Feature Article

No Girls Allowed: Making Your Bike Shop Better

By James Thompson

Although women riders and racers have been my clients, friends, co-workers, allies, and teammates, I won’t pretend to understand what it means to be a woman cyclist. I am a white dude raised in what is still largely a white dude’s world.  But I also strive learn new things about how we interact with one another, especially as cyclists. The same behaviors that allow us all to get along in the world . . . empathy, understanding, and humility . . . will also let bike shops better serve women cyclists.  

I hope this article will help you (the woman cyclist) help yourself to a good shop and cycling experience. I’ve gone out on a limb on some points. I hope you will repay that by continuing to be honest, outspoken, and forthright about women’s issues and needs at the bike shop. In the end we also need more women writing articles like this, so write away.

THE PROBLEM

Whether you look at commuting, recreational, or racing statistics, ours is a male dominated industry, sport, and practice. Some of this is historical and cultural, but the industry has a lot to do with it. There is an excellent argument and vast research out there showing that what we need to do to increase women’s cycling is the same thing we need to do to increase men’s cycling, as reported and researched by Alex Baca.

But from the industry standpoint there is an obvious and well-known gender gap. Even Baca concedes that what women need is an “excellent bike shop experience that circumvents the circle-jerk nature of road racing.”

For one, our industry insists that women (even competitive ones) are different from men in some uncomfortable ways. We repeatedly hear that women are less interested in the language of tech and performance and more interested in “feel”, “fashion”, and “comfort”.  The implication is that men don’t want those things.

I call bull patties on that. Male cyclists are obviously obsessed with fashion, and peacockery (having the brightest feathers). In road racing our major tour leaders’ jersies are bright yellow, bright green, pink, and polka dotted. And I can’t tell you how many (rewarding) hours I’ve spent helping men set up a saddle, shorts, and fit to alleviate that most intimate of discomforts.

Women and men have different bodies, and we may have been raised differently, but once on a bike we are more alike than not. We like to go fast. We like to gaze at butterflies and deer on occasion. We like to get from home to work safely with well-functioning gear that we know how to use, clean, and repair.

The other major problem in our industry is simply the unwillingness of many men (especially white dudes like me) to admit that they have biases or treat people differently. Few of us speak openly about our innate, culturally acquired, or forcibly adopted biases. And yet any woman can tell you when she is being treated “like a woman” in a bike shop.

I hear it every day. The most common comment is “I walked in the store and they looked right through me.” Second is trying to be sold what the salesperson has (dude fitted stuff) and not what the woman needs. Third is being subject to vulgar or inappropriate language. I am proud to say that most of these comments are about shops outside of Gainesville.

You don’t have to be a racist or sexist to behave in a racist or sexist manner. And there are degrees of scale beyond just hitting on a customer or openly using profanity. A good example of this subtle gender bias is when a woman aged 50 years goes into a shop and is immediately led to the “comfort” big-tired bikes. Yes, these are the bikes that men (and women) in our industry maliciously call “granny” bikes. But I find more often than not that “Grandma” wants to go fast on an endurance road bike, or maybe hit the local trails on a 29er.

On the other end of the age spectrum I once found myself walking an 11-year old girl towards the “girly” bikes only to find out she races BMX in High Springs (and regularly beats the boys).  My favorite . . . and I am also guilty, is when a woman buys a tool and pays for it, then I hand it to the guy. I constantly think about these things. I call myself a feminist. Yet I still make these mistakes.

We all do these things on occasion without notice. We were raised in a society that defines, discriminates, and yes, sometimes even champions racial, gender, sexual, and religious identity. Thankfully, most of us are not racist or sexist. But to deny that we look at the world through certain lenses and filters is naive, and it does not allow us to open cycling to more and more people, especially women.

When we follow our better angels we address the awkward moments and mis-steps, hopefully share a laugh, and move past it.

WHAT I BELIEVE WOMEN SHOULD LOOK FOR IN A LOCAL SHOP

A warm welcome and a smile.  If your mechanic or salesperson isn't happy to see you, you should wonder why. They should immediately put down what they are doing and approach you. This isn’t Wal-Mart. We are a full service industry. The classic old-man grumpy bike shop served no function except to scare people away from our sport, especially women.  A good IBR (Independent Bicyle Retailer) will have eager staff ready to greet you, discover your problem or need, diagnose your repair, or work with you on a test ride. And they won’t stop there. They want to know what you ride, where you ride, who you ride with, and what they can do to help you ride more, ride fast, and get your friends, co-workers, and family involved as well.

