Women's Bike

In the past women's bikes were designed so that women could ride them in a dress and didn't have to "stoop" to throwing the leg over a top tube!  
   
Most bikes are built to fit the average man. Women tend to have longer legs and shorter arms and torso than a man of the same height. The average size of a women is smaller and women usually have smaller hands and feet.   

It is frustrating that sometimes women can't squeeze the brakes easily because the hand span in not large enough.  Even when the seat tubes are shortened, many bikes still have the same length top tube as the larger bikes, and therefore even this "shorter" bike won't fit. 
 
Shorter stems are the first option to try to give woman a more comfortable reach. Also smaller brake levers, narrower handlebars and shorter cranks are also common on women's bikes. 

Georgena Terry was the first to develop alternatives for women and many bike companies have followed her lead by building bikes especially designed for women.  When Liz Kinloch first wrote this article back in 1999, finding smaller framed bikes for women was limited to only a handful of bike manufacturers.  Finding these bikes in the stores, even specialist ones, was near impossible. 

According to Liz, the bike makers are still offering only limited sizes for women specific designs, but at least they are taking a step in the right direction. 

Not all women need to buy a bike with “women’s geometry”  as they are primarily designed for a shorter riders (men & women) with relatively long legs compared to their arms and torso.  The key factor is whether a bike fits you. This isn’t a gender issue, it’s a fit issue.

Buy the bike that gives you a comfortable, efficient riding position regardless of who it’s being marketed to.

Above is the excerpt of Lisa Kinloch writing about women's bike at Bikes Designed for Women.

This abbreviated article should  be enlightening for women who are considering buying a woman bike.

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