Originally Posted by
Giant Doofus
Not flaming, but I wouldn't say "women aren't into that." I love learning how to work on my own bike and am intensely curious about how it functions. I'm in a bike overhaul class at my local co-op right now. Of the ten students, six are women. I would say that girls don't usually get as much positive reinforcement to be curious about mechanical stuff as boys do, but that's changing. And there are a fair number of us who ride for a few years and then start getting curious about how the bike works. One challenge is that it's hard to find a place to learn how to wrench on your own bike. Bike shops are often dismissive of women customers (don't get me started on this one) and co-ops can have a really intense "dude culture" unless someone is being very intentional about creating a welcoming environment for everyone.
Back to the topic of the thread: Here in Memphis I would say that about 30% of the riders I see on my commute are women. The city has gotten much, much more bike friendly in the past few years so I expect to see that number improve over the next year or two.
I learned everything I know about working on a bike from here and youtube. I replaced my entire drive train and re-cabled my bicycle. I also learned how to re-tension my wheels to get the wobble out. The only thing I haven't perfected is getting the hop out of wheels. That is so freaking hard to do. Also I've never replaced a crank but I just got my new one in the mail so that will fun. It's like anything in life for me. You never learn how to do something until it breaks and you have to fix it.
Originally Posted by
spare_wheel
I agree about tinkering but not about weight. Folders are among the most popular commuting bikes in the world (esp in Asia but also in the UK) and one of the main reasons this style of bike is so popular is due to its portability. In fact, I personally view folders as approaching city bike perfection...
(and when brompton comes out with their ti-lugged carbon model with di2 ultegra disc -- i'm buying!!!)
I started commuting on a folding bike. I quickly found out how much more force it takes to really get going on those tiny wheels so I switched to a full size folding bike. That lasted until someone decided to use my bike as a trampoline. i then switched to a full on road bike and have not even thought about going back. Although full carbon folding bike with full sized wheels would be very appealing.