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It's gratifying to see the efforts that major bike manufacturers have made to attend to the huge women's market that exists for quality performance bikes. This is especially noticeable - and valuable - as far as hybrid bikes are concerned.
You'll tend to find that the manufacturers use the same components on their mens and womens models - things like gears, wheels, brakes, suspension and so on, while tailoring the more relevant aspects to the gender of the rider.
This seems to be the rational choice, as this would enable the manufacturers to simplify their processes and profit from economies of scale in their purchasing. It also helps us to make sense of their otherwise quite complicated ranges. Model names, numbers and specifications are complicated enough to understand at times…
As a result, there are specific areas of difference between mens and womens models:-
- Frame Geometry. Perhaps the most noticeable difference. Women may no longer be sporting the long dresses that made a step-through frame indispensable at one time, but it's still a noticeable element. Perhaps not so pronounced, but certainly a sloping top tube is a common feature.
- A more padded saddle with more width is generally fitted. There’s no getting round the fact that it’s the region where we have major differences… For bikes that are principally made for leisure rather than sport use, comfort is fundamental.
- The handlebar is another area of difference - given a bit more shape and often a bit wider as well.
There is often a colour difference as well - though solely for aesthetic reasons I'm sure. It's definitely not a case of blue for boys, pink for girls....
When finding your way round the different ranges from different producers, you’ll find that they will adopt different approaches to their marketing.
Specialized, for instance, have elected to introduce complete women-specific ranges with their own names. The models within these ranges will have corresponding variants within the mens collections. Thus the Ariel has its corresponding range, the Crosstrail - bikes that those who enjoy getting off the beaten track will most value. Likewise, the Vita range of more road-going bikes is analogous to their best-selling Sirrus models.
Scott, on the other hand, have approached the question another way. Their Sportster bikes, recognized by simple model numbers, each comes in mens and womens versions, under the identical number.
Some womens bikes have no mens counterpart - such as the Pashley Princess Sovereign and the Dawes Duchess for example. Though these are perhaps better described as modern retros and not hybrids.
So there’s no excuse - there’s a bike available for everybody. Just get out there.