Ha! I want to be the person that says cosmetic difference are irrelevant, it’s all about the function (or in this case, fit). But your point is fair, realistically I’d shy away from a design that screamed “female” (for whatever old-fashioned sense of visual design that means).
I generally go for muted colors anyway, so likely to avoid the loud red-and-yellow checkered design as well as the hot pink one. I’d probably be OK with turquoise if low-key. And I’d happily ride a pink bike if I was leading the Giro!
@ellotheth made the right point above, that designing for a (full) range of body configurations and describing them in a non-gendered way is the path to follow. Some challenge in developing a vocabulary or set of metrics for that — what’s the equivalent of “frame size” to describe torso proportions? But simplistically dividing the world into men’s and women’s bikes seems hopelessly outdated.
For the OP, my wife notes: other design differences that are relevant to consider are handlebar width and the way the brake handles are sized or adjusted. Smaller people with smaller hands may do better with narrower handlebars and easier-to-reach brake handles.
Yeah, agreed on that. If I were buying a new bike, I’d have to factor in swapping 42 cm bars to 40 cm and I definitely prefer SRAM shifters that seem to fit my hands better.
I think some manufacturers put their size charts with a gradient of torso/limb lengths so people can have a better idea out of the gate. But ultimately, they are going to want to manufacture equipment that fits the largest swath of consumers out of the gate (just like a seatbelt in your car is designed to fit a certain percentage of the population) and if you fall outside of that, you’ll have to customize. Of course, many people out there aren’t aware of the fit options so it’s up to bike shops to educate and inform their customers.
I’ve only ever owned one women’s specific bike (a Specialized Amira, the women’s Tarmac) and the only noticeable difference was narrower handlebars and smaller (closer) brake levers. I had a TCR for years, size small (I’m 5’5) and loved it, super light and I had the rim brake version, a great all around bike. Currently ride an Emonda disc which is also awesome, but more expensive.
Thank you for all of your feedback. This has really given us the confidence to make the right choices.
It really comes down to the fit of the bike, but in reality the way the bikes are marketed it makes you feel like you shouldn’t be buying them. My girlfriend felt like when she was looking for a bike she could only search for “womens road bike” in google. It’s total nonsense.
One of the biggest diferrences I have noticed when comparing geometries is the stack of these bikes.
