Why the hate for ladies' bikes?

[tailhole]

I think waterland needs to take a nice long bubble bath with his jewelry & cool off. Girls bikes are cool, boys bikes are too. Maybe someday girls bikes will make a collectible come back.
Plus, don't go picking fights with strangers then get pissy when they start slugging back.

 

[babyjesus]

Bikes

I have always ridden ladies bikes and often found them to be a better ride. Infact if you have to go up a hill on a mens bike it sucks - they are so horrible to ride - you are standing on the pedals the whole damn time. I use them on flat. Ladies bikes are much better geared - you can remain seated. I never even thought twice if it was a mens or ladies bike I was riding. My first 2 cool bikes were ladies bikes and I never even for one second thought I'd look silly on them or something. That is reserved for guys who are still stuck in the whole construct of what it is to be male - a purely cultural contruct that hearkens back to the days of the macho guy and the little giggling girlies. Those times are passed and if you don't feel right riding a ladies bike for purely gender reasons then you are a dinosaur by today's standard and you probably lived in the countryside all your life where things are often behind the times.

Mens bikes are worth more because dinosaurs still exist but also and probably more so because they are harder to get since there are less of them.

I grew up in London and used a bike my whole life to get around and nobody ever thought twice if they were riding a mens or ladies bike. In general people prefer ladies bikes if they are old because in Europe the ladies bikes are so much cooler than the typical diamond frame mens bikes. In the US the bikes are just cooler full stop. Including the mens bikes. But in the end I'd say they are about equal. My most recent pair of bikes - I like pairs - not singles - shows exactly that the ladies is totally as cool as the mens, but they are both cool bikes.

The fact the girls bikes are cheaper and in better shape and easier to find is a total plus for me because I like them just as much as all of them.

Everywhere else in the world they are worth the same. It's just the US and not even Canada where it's like this. There are way more enthusiasts than collectors anyway - surely enthusiasts drive the prices. It's only seasoned collectors who have this view on things, including myself, but if it wasn't for us who know exactly why boys bikes in the US are worth more, then it would simply be a matter of taste and I would guest that the simple enthusiasts don't have the same prejudices unless of course they are dinosaurs.

 

[GTs58]

I think waterland needs to take a nice long bubble bath with his jewelry & cool off. Girls bikes are cool, boys bikes are too. Maybe someday girls bikes will make a collectible come back.
Plus, don't go picking fights with strangers then get pissy when they start slugging back.[/QUOTE]

You lost me on that one. Maybe I should go back and read between the lines?

 

[cyclingday]

This whole thread reminds me of a scene from the film, It's a Mad Mad Mad World. Where Johnatan Winters looks at the bicycle he's left with. and says,
"I can't ride that! It's a girls bike."

 

[Waterland]

I have always ridden ladies bikes and often found them to be a better ride. Infact if you have to go up a hill on a mens bike it sucks - they are so horrible to ride - you are standing on the pedals the whole damn time. I use them on flat. Ladies bikes are much better geared - you can remain seated. I never even thought twice if it was a mens or ladies bike I was riding. My first 2 cool bikes were ladies bikes and I never even for one second thought I'd look silly on them or something. That is reserved for guys who are still stuck in the whole construct of what it is to be male - a purely cultural contruct that hearkens back to the days of the macho guy and the little giggling girlies. Those times are passed and if you don't feel right riding a ladies bike for purely gender reasons then you are a dinosaur by today's standard and you probably lived in the countryside all your life where things are often behind the times.

Mens bikes are worth more because dinosaurs still exist but also and probably more so because they are harder to get since there are less of them.

I grew up in London and used a bike my whole life to get around and nobody ever thought twice if they were riding a mens or ladies bike. In general people prefer ladies bikes if they are old because in Europe the ladies bikes are so much cooler than the typical diamond frame mens bikes. In the US the bikes are just cooler full stop. Including the mens bikes. But in the end I'd say they are about equal. My most recent pair of bikes - I like pairs - not singles - shows exactly that the ladies is totally as cool as the mens, but they are both cool bikes.

The fact the girls bikes are cheaper and in better shape and easier to find is a total plus for me because I like them just as much as all of them.

Everywhere else in the world they are worth the same. It's just the US and not even Canada where it's like this. There are way more enthusiasts than collectors anyway - surely enthusiasts drive the prices. It's only seasoned collectors who have this view on things, including myself, but if it wasn't for us who know exactly why boys bikes in the US are worth more, then it would simply be a matter of taste and I would guest that the simple enthusiasts don't have the same prejudices unless of course they are dinosaurs.

Thank you for that babyjesus! The points you made about gender constructs are exactly the points I was trying to make, so thank you for reinforcing that. Some of the comments I've read in this thread truly disgust me and it saddens me to think that we still live in a society where people think it is acceptable to make those kind of comments.

 

[Obi-Wan Schwinnobi]

Im perfectly ok riding my Barbie power wheel....but honestly, I think if you start a thread like this you knew the can of worms being opened up. Dont get all liberal when people don't think along the same lines as you... oh by the by... Just got an awesome 41 girls that blew my mind ... No bolts touched since leaving the factory..

 

[MR D]

I love ladies bikes!!

And...I love ladies & girls. To surprise them with a nearly complete restored older style bike has won me a few favors in my past!

I agree that it's a shame that many guys will not see the real value in ownership of these nicer ladies bikes, and keep their parts where they were intended. I am right now working on restoring a girls May 1951 20" Schwinn Hornet that I picked up at Ann Arbor bike swap. When I was was tearing it down to start the process I saw how great shape the horn inside the tank was. I thought about this for a while, but I ended up doing the right thing in this case...I sold the nearly perfect 2 "D" cell horn for half of what I paid for the complete bike. I know I can replace that horn later on. It was an unintended investment...so to speak.

If you find a good example of a girls bike from any era, get to work and fix em up. They Do have some value, even if it's simple ownership.

Mr. D

 

[Coaster Brake]

This is a good thread guys, keep it up.
I'm not done with my popcorn yet.

 

[Larmo63]

"Gender constructs?"......So Waterland, if we are thinking along those lines, why is it that you don't

wear a dress to the office? You asked a question, had it answered, called names, then come back

with some lib nonsense trying to change minds. Like I said before, I prefer to ride a gender specific

bicycle in a free country where I can think and act freely. I'm a man, so I ride a man's bike. If you

want to ride a woman's bike, go ahead, I couldn't give a rip. I still think it doesn't look right and I will

think that until the day I die. I guess you're just more enlightened than us Neanderthals.

 

[spoker]

420

The word hate and bicycles dont work for me