Boys vs. Girls

[ridingtoy]

I've always felt girl's bikes generally went for less because:

1. More boys/men were into collecting bikes and prefer bikes for their gender.
2. There's less vintage boys bikes around thus demand can be greater than supply.
3. There's more vintage girls bikes around thus demand is much less than supply.

I personally have no favorite gender of bike. I'd be just as happy having some really nice complete girls bikes than the equivalent model boys bikes that need work and/or parts. Being more of a lightweight, I also don't have to worry about over stressing a girls bike frame, so I can regularly ride my girls bikes without fear of damaging them.

Dave

 

[OldRider]

I wonder what the build ratio was in the various manufacturers, maybe 3-1 boys? I have the exact same problem on my side of the border, plenty of 40s girls loop frames to be had but you're seeing pure gold if you find a mens frame from that era.

 

[scrubbinrims]

I've heard the argument that girls bikes are less valuable because girls were less hard on them and more of them survived. Question: Do you buy this argument, or do you think it's really only because there are more guys than gals that collect and they just prefer boys bikes?

I don't buy into the survivor hypothesis all that much...it is plausuble to anyone that has children, but only to a degree.
It is the market and it only appears there are an abundance of girls bikes in comparision, when in fact they stay on the market longer to sell, if at all, having a saturation effect.
I also think it is a myth that girls bikes will increase in value as they get parted out...there has been plenty of time for ladies to get into the hobby and I don't see the interest.
I like some ladies bicycles and certainly have not negative bias towards them, but I simply don't have the inclination, space, or money to collect something that was not made for me.
Chris

 

[bricycle]

I don't know about you other folks, but being a baby boomer, There were ALWAYS more girls in my school classes than guys.....Don't know if they all had bikes tho-

 

[bricycle]

Other than mopeds and scooters, were there 150 and up cc'd (motorcycles) with no top bar?

 

[danny7147]

Well, I don't care... I see a business opportunity in the making... in the UK a gents will always fetch half of a ladies bike!

 

[slick]

I think the main probably with vintage girls bike is the fact that 99% of girls are scared to ride a vintage bike for numerous reasons...
1. They wouldn't know where to get the parts such as skiptooth chain, or the part the bike is missing (from being parted out for a guys bike!)
2. They think it's like an old car. What will fall off and will I eat pavement because of it.
3. They don't know how to rebuild the hubs and make the bike safe again with working brakes and new tires,tubes.
4. Wally world or Bike shop bikes have a dependable bike they can hop on and go! No worries and they can take it back to the store for repairs.
5. Most girls don't want a bike with patina or rust to dirty their clothes. And sometimes I don't blame them. You know how many times i've dirtied my pants with a rust smudge goin on a ride, or had a seat that the covering was falling off only to realize it tore my pants. Lol!!!
So what i'm geting at is that it takes a rare breed of lady to want to collect anything OLD. Best bet is if the boyfriend or husband is into it, then maybe she is too. Such as my situation. If she trusts your mechanic skills and goes out for a big ride with other crusty bikes with you, chances are more girls will get into collecting old bikes. There are plenty of young ladies that come on the rides with us but most have new bikes but dig the old ones. They just can't see spending $400 on an old "rare" girls bike vs. a new one made out of my last case of beer cans i just recycled.

 

[dxmadman]

Girls bikes

As far as the girls market goes in my area, I some times lose out on a sell because I don't have a women's in rideable condition, I always seem to be robbing something,I'm just learning my lesson , even though I don't make the money like I would a men's, I'm still losing and just taking up valuable space in my garage.

 

[scrubbinrims]

As far as the girls market goes in my area, I some times lose out on a sell because I don't have a women's in rideable condition, I always seem to be robbing something,I'm just learning my lesson , even though I don't make the money like I would a men's, I'm still losing and just taking up valuable space in my garage.

You're not losing out because your ladies bicycles are not in rideable condition as much as you are losing out because there is no more robbing left for the next owner.
Chris

 

[kngtmat]

I'm going with Rusty on this one too. Seems that the boy bikes are more sought after then the girls bikes and yes there might be less boy bikes becouse boys seem to trash there bikes more then girls. But now days I'm seeing more and more collectors going after the girls bikes too. To me a lean more to liking the way yhe boys bikes look but have seem many bad to the bome girl bikes that I wouldn't mind owning. Geoff (greenphatom) has a girls 1953 Schwinn Meteor Cruiser on craigslist thats very nice http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/3023097793.html
Then I'm looking at a 1957 JC HIGGINS Tank Bike http://portland.craigslist.org/mlt/bik/3012916416.html

Both look very nice!!

That is a nice bike, my 1959 Ladies Mercury bicycle that I originally bought to flip has the exact same rack but I decided I liked the bike too much and I think I would only sell it if I really need the money which might happen soon.



I like some of the girls bikes and I just can't seem to want to take parts off of them either.

Not all girls bikes I have seen have been in good condition either like a girls 24 inch Rollfast I have rims & parts look like it has been left oustide because they are rusty, messed up original paint under crappy spray paint I kind of wished I never got because I don't think I can make it good again but even if I did it just might not be worth it unless I actually had useful parts laying around which I don't.