Oh dear. Oh deary, dear. Bike brand Superior, based in the Czech Republic, is facing down a flood of criticism after writing some sadly sexist remarks about its new women’s mountain bike.
Superior Bikes wrote about the new 2015 collection: “Female cyclists do not generally need to push their limits, race against time and increase their adrenaline when riding rough downhill trails.
“They just want to enjoy the time spent in nature on the bike, and their expectations from the bike are completely different than men’s.
“They look mainly for safe, easy and, of course, stylish bikes that have good and natural handling.”
Unsurprisingly, and entirely justifiably, these comments haven’t been well received by female – and male – cyclists.
Here are a few Facebook comments well said:
There might be some possible mitigation from Superior in that some women do like to ride at a more leisurely pace. Saying that, so do some men.
And there are bikes that might be better suited to leisure riding, so it’s fair to point this out in any blurb about a new bike.
It could also be argued that something has been lost in translation, although I can’t imagine that explains much.
Sadly, the sentiment is that women cyclists are different from men and that they are simply not up for challenging, speedy and exciting riding. What a load of utter crap!
This is exactly the kind of thing I have been bucking against for decades.
… But there’s still hope for women cyclists
Thankfully many bike brands have woken up to the equally high expectations of women cyclists. In recent years, the range of good quality and higher-spec bikes for women has vastly improved.
There are also many great female-specific cycling products, including bike shorts, jerseys, arm warmers, seats etc.
Most bike shops now have a good range of female-fit cycling clothing, too, instead of just half a rack at the back of the sales area. It’s not universal but it’s changing. And thank goodness.
These days women and men expect to be treated the same and I do feel that in many ways this is now happening in the cycling world.
There are still fewer women than men on bikes in the UK but this is changing and instead of the rise of the MAMIL I now think the big story is the ride of the female cyclist.
We can be angered by what Superior Bikes has said but it’s just one brand and hopefully they will hear the backlash from their unbelievable sexism.