Every guy in the world has racked his brains out on that bar.. and if they had the low bar their boys would be saved.. right?
2007-08-15 08:59:43 · 14 answers · asked by not_omniscient_enough 1 in Sports ➔ Cycling
The typical double triangle used for boys bikes is the strongest way to make a bike frame. However, for girls/women there is a little problem that might get in the way. Skirts/dresses, especially if worn to a long length. To overcome the problem of women endangering their modesty by having to hike their skirts up every time they got on a bike, a step through design was developed.
Luck
2007-08-16 00:28:57 · answer #1 · answered by Alice S 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I agree with Bob Lahblah.
I think the reason we still find some bikes with the low bar (i.e., designed for girls/ladies/women) is that manufacturers/retailers have not once-and-for-all wised up to the fact that we now live in an age of EQUALITY. And BTW:
With all due respect to the feminine gender, when was the last time anyone saw a girl/lady/women riding a bike while wearing a dress/skirt. For crying out loud, even in 1967, I saw girls/women riding bikes while wearing jeans, slacks, etc. This "girl's bike/boy's bike" thing IS truly very Victorian
and completely out of step with today's lifestyles.
BUT, I too have often wondered about the "low bar issue" but was too "scared" to ask for fear of being reprimanded for asking a "sensitive" question. Now, I can rest in peace after having seen the answers.
2007-08-15 18:47:51 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The real answer is that the low bar was made in the early 1900's when women wore skirts almost all the time. The skirt wouldn't be lifted or even rest on the top bar. It kinda just caught on as a "woman's frame". Very Victorian.
2007-08-15 16:35:10 · answer #3 · answered by McG 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The bar is lower on a ladies bike so the woman can wear a skirt, and let the skirt hang properly below her knees.
The ladies bike is a compromise, and is structurally more flexible. So assuming boys are stronger than girls, boys shouldn't ride a ladies bike..
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q119/hotbike/Type9Pink2.jpg
The design problem can be overcome by using oversized tubing. Some ladies bikes today are made from two inch diameter metal , which is stronger than one inch diameter.
http://www.biria.com
2007-08-15 17:02:21 · answer #4 · answered by AviationMetalSmith 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Boy's bike was the orginal design, but when women started riding, designers took out the bar so that women could dismount without raising their leg - making the dismount more 'ladylike'
2007-08-15 16:07:32 · answer #5 · answered by Marvinator 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Only Wal-Mart bikes still have the mixte style frame as a "women's" bike. Real bike shops make sure to fit the rider to the bike by frame size, and straddling the top tube is only a problem on the wrong bike.
2007-08-15 17:15:59 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
In older days the women wore dresses so to make riding more comfortable the top tube's Angle was lowered for easy and more polite and non reviling ride for the Lady's
2007-08-15 18:34:04 · answer #7 · answered by G-T Rider 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When women started to ride bikes most of them did so in dresses and skirts which made getting on the original 'men's' bikes difficult. You see fewer and fewer of the women's styles around today.
2007-08-15 17:33:03 · answer #8 · answered by CORiverRat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dude, I'd rather have the short few inch drop to the top bar than the foot long drop to the low chick's bar where the body will pick up momentum... ouch!!
2007-08-15 19:13:44 · answer #9 · answered by burnttoast97 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I'm paraphrasing Tim Allen here:
Now that I think about it, I think I'd rather hit a metal bar than have my boys wrapped up in that chain down below.
2007-08-15 16:13:29 · answer #10 · answered by Justin Miller 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