Why Women's-Specific Bicycles?

Sunday, 3rd October 2004

Female cyclists often have different requirements than their male counterparts due to physiological and/or outlook differences. Extensive scientific research and focus-group work has been combined to reveal four primary differences between most male and most female cyclists that are worthy of bicycle augmentation.

Morphology

The median height for women in the UK is six inches shorter than men. As a result, even a woman of average height (5" 3') can have difficulty finding any bike with a short enough top tube (recommend 51cm) to reach the bars comfortably.
The average woman has arms that are at least 1.5 inches shorter than those of men of the same height, which means she has to lean forward more to reach the bars on a standard bicycle. This can cause neck/shoulder pain, excessive pressure on the front part of the saddle and can result in a less than optimal position for cornering/descending.
Taller women often have proportionally longer legs and shorter torsos than men of the same height. This increases the drop from the seat to the handlebars, and makes it more difficult to set up a neutral, rather than excessively low and forward leaning riding position.
Women's hands tend to be smaller, making it harder to reach STI levers and leading to difficulty shifting (especially into the big ring), as well as causing excessive hand fatigue during descents.
Women often have narrower shoulders, and can experience neck/back pain if they ride with bars that are too wide.
Larger busted women may experience significant neck and shoulder pain in a very low, aero position, and may need a neutral or slightly upright position so that their weight is distributed more comfortably.

Anatomy

If a woman's sit bones (Ischial Tuberosities) are not properly supported, she ends up with most of her body weight on her labia. After childbirth, a woman's sit bones are wider, and after menopause the skin of her labia becomes thinner and more delicate, both of which increase the probability of significant discomfort.

Power-to-Weight Ratio

Body Weight and Body Fat: Women are on average 20% lighter than men of the same height, so they can get away with riding lighter equipment. Even for elite athletes, more of this weight tends to be biologically necessary body fat. While this body fat is attractive and may help increase endurance, it results in a lower power to weight ratio.
The result: women not only can ride lighter equipment than men, they need to in order to climb more effectively.

Outlook/Riding Style

Because women usually participate in several different fitness activities besides cycling (such as running or going to the gym) many women are returning to the sport as beginning triathletes or through spinning classes.
Many women ranked camaraderie, a shared experience, personal challenge, progress, and sense of connection to the environment, and other considerations as their primary reasons for riding. The same trend was not noted for men. These differing outlooks or riding motivations call for a difference reflected in product in some cases.
Women are more likely to spin lower gears at higher RPM, making it beneficial to have a lower gear range.
On average, women ride with more finesse and are easier overall on their equipment.

Information in this article is reproduced by kind permission of Specialized.