can a woman ride a mans bike ?

sibike

hi , my wife wants to have a go at road cycling .she has seen the boardman sport ltd edt for £500 at Halfords but apparently its a mans bike .She would need the XS frame size but would it be ok for her or would she need a womans specific bike .
thanks.

drlodge

Depends on the geometry, size and fit. Nothing else.

Except a ladies bike must be pink.

slowbike

She may have to change the saddle, but other than that, it's down to geometry ...

sibike

agree with the pink comment but its yellow

I emailed boardman directly and they didn't even bother replying which is a shame . The kid (only looked about 15) in Halfords said nope its definitely for men only but do I take his word for it .

how will I go about understanding the difference in geometry ?

drlodge

Have your wife sit on the bike and see if she finds it comfy. Alternatively if she already has a bike that fits her, take some key dimensions from it (effective top tube length, head tube length or stack & reach) and try and get something the same.

mattrixdesign2

No need for a "womans" bike, like any bike its worth trying one for fit, and maybe some tweaks in terms of handle bars/seats etc. A womans bike may not fit a female rider 100%, in the same way a mans bike may not fit 100%.

tangled_metal

Used to be white and green with Cannondale women's bikes a few years ago. They didn't get the pink memo.
They don't do women's road bikes surely, unless they've started with step through road bikes these days.
I'd have thought you get what fits you. I know some women who get men's stuff in other activities so why not with bikes?

sibike

another daft question .......
will a mans Claris shifters be the same as female Claris shifters ?

ai_1

Women have different body shapes just like men. I'd say there are many women closer to the build of some men than between different men....if you see what I mean!
So it's not a "men's bike" or a "women's bike". It's a bike that fits or a bike that doesn't. Women typically need smaller sizes and shorter reach than a typical man but there's plenty overlap and I think most bikes should be considered unisex. The guy in Halford's was talking rubbish.

slowbike

Ai_1 wrote:

The guy in Halford's was talking rubbish.

I thought that was a given ....

sibike

if you understand the geometry thing please take a look at these 2 links :
link 1 would be a XS 52 cm frame = http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_sport_LTD.html

link2 would be a M 51.5 cm frame = http://www.boardmanbikes.com/fi/fi_road_sport.html

thanks again for all the replies so far.

drlodge

sibike wrote:

if you understand the geometry thing please take a look at these 2 links :
link 1 would be a XS 52 cm frame = http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_sport_LTD.html

link2 would be a M 51.5 cm frame = http://www.boardmanbikes.com/fi/fi_road_sport.html

thanks again for all the replies so far.

Both frames have the same seat tube angle, the top tubes and head tubes both differ by 1cm with link2 being the smaller frame. That means the link2 frame will have a smaller "reach" to the bars, but will have a slightly larger drop from saddle to bars.

Both reach and drop can be adjusted to some extent (longer/shorter stem and different height spacers under the stem) but these adjustments are only +- a couple of cm max.

imposter2.0

sibike wrote:

another daft question .......
will a mans Claris shifters be the same as female Claris shifters ?

Yes, but the female shifters will obviously be pink....

dennisn

Absolutely not. It's against all the laws of the universe. Imagine,....... a woman on a man's bike. Can't be done.

wishitwasallflat

dennisn wrote:

Absolutely not. It's against all the laws of the universe. Imagine,....... a woman on a man's bike. Can't be done.

Sorry to correct you but this can be done. In a sense though you are still right in that it is against the laws of the universe. If a woman rides a man's bike that bike will be rendered hermaphroditic and will be unable to reproduce with a woman's bike. If this happens too frequently all gendered bikes will be affected and the species will die out. Humans, as we often do, shall have to intervene to save the genus and find some way to create new children's bikes without gender based reproduction. Once these bikes mature this will result in there being only two types of bikes:

1) Bikes that fit the person who chose to ride them, and
2) Bikes that don't fit the person who chose to ride them.

It is unlikely any of them would be pink but who knows.

PS - I quite like pink and my wife tells me I'm an emotional ignoramus who doesn't understand her (so that's why I ride a mans bike - its not pink but it does fit quite nicely).

andrew_s

The traditional "woman's bike" with a dropped or no top tube, is thus to facilitate the wearing of skirts whilst riding (like the shorter nose of a woman's saddle).

