Sometimes they branch out and make something in mint green or apricot.
What's up with this? Firstly, I'd like the option to be as visible as any man when I'm on the road. I wouldn't mind quality jerseys in a true yellow, or red. Heck, even royal blue is hard to find in a woman's size/cut. Then, too, there are many women who never wear pastels off the bike - why would they suddenly want to wear them while riding?
Many women spend a lot of money on clothing, and I'm sure we'd be prepared to spend as much as or more than male cyclists on our kit if there were things out there for us to buy. We don't want to look like fainting violets on our bike. We are out there to sweat, suffer and fly just like the guys are and we'd like our clothes to reflect that. The "pink" thing says to me that the manufacturers do not take us seriously as a consumer demographic.
When I am shopping for my next bike I will be checking out the women's specific design road bikes that are out now. I have to give a nod here to Specialized - their road bike line mostly avoids pink and other frou-frou. Good job! :thumb: PINK bikes are out of the running.
I don't see auto manufacturers out there trying to sell pink cars with flower decals to half the adult population. Why should bikes be any different?
Does anyone know any breakdown or percentage of how many cyclists are female? How many customers are female? Certainly we are in a minority but I don't know how much of one. And I think that will slowly be changing in the years to come. :p