Why are there so many unathletic bikes for women compared to the few really good, thoroughbred sports bikes?" asks Annina Jenal at the end of a short week of testing. "Women aren't generally all sissies," she adds. The 26-year-old from Innsbruck has just extensively tested 17 racing bikes built especially for women and is quite disillusioned. Admittedly, the 1.66 metre tall Transalp winner from 2015 and future elite rider for RC Tirol has high expectations of a racing bike: it should be light and competition-orientated, she also wants to sit on a relatively small frame in an athletically stretched and streamlined position, and the bike should be equipped with high-quality components, which can also cost a little more. In the end, a model that is essentially a small, sporty standard model with a different saddle that sits high above the narrow handlebars is best for her - which literally makes the bike stand out in our test field.
Our second test rider, Manuela Kletzander, is a little more moderate. She is 51 years old, 1.68 metres tall and rides 6,000 kilometres a year, not even half as much as Annina; her speciality is cycling marathons in the Alps and extended tours. You might assume that she tends to feel at home at the comfortable end of our test field, i.e. on bikes where you sit more upright. In fact, Annina's favourite is "a tad too sporty" for her. In the end, however, her choice also falls on bikes whose cut is categorised by the manufacturers as "race-like".
In our test selection, we have made sure to represent a cross-section of the market - both affordable and expensive bikes of all kinds. However, there is not much choice for women, especially in the sporty segment. There are no racing geometries of the kind usually found on classic road bikes, whereas there are plenty of distinctive comfort models with high handlebars and an upright riding position. The manufacturers obviously assume that women want to sit more upright than men in order to avoid seating problems. Even the competition-orientated models in our test have shorter top tubes and longer head tubes than the corresponding men's bikes of the same brand.
But not all seat problems are the same. When women complain about too much pressure or friction in the pubic area, it is predominantly due to an unsuitable saddle - our two testers also confirm this. The seating position dictated by the geometry of the bike can exacerbate such problems - but it is usually more responsible for pain in the neck or back. Annina Jenal's experience: "It makes a difference whether I have to stretch a lot to even reach the handlebars or whether I simply bend down low. If the handlebars are far away, your shoulders and neck quickly tense up, and if you slide forwards on the saddle, you have sitting problems," she says.
So are manufacturers perhaps overshooting the mark when they offer women almost only bikes on which they have to sit upright? have to?
You can find the entire test report with these women's road bikes as a PDF download below:
Women's road bikes up to 1,299 euros:
- Canyon Endurace AL 6.0 WMN (999 euros)
- Focus Cayo AL Disc Donna Tiagra (1,299 euros)
Women's road bikes from 1,299 to 2,399 euros:
- Liv Avail Disc LTD (1,299 euros)
- Rose Pro SL-300 Lady (1,399 euros)
- Cube Axial WLS GTC Pro (1,499 euros)
- Focus Cayo Disc Donna 105 (2,299 euros)
- Lapierre Sensium W CP 600 (2,299 euros)
- Cannondale SuperSix Evo Women's Ultegra 4 (2,399 euros)
Women's racing bikes from 2,499 to 4,600 euros:
- Fuji Supreme 2.1 (2,499 euros)
- Cube Axial WLS C:62 SL Disc (2,599 euros)
- Specialized Ruby Elite Disc (2,699 euros)
- Scott Contessa Solace 15 (2,299 euros)
- Ridley Liz Carbon 10 (3,699 euros)
- Liv Envie Advanced Pro (4,600 euros)
Women's road bikes from 4,999 euros:
- Trek Silque SSL (4,999 euros)
- Specialised Amira SL 4 Pro Race (5,599 euros)
- Canyon Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 WMN (5,799 euros)
Downloads:
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