disclaimer: i do not own a bike shop, nor do i work in one.
i am, however, supported by a local bike shop. i chat with the owner about his business every once in a while. just recently, they've gone through an expansion phase and have moved to a location with a lot more floor space.
i'm also good friends with some women who are into the tri scene. one thing i hear about often is that our local bike shops do not tailor to their needs at all. these are women who are willing to drop $200 on a pair of super sweet cycling shorts. but they can't, because bike shops only carry $70-$90 items.
complicating this fact is that they all have different likes or dislikes when it comes to saddles, bike shorts, tri/cycling jerseys, etc. etc. while we men can *at least* tolerate riding in any high end set of cycling shorts (descente, sugoi, assos, craft, pearl izumi - WHATEVER), some of the women i speak with have horror stories of buying high end women's shorts or saddles from well-established companies that give them serious chafing in the crotch, on their breasts, or even on their back (yes, on their back!). it's not that these companies make lousy products, it's just that these women are not built for these particular products.
now, the owner of this bike shop has mused recently that he's thinking of carrying some women's stuff. apart from a tiny, thin selection of women's clothing, he hasn't ever made a move. so here i am - i thought i'd see if i could find out some information that would help him.
so i want to know what women would want to see in a bike shop. it seems somewhat clear to me that they have service needs (yes, needs) that men don't when it comes to the process of purchasing equipment.
next, and kind of pursuant to that, two things jump out at me:
-women need a wide selection of saddles, tri/cycling shorts, tri/cycling jerseys, etc. i'm thinking something like 15 brands.
-while this is not possible with clothing due to health reasons, women need to be allowed to try out a saddle for a week to see if it works for them. you could do this with men, too, actually (same with aerobars, i'd think, too - though elbow pads might need to be replaced!).
the problem with all this is that it would be extremely expensive for a bike shop to keep a fair bit of inventory on hand. luckily, my lbs has suppliers who will ship stuff in 24-48 hours, depending on the time of day that he places an order at. they accept small orders, too - i.e. 1 single piece of equipment like some aerobars or a saddle or whatever.
so, i guess a question related to this -
if you had the choice to try out equipment and then purchase it, but have to wait, say, 2 days (plus a return trip to the shop), would you do it?
anything else you can think of, please bring it up. if you want to, feel free to list some of the manufacturers that you use. even just having a bunch of women list manufacturers they like might show some trends that are not evident (i know, there are threads about "favourite saddle" or "favourite cycling short" - i'm not asking for reasons why, just maybe a manufacturer plus what product(s) of theirs that you like). hopefully some useful stuff comes out of this thread. perhaps bike shop owners at large (and not just me!) will take a gander at some of the useful stuff and can improve their offerings for you.
i am, however, supported by a local bike shop. i chat with the owner about his business every once in a while. just recently, they've gone through an expansion phase and have moved to a location with a lot more floor space.
i'm also good friends with some women who are into the tri scene. one thing i hear about often is that our local bike shops do not tailor to their needs at all. these are women who are willing to drop $200 on a pair of super sweet cycling shorts. but they can't, because bike shops only carry $70-$90 items.
complicating this fact is that they all have different likes or dislikes when it comes to saddles, bike shorts, tri/cycling jerseys, etc. etc. while we men can *at least* tolerate riding in any high end set of cycling shorts (descente, sugoi, assos, craft, pearl izumi - WHATEVER), some of the women i speak with have horror stories of buying high end women's shorts or saddles from well-established companies that give them serious chafing in the crotch, on their breasts, or even on their back (yes, on their back!). it's not that these companies make lousy products, it's just that these women are not built for these particular products.
now, the owner of this bike shop has mused recently that he's thinking of carrying some women's stuff. apart from a tiny, thin selection of women's clothing, he hasn't ever made a move. so here i am - i thought i'd see if i could find out some information that would help him.
so i want to know what women would want to see in a bike shop. it seems somewhat clear to me that they have service needs (yes, needs) that men don't when it comes to the process of purchasing equipment.
next, and kind of pursuant to that, two things jump out at me:
-women need a wide selection of saddles, tri/cycling shorts, tri/cycling jerseys, etc. i'm thinking something like 15 brands.
-while this is not possible with clothing due to health reasons, women need to be allowed to try out a saddle for a week to see if it works for them. you could do this with men, too, actually (same with aerobars, i'd think, too - though elbow pads might need to be replaced!).
the problem with all this is that it would be extremely expensive for a bike shop to keep a fair bit of inventory on hand. luckily, my lbs has suppliers who will ship stuff in 24-48 hours, depending on the time of day that he places an order at. they accept small orders, too - i.e. 1 single piece of equipment like some aerobars or a saddle or whatever.
so, i guess a question related to this -
if you had the choice to try out equipment and then purchase it, but have to wait, say, 2 days (plus a return trip to the shop), would you do it?
anything else you can think of, please bring it up. if you want to, feel free to list some of the manufacturers that you use. even just having a bunch of women list manufacturers they like might show some trends that are not evident (i know, there are threads about "favourite saddle" or "favourite cycling short" - i'm not asking for reasons why, just maybe a manufacturer plus what product(s) of theirs that you like). hopefully some useful stuff comes out of this thread. perhaps bike shop owners at large (and not just me!) will take a gander at some of the useful stuff and can improve their offerings for you.