Originally Posted by
tjspiel
It's also worth pointing out that we are not talking about women commuters, not mechanics. It's my opinion that the more you can do on your own, the better, but the actual number of mechanical skills required to commute are pretty small. I'd say you need to be able to put air in the tires. I would have said that knowing how to change a flat tire is a requirement, but with the advent of cell phones I'm not sure it really is. I now think of it as a highly recommended skill. Fixing a dropped chain would be right up there too. Maybe there are some other things that I'm missing but that's about it.
You are right of course because that is the original post. Just as there should be an equal proportion of women who walk to work, drive to work, or take transit. Cycling is just a mode of transportation in this regard.
In my post was referring to the tinkering and gear aspect of commuting and cycle, which is still mostly a male domain.