May 2, 20143 Comments on Designing bikes for women, 1958: The Glamour Bike
Says this marketing copy from 1958 for the Raleigh “Glamour Bicycle”: “Peggy Hayward models a new Raleigh bicycle specially designed for fashion-conscious women. Its attachments include a make-up mirror, lipstick holder and dress guard.”
September 13, 20132 Comments on The perfect women’s bike pant from Iladora
We’re finally beginning to see more non-sporty apparel options for women who still want features specific to cyclewear. Shortly after I posted about these women’s cycling jeans from Betabrand, I heard from Iladora about their made in San Francisco “Perfect Bike Pant.”
September 12, 20133 Comments on Women’s cycling jeans?
Everyday urban cycling jeans and similar pants that can be worn on and off the bike are available for men in dozens of styles from dozens of vendors large and small. The only apparel designed for women, though, tend to be overly casual or sporty apparel like skorts, shorts and cycling.knickers.
Does a market for women’s cycling jeans exist? Designer and bike commuter Victoria Brewer is testing that through this Betabrand project for women’s gray bike-to-work jeans.
August 16, 2013Leave a Comment
The British Cycling Weekly breaks down the sponsorship costs of a professional women’s cycling and shows us a top women’s pro team costs about £250,000- that’s about US$400,000. In the world of ProTour cycling, $400K pays the salary of a three or four domestiques, which translates into the bottom 15% of the team roster.
Matrix Fitness Racing Academy team manager Stef Wyman says that $400k is the total budget needed to set up and maintain a high-level professional team. This can be from up to two main partners – the names of which actually become the name of the team, which is unique in sport! According to Wyman, this pays for a roster of 12 riders; access to the best women’s race on the calendar such as the Giro d’Italia, Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallone; excellent media coverage for sponsors: team cars and clothing covered with their logos and colours; and perks for company employees: signed team jerseys, rides in the team car during races, maybe even a photo shoot with the team in your office.
The Cycling Weekly article goes into more detail about what lower levels of sponsorship can get you, but it looks like an amazing deal for anybody looking into sponsorship. The article talks about UK women’s pro cycling, but similar opportunities exist here in the USA as well.
H/T Sarah Connolly.
August 9, 20132 Comments on Highlights of #WomenBike chat
The League of American Bicyclists Women’s Bike Program hosted a #WomenBike chat this afternoon on Twitter.
This first chat session focused on the League’s Women On a Roll report, which showcased