Women on Bikes

[zanna_leigh]

On Monday night, WABA held their first Women’s Bicycle Forum. They brought 8 panelists in to address the ever growing discussion on the gender gap in cycling.

I attended the round table discussion to hear what these women had to say from their perspective – they came from bike shops, advocacy groups, bike[share] marketing and a general interest/experience in biking. If you missed out there have already been several write ups about the event (oh, the beauty of social media): TBD On Foot, CommuterPage (moi), goDCgo, and WJLA – News Channel 8. (and yes, at 39 seconds into the WJLA video, that giant face is mine).

But as all of these sources will most likely remind you – we need to continue this conversation. So, I am interested to hear from everyone in the forum about your opinions on why the gender gap exists, and how we can solve it. More butts on bikes is great, but if those butts happen to be female….even better!

All ideas and solutions welcome!

Thanks everyone 😮

Topic

[americancyclo]

My first thought of, “Has anyone called or visited the local bike shops to survey what is on offer?”

lead to my second thought, “Is there consensus on how to define the type of bike we would be looking for?”

If we are generalizing about a bike that would be suitable, if not appeal to women who do not currently bike for transportation needs, what would that bike look like, and how would it perform? Have these questions been addressed many times over in the board rooms of the bike manufacturers? Are women satisfied with the WSD offerings from Giant, Trek, Specialized, etc?

Do any shops have women only sales events or shopping/info nights?

[Author]

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