Thursday, February 1, 2007
Boys vs. Girls Bikes
Having ridden a bike for the past 16 years of my life, I have always been bothered by the fact that boy bikes have a horizontal crossbar from the seat to the handlebars while girl bikes do not. What is the deal with this? On the one hand, it does distinguish between a boy bike and a girl bike, but why do you need this distinction. I have heard the reason girl bikes do not have the bar is because the bike, back when it was first created, was developed practically for girls. The absence of a crossbar prevented a girl's skirt from being propped up, thus keeping her undergarments concealed. This makes sense to me, but at the same time, the crossbar for boys can become a precarious risk indeed. For any guy who has, for lack of a better word, been "nutted" on the crossbar, you can certainly see how it can be a source of anguish. That being said, perhaps bikes for both sexes should be the same--and crossbar free. One more step toward egalitarian society right?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
here, here! =D
(besides, I don't think that the lowered crossbar does much to prevent skirts from being a liability for girls.)
I agree. As girls' skirts tend to be shorter then they were when the bike was originally made, the very nature of how you have to sit on a bike is what causes exposure, not a crossbar.
I have always wondered about that myself. I proudly ride a "girl's" bike.
Post a Comment