Question-askers.  The question-asker is the best diagnostician, salesperson, and bike fitter. And also the best cure for the man-woman divide that troubles a lot of social interaction. They find out everything there is to know about your needs, budget, ambitions, and experience.  Only then do they think about product or make assumptions about what you need as a woman.  A good sales person or mechanic will ask questions before they think they know what a woman cyclist needs.  

Community Support.  Is the shop just there to make money or do they truly love cycling? Is attracting women cyclists a way to make up for other things they are doing wrong or is it a genuine desire to share good product and service with women? There's nothing wrong with profit, and we do have to eat, but most cyclists expect that their shop will give something back to the community.  Flat repair clinics are almost exclusively woman-oriented (men are less likely to admit they can’t do it right, or at all). Sponsorship of women’s and family events signals that the store is not just about “dude-bro” bike racing. And, of course, it is nice to actually hear a shop say out loud in public that it wants women to ride and come to its store.

Non-traditional cyclists treated well.  A woman-oriented shop will also likely treat everyone well that is outside the majority demographic in our practice . . . youth, senior, and non-performance/recreational riders.  The independent bike industry in the U. S. was, until very recently, almost exclusively an adult, white, and male domain focused on the next great racing bike. Cycling and the cycling industry were not a global sport or business in the same way that, say, soccer is. Sales of comfort bikes, hybrids, and trikes were seen as means to an end. Times are changing, and a good measure of a store is not just how they treat you, the woman rider, but how we treat everyone. 

Girls with bikes are just woman cyclists waiting to happen. It is difficult for a parent (more often the fatherly parent) to accept that “little” Maria is 13 years old, a varsity athlete, and needs an adult bike with 26” or even 29” wheels. Parents often want to remember their daughters as little girls on pink bikes with ponytails, and staff are often too happy to oblige them. A good shop will challenge parents and help them understand why a young woman or girl may not be best off on a “girl’s” bike or a smaller wheeled bicycle. And they will treat your daughter and son with equal respect. High fives aren’t just for boys.

A shop will have professional bike fitter knowledgeable of women’s issues and anatomy.  Because of the variability of female “seat part” shapes and the tendency towards smaller heights outside traditional industry norms, women rely on bike fitting more than men. If your bike fitter is uncomfortable discussing women’s body issues, first try to help them out.  In the end, even the best shops may not be good at this and you may have to look elsewhere to other women cyclists. The important thing is to find a shop that knows its limitations in these areas and can put you in touch with other riders or shops that can help.

Saddle Return Policy.  Because of the aforementioned greater variability in women’s anatomies, you will often need to try out multiple saddles before you find a perfect fit.  A decent fit-oriented shop will let you demo or test-ride saddles for up to several weeks and return them for store credit or a small fee.  

THINGS TO AVOID

Head in the Sand on Women’s Issues.  A very dear friend from another shop out of town recently told me how much he hated all the “politically correct” attention to “complaining women.”  This “Oh just shut up and ride” attitude is dismissive. If anything, women have not been vocal enough about the industry and how it needs to adapt and change. This allows a lot of shops to feel confident that they treat everyone the same, even though they clearly do not. If your shop doesn’t want to address the issues of women’s cycling, then find another one.

Pigeon-Hole Assumption Makers.  My first boss at a shop back in the 1980s would grab the smallest beach cruiser as soon as he saw a woman enter the store. Having been taken into the rails on the velodrome by more than a few women racers, I’m lucky to know that we can’t make assumptions about what women want to do on a bike.  A lot of guys aren’t there yet.  Be patient, but know when you are being insulted.  I once heard a man tell an elite women’s LaCrosse player from our local university, “Do you really want that bike . . . it goes real fast.”  Two weeks later, she dropped him on our club ride (only her third ride).

The "Pro" Shop.  Most shops work on pro-level equipment, and some even have a "resident pro."  But you should never feel like you are being treated poorly because you are a regular commuter, average rider, or especially if you are trying to get into the sport and don't know much about bikes.  Being fast, or having raced at an elite level in no way correlates to one's skills as a mechanic, salesperson, or bike fitter. There are few “pro” level “experts” on women’s issues.  We are all still learning!

Outright Sexism or Vulgarity.  Forgiving the occasional idiot remarks, customers and staff should recognize long-term and repeated patterns of sexism and vulgarity.  The worst thing anyone can do is remain silent.  If you don’t want your eleven-year-old daughter to look at pin-up models in clothing ads or Maxim covers while she is lingering near the repair area, ask the shop to take them down.  You will feel a lot better, and the shop will have a chance at least to change, if it so desires to keep your business.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN

Tell us what we need to know. We aren’t from Mars. You’re not from Venus. We all live and love on bikes, if maybe in different ways now and then. Go write your own essay. Go tell your shop what it is doing wrong in person, one on one. Then go tell the world what it is doing right on the internet.