Yep… I’ll go along with all that, I have no problem at all with that... but, they make women specific geometry bikes in a diamond frame design, and they make women specific geometry bikes in a step thru design, and almost any other design you can think of… But, you see very few, if any, companies that make a man specific geometry step thru frame…

As has been mentioned in this thread, and many many others on B.F., there are all kinds of advantages to a person using a step thru frame in certain circumstances. (i.e) cargo hauling, child seat on back, racks with panniers, city ridding with a lot of stops and starts, and dismount/mounts, not to mention older folks, or people with limited range of motion in their hips, or knees, that could still enjoy the benefits of ridding a bicycle, but who are male and turned off by the marketing, and categorizing, and decorating, of a step thru frame as being a woman’s bike.

I would still like to see some bike distributor, especially in the U.S.A., because they don’t seem to have as big of a problem with this idea in Europe, market a step thru frame with geometry for the average American male… And simple call it a bicycle of step thru frame… not a women’s bicycle, not a man’s bicycle… just a bicycle with a step thru frame, and talk about the features and downfalls of the design, not which sex is required to ride it. As the O.P. of this thread described, it’s a stigma that is perpetuated at a young age, and endures into adulthood for many people.

What company sells a step thru frame bicycle made, and marketed toward men? I just think as many people do, that step thru=woman's, or poor bum on a bike, is a gender bias, that has ran it course...

^^^ +1 Very well said.

I just want to say that I'm a man. I'm a small man. And until a couple of weeks ago I did all of my riding on a step through Peugeot bike. I had that style when I was a teenager (it was a hand me down from my sister), and I was more comfortable with it. As I started riding more I realized I needed a larger frame than the one I had, but the idea that a step through frame isn't strong enough to bike fast on, is just silly. The bike rode really well too.

I figure I'll ride whatever bike is comfortable to me, and that's about all I really need.

long time lurking, first time posting. And of all the posts...

I found this thread while looking for an actual reason or difference between "men" and "women"'s bikes, all thanks to a cheap step through I found at the local thrift store that seemed like a great candidate for a spare bike.

But I digress...

So basically the biggest difference, besides a pretty strong gender bias, is simply, to paraphrase an earlier analogy, different tools for different jobs.

Huh.

I think I'm stopping buy tomorrow and rescuing the "girls" bike. And painting it black. With pink pinstripes. And gold tassles.

Welcome to the world of posting on B.F.

nice, very, very nice.

Any male kids that ride a girl's frame around here get questioned by police as they have most likely been stolen

I personally prefer the top tube setup of the traditional "boys" bike as opposed to the step through/"girls" bike. I figure when I crash I would much rather bounce my junk off a tube after a few inches of falling as opposed to falling 12 inches or more and getting my junk caught in a spinning gear aka "saw blade of doom".

I have a boy on girl frame, but it needs a mattress to be fully operational

I'm a "liberated" male - and I can attest to the truth of this.