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Apr 8, 2008 8:40 pm US/Pacific
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Good Question: Women's Bicycles
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) ―
Why do they still make men's and women's bikes in the traditional way? You know, with the bar lower for women and higher for men.
We looked at an example of a traditional woman's bike, which was designed in the days when a woman might be wearing a big skirt. I spoke with Stephan, an expert on the matter, and he says the men's design was stronger, and the woman's was an afterthought.
"It's not as good, it was designed to be a compromise. The way the geometry of the bike is this tube here has to be much thicker in order to not fold under the pressure of the rider's weight."
So now we're in the new millennium, and we have still got the women's version, and the men's version. But Stephan explains that the differences today are more subtle.
"This slight drop here is largely a stylistic thing at this point. The men's version still has the bar but it seems like it's a bit lower than it used to be. They call it drop stop tube. The idea came from mountain bikes where you'll want more clearance."
Stephan adds these days that some of the gender-different features are based on science, not fashion. The top tube of the bike is slightly shorter to accommodate the slightly shorter torso that women typically have, and also slightly laid back seat post to accommodate the slightly different leg geometry that women typically have.
They have also shortened the stem to reduce distance from seat to handlebars, because Stephan says women have longer femurs.
One of the biggest revolutions in cycling is the cutting edge materials they're now made of. Click on the Web Extra video in the player to the right to learn about that.
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