Last ride 76 

Awesome, Ride on man, ride on! (If you're comfortable doing your own wrench work, Craigslist is a great source for good, inexpensive 26 in wheel bikes)

Myosmith

Bike frames do not come with X and Y chromosomes. If the frame is safe and works for you, enjoy the ride.

I had the same issue with Women's Specific Design (WSD) frames. Both men and women come in a wide range of body shapes and it was foolish that bikes were designated men's or women's based on body proportions. Might as well have had pink bikes for girls and blue bikes for boys . . . oh, wait . . . they do

Vintage Schwinn

Listen to the absolute absurdity of the thoughts rolling around in your brains.
This is confirms that Women are smarter than men!

I see it all of the time in sports competition, even in the most accomplished athletes.
Perhaps it is just the $25 million a year, NBA player on a fast break to the basket, when a simple layup that any 13 year old can do, would score the two, but "CoolShoes" decides to put on a show as if he was performing on dancing with the stars or some televised high diving competition like ABC's Wide World of Sports once showed in decades past in Jan/Feb after football season was over............ ........Yeah the flashmaster--all $25 million a year, "CoolShoes" himself decides that being cool is more important than two certain points for the team...............so yeah the double spin, 180 degree, behind the back, dunk attempt FAILS and the other team gets the rebound and quickly passes across the half court line to their team-mate who calmly lays it up................CoolShoes' team loses the game by two points and is eliminated from the playoffs, largely because of this and poor free-throw shooting from CoolShoes.
They want to be macho and cool.
Yeah, it certainly helps with the personal endorsement deals, but if not with the mindset of doing what is most important for the team at a crucial point during the game, CoolShoes can be cancerous to the team's chance to win a championship.
You probably witness this too on the golf course and tennis courts. Some guy that is good, just wants to hang around the baseline and just hammer the heck out of everything and slam the ball everywhere......but against a tactical master who is also good, he is shredded because he doesn't move like fast spider....
You see this every single day, even among outstanding amateur golfers, they just WILL NOT HIT ENOUGH CLUB, as they must feel they are not manly enough if they cannot get whatever number iron there. Oh, you see it in friendly and corporate golf outings all the time. Man #1 asks Man #2 what club is he gonna hit (or what club did he hit)..................Man #1 knows deep-down inside that there is no-way that he can reach the green with a 7 iron UNLESS he kills it and it is struck absolutely perfect, on the sweetspot.........................still because Man #2 says oh I hit an 8 iron, or yeah I'm hitting an 8 iron here, -----Man#1 decides to use the 7 iron perhaps because he doesn't want to appear Weak, as in not macho, or as in 'didn't eat enough Wheaties this morning...........................WELL YOU KNOW HOW THIS STORY GOES, neither of these two clowns becomes better golfers, despite lessons and new clubs because of simple stupidity!!
If you want your team to win the 4-ball Lauderdale corporate outing tournament, you need someone who is unafraid to "Tell It like it is"..........................say Chuck, ya know buddy, ya need to rethink that 8 iron and go and grab the 6 iron instead because, we would like a chance to win this tournament.



.......Think about it, do you even think about what color the hairdryer in the bathroom is, or whether the Miata, or Mercedes roadster is too much of a "chick-car" for you, or perhaps you carry it to the extreme, as in yeah, would never ever use a hairdryer or let any women cut/style your hair, or heaven forbid consider coloring it..............ya go only to real barber named Vito or Chuck and get a real man's haircut..............
YES, this is incredibly absurd and comical....

As others have mentioned, ride what works best for you.
The lack of the top bar will help protect your crown jewels too.


There is no significant truth to the "FLEX ISSUE" as it pertains to Step Through frames for general purpose riding.
Maybe if you're riding on the hill-stage (climbing stage) of the Tour de FRANCE, really spinning it, doing 30+ miles per hour, but for anyone riding anywhere at anything under 22 miles per hour, then there is not a damn thing to ever be concerned about.
The heavier STEEL framed bikes have an even smaller, less applicable "FLEX ISSUE" that probably would NEVER be an issue at any speed that you could yourself humanly achieve!

I know that your focus is primarily towards mountain bikes and that is great, because the gearing will be beneficial.
You can probably easily find something that will happily suit you.
Remember that you can change the handlebars out for something of a different shape, if that makes it better for you.
There are also LAYBACK seatposts that are available that can make a bike more suitable.
I had brand new Kenda slicks that have a sort of beveled, motorcycle tire shape, installed on a vintage NISHIKI mountain bike so that my brother-in-law (a 1948 model himself..) could more comfortably ride. He has two knee replacements, and a shoulder.......the six-million dollar man, we call him, but today he is still an excellent tennis player and still runs in 5K races, though he jokes that its a slow trot or a super fast walk.....

