Ladies - do you ride a ladies bike??

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

none of my bikes have ever been 'women specific' and I tend to cringe at the concept simply becuase of the colours that are then offered.
bikes wise. I have/had red hair (faded to auburn and then brown as I got older) and hated anything red or pink because it clashed! I also hate skirts/dresses because of the old school uniform being so very strict and having had 6 years of it, I have only once worn a dress since and that was not my wedding day, but a visit to Buckingham palace who also issued a dress code and women had to be in dresses or skirts!

I guess it started with my old BSA racer which was a men/boys road bike and I just got used to having to lift my leg up higher to get on to the bike (not into the male swing the leg from behind approach though). next came a series of scott mtbs and shorter stems, followed by a custom built tourer based on the mtb frame, shorter stem fitted. then came the road bike, shorter stem, narrower bars and finally the current mtb which is the only bike that does not have a shorter stem, but that is because it has a longer seat post. I fall between sizes and if I go with the 15" size mtb then the seat post is not long enough even with 175mm crank arms and if I go with 17" size then the reach is too much and I have to have a shorter stem! I'm 5'6" with long legs if you hadn't worked it out!.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Surely it would have been more interesting to ask 'Men, Do you ride a ladies bike?'

thought I had seen that thread recently!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Surely it would have been more interesting to ask 'Men, Do you ride a ladies bike?'

Ok - knew I had seen it. took a while to find.. http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ladies-bike-for-a-male.122663/#navigation

 

[Trail Child]

Only one bike is (my urban cruiser). My MTB and road bike are not.

 

[mickle]

My Africa Bike is a step-thru.

 

[Peteaud]

Mrs Aud has a Trek 7100 WSD and a Spesh Dolce.

She is only 5'0" so choicer is limited, although the spesh was a really go fit for her.

 

[Sandra6]

@Sandra6 - surely this means you have unlimited spending on the accessories?

How much fun would that be?! But sadly, no, he is quite adamant I don't need any. Men, pah.

 

[Spinney]

No - both mine are men's/unisex (I didn't ask!). 5'6, so height not a problem.
In fact when I had my Hewitt Cheviot fitted, he started with the minimum frame size and then had to go up one.
I do have a ladies specific saddle on the Hewitt, but at the moment I'm mostly riding a cyclocross that really belongs to OH (so not WS either), with a 'normal' saddle.

And I'm another that sees the red mist when anything described as specifically for women seems to automatically come in pink/with flowers on/both!

 

[citybabe]

My Cannondale Synapse is a WSD because at 5'2 with a short reach I'm very limited in my choices of bike

 

[Sandra6]

I quite like pink and flowers, but I do agree, it shouldn't be the automatic "girls" choice

 

[vickster]

My Avail is neither pink nor flowery, nor was the Kona. I cannot bear mens' bikes in black (especially matt), silver, grey, much prefer something with colour - or white

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

My Avail is neither pink nor flowery, nor was the Kona. I cannot bear mens' bikes in black (especially matt), silver, grey, much prefer something with colour - or white

exact opposite... love my black & white mtb though it does not stand out well in snow!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

I quite like pink and flowers, but I do agree, it shouldn't be the automatic "girls" choice

I think best colour scheme for a bike is red and black

 

[BimblingBee]

Im often jealous of some of the colour options women get. Blokes just get plain dull options!

My other half is tall so I used her bike today- bit small but okish... But after 16 miles my ass was sore, those girl saddles are just wrong! Not looking forward to the ride back to work tomorrow!!

 

[totallyfixed]

I think best colour scheme for a bike is red and black

I think you would like dr_pink's new Onix bike, it's red and black and looks absolutely stunning. All her bikes are "mens", she is 5'6" and never looks at the womens specific ones which we think are something of a con, even if you are quite short there is much more choice with small men's bikes and adjust the stem accordingly if you have to. A friend of ours is coming up from London this weekend and I have sourced her a nice upgrade from the womens specific Specialised Dolce to a nice carbon men's Bianchi.