A modern "designed for women" road bike will typically differ from the equivalently sized men's version by having...
a woman's saddle
slightly narrower handlebars
shorter reach brake levers (perhaps)
a pink colour
a slightly shorter and higher riding position (top tube length / stem length / handlebar height)

This last isn't because women have longer legs & a shorter body than men (which is an urban myth), but is doubtless down to market research. Maybe there are anatomical reasons for women to prefer a shorter riding position (a man's delicate bits will move out of the way of the saddle), or maybe it's that the average woman rider hasn't been riding as long as the average bloke (a stretched out position is generally something that develops over a few years).

The only reason not to buy a men's bike is that you are a bit more likely to have to spend extra adjusting the fit (i.e. a new stem)

proto

My daughter rides a Pinarello Dogma, and her saddle of choice is Specialized Toupe 143, good for 100 mile plus.

And she hates pink.

mangetout_rodney

Not in Saudi Arabia.

dennisn

proto wrote:

My daughter rides a Pinarello Dogma, and her saddle of choice is Specialized Toupe 143, good for 100 mile plus.

And she hates pink.

Damn, these women today! They just think they can do what they please. My God, I've even seen them in pool halls.
I guess there must be some truth to the refrigerator magnet my wife has. "Women who behave rarely make history".

cycleclinic

Of course a woman can ride a "mans" bike. The bike you ride needs to fit. There should be no such things a woman's and mans bikes. Same thing for saddles. My wife rides a "mens" saddle because she likes it. In fact the Sella Italia Rep from Italy said they no longer make woman's specific saddles. The do some woman's saddles but they are slightly feminised versions of the standard saddles I think. It turns out men and woman apart fro overall height range are quite similar. The same genes govern arm, torso and leg length in both men and woman so it stand to reason we have similar proportions on average.

dennisn

I think this topic sort of begs the question "What is a man's bike?". :?

ai_1

dennisn wrote:

I think this topic sort of begs the question "What is a man's bike?". :?

It's a bike owned by a man. It can easily be converted to a woman's bike via a simple change of ownership

cycleclinic

My wife just came up with a woman's bike design, I won't describe it's not for this site.

proto

Ai_1 wrote:

dennisn wrote:

I think this topic sort of begs the question "What is a man's bike?". :?

It's a bike owned by man. It can easily be converted to a woman's bike via a simple change of ownership

Like!

mattrixdesign2

sibike wrote:

another daft question .......
will a mans Claris shifters be the same as female Claris shifters ?

Shifters are shifters... no male/female options, however one may find other brands of shifters more comfortable (smaller/larger etc).

Anonymous

They can but it makes snurging at cafe stops a little more complicated

Anonymous

Its not mens or women's anyway.
Its unisex or female specific.

So yes, a woman can ride a unisex/non female specific bike if she wants.
Its just that a female specific bike may fit better. Usually due to it being smaller and/or just differently sized.

A female specific bike could fit a man better too, but he may be put off by the colour scheme

Saddle may also be better fit, but saddles are often changed anyway.

tangled_metal

So women specific bikes are smaller? There are very small sized unisex bikes, same as women specific. Also, there's small men buying bikes and other outdoor gear who find women specific fit them better. Guess it's just down to what works for you.
So women specific tend to be shorter and higher/more upright. Surprised no-one has used the comment "because they've got a womb"!!! Kind of a more extreme version of pink for the ladies. I know some people who go mad about pink for girls. Reckon it causes actual harm to girls. Some argument given credibility say it sets them up for victimization later in life. Never understood that argument probably because I totally switched off when it was explained.

dennisn

Is it still a mans bike if a woman rides it around the neighborhood once? Obviously when you're not there. What kind of man would knowingly permit this? Or must the bike be regulated to some "Twilight Zone" of cycling(possibly triathlons) and not even be allowed to be sold as a mans bike? :?

sungod

captain rum: [espying blackadder upon a pink bike] you have a woman's bike m'lord! i'll wager that bike was never ridden hard across the dardanelles to escape the dreadful spindly killer fish