Originally Posted by
Cyclepup
I'm a 50+ year old woman and I ride both a Specialized Tricross and a Trek Allant WSD. It has been my feeling that a DF bike is more for sport, competition or recreation, whereas a step-thru is more urban or lifestyle oriented. I use my cyclocross DF for training rides to prep for touring and my step-thru for errands or getting around locally, and that includes 28-mile roundtrip rides to get dog food. For me, it is much easier to see traffic and stop suddenly on the Allant. I never understood why step-thru's were designated a "girl's" frame in the first place.
Because they were designed way back in the dark ages (1850?) for women in skirts.
With all the improvements in steel and aluminum materials I think strength is less of an issue today than it was 50 years ago. Yes the step through frame is going to be a tad heavier than the diamond frame and it may flex a bit more, but how many people are really going to be riding a step through like they are in the TDF?
In Germany they sell three types of bikes, the typical diamond frame, the step through, and a low tube step through. Men's, Women's and Monotube is the way the have them listed. However for the most part in the areas of the EU where cycling is a normal way of life you will see people riding anything and everything and not thinking about it one bit.
Aaron