Now, I think it is worth mentioning if only for those who might find this thread discussion.
There are a great many old STEEL frame roadbikes of the seventies and eighties with STEM SHIFTERS(friction) and "Turkey levers" (extra brake lever on the tops of drop bars...) that came in STEP-THROUGH (women's frames) CONFIGURATIONS in many Large, Medium, and Small sizes.
Thus, Frame Sizing IS NOT A RELEVANT ISSUE with these particular older steel frame 'roadbikes'.
Look at Seventies and Eighties era TEN and TWELVE speeds from RALEIGH, PANASONIC, FUJI, SCHWINN, BRIDGESTONE(Kabuki), PEUGEOT, and many many others. Look at the catalog offerings, and YOU WILL FIND 21 inch Ladies Frame sizes, all throughout each of these companies offerings.
You will find that the Larger, 21 inch LADIES FRAMES are more than large enough for most any adult male under about 6 foot 3 inches in height.
It is my opinion that the bicycle makers produced Larger Sized Frames than was really necessary during the 1970's and early 1980's.
IF YOU FIT SAID 21 inch LADIES FRAME for Upright duty (spring saddle seat and Northroads handlebars like the style seen on a Schwinn Suburban...)
If you fit the Ladies frame "road bike" for Upright, tourist style duty, it is my belief that you don't usually need as large of a frame size as for riding in racing style with drop bars..
The great thing is that you know all the manufacturers DID MAKE tourist configuration "road" bikes for WOMEN during the seventies and early eighties so that you already have a ready made perfect tourist bike, and you have PLENTY OF SIZES TO CHOOSE FROM ( typically 17", 19", 21" , and sometimes 22" or 18" or 20"............heck perhaps some of you wish to denote the measurements in centimeters as in sizes like 49cm, 53cm or whatever........IT MATTERS NOTHING HOW YOU MEASURE IT, JUST THAT IT WORKS OUT TO WHAT YOU NEED...
The Seventies era and early eighties era steel Ladies (STEP THROUGH and MIXTE) road and tourist configuration road bikes were UNISEX in that they were made in nice colors, but they were not adorned in pink, polka-dots, or curly cue cuteness, although perhaps you can find a late seventies Huffy made like that or a custom individualized one that a girl stuck stickers on to...
A bicycle is a bicycle. When you consider the top bar and the damage potential for the family crown jewels, one might rethink their aversion to being ridiculed for riding a girl's bike. Are you man enough to be seen riding one?
Oh dear, what will the neighbors say about Bob, ......... LOL...................................

Happy Feet

fify

JoeKahno

I live in the Philippines.

The main source of bicycles with decent build quality at an acceptable price point is Japan surplus.

A "mama-chari" (mom's chariot) is not only built to take a daily pounding, it's generally half to one third the cost of a men's cruiser or sports bike. Personally, the gender of my bicycles only matters to me if I'm buying breeding stock.

slow_runner

Originally Posted by Milton Keynes View Post
If you're man enough to ride with plastic daisies on your bike, then go for it.

Where is that pic Jimmie?
From a practical (male) perspective and any other, plastic daisies make more sense.
Have you taken a decent whiff of one lately?

interceptor

My daily rider.....rides great.....say what you want!!

fietsbob

& FWIW because there are many Tall Women, in a country where a lot of bicycles are used daily,

the Dutch make Oma s the timeless grandma's bikes, in some larger sizes...

May be of no help to the OP in N.C. , 2 years ago..



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bicyclridr4life

Historically the step-through/"woman's" frame was only to make room for the lady's skirt.
I'd love to trade my 1989 KHS Montana Summit diamond frame bike for a mixti or "ladies bike" of equal quality. My hips are bad enough now that I can't swing my leg over the seat anymore. Laying the bike down to get on it, as mentioned earlier, does not work for me.
I guess in the mean time I'll just ride my Miami Sun traditional trike.

K R

Take a look at REI's Unisex Mountain Bike Offerings for the last couple of years. A lowered cross bar is now standard. They do offer Cannondale and a few other other brands with both Men's and Ladies but the REI brand is unisex only with the lowered cross bar.