Famous racer and UCI stooge Margaret Rutherford demonstrates a DF bike
View attachment 729047
Not strictly a diamond frame, though? Looks like a Ladies' frame with two downtubes for a low step over while wearing voluminous skirts. So either the redoubtable Margaret Rutherford is a) making a rebellious statement by riding a bike without a top tube or b) conforming to societal norms by riding a bike of a type that ladies were expected to ride. Not to downplay the massive impact that the bicycle in whatever form had in liberating women in the late 19th and early 20th century.
In 1983 I built up a diamond frame bike for the impending Mrs T, being at the time a club cyclist and deeply indoctrinated into the way a bike ought to be. Of course, it had a top tube. I presented it to her as a surprise but she was dubious, though tried it up the road anyway. It only took a few minutes before some young urchin called out to his mate, "Hey! She's riding a man's bike!" and that was it. "I'm not riding that", she said. I eventually found a nice Mixte frame and built up the parts on to that. She was a bit happier with that, as it looked "like a proper woman's bike". She was never as keen on cycling as I was, though, and I suppose that's always the way of it.
So, we are all slaves to our own perceptions and the expectations of others. We see ourselves in this way or that, and the things we fill our lives with reflect that, which extends to the sort of human powered vehicles we ride. Unlike cycle forum members most people don't think a lot about bikes, and just buy what fits, is cheap enough, a nice colour, and available at the time which generally means a mass produced diamond frame bike of some description. A proven design, and factories in the far East and elsewhere churn them out in their millions and so the cost remains affordable. It's only if the bug bites that people become motivated to join clubs and find out what else is available. Ironically, joining a club could easily narrow your horizons and limit what you will ride if you want to take up racing with the strict regulations involved if their focus is on that aspect of cycling. I was lucky that when I was at that stage the local club had a strong touring section but back then a touring bike looked like x. So you modified what you had if you couldn't stretch to a Dawes Galaxy or similar. This was before the mountain bike boom and the choices were quite limited. So my perception of myself at that time was as a cycle tourist, so I must ride a certain type of bike. Luckily, that certain type of bike was a good all rounder too.
Since then I've learned to enjoy mountain bikes, small wheelers, folders and all sorts of bikes but the biggest revelation was when I took up recumbents. Like upright bikes. recumbents can be tourers, dedicated fast bikes, or something in between, though I seem to gravitate towards recumbents that could tour. In all this, bike dealers have only played a small part as most of my bikes have been privately bought. Recumbent dealers are certainly thin on the ground, and I certainly couldn't stretch to a new one. So perhaps I'm single handedly bringing the nation's bike dealerships to their knees. The thing is, I know what I want. When you are starting out, getting good advice about a bike to suit what you want to do with it is still as difficult as ever, unless you are very lucky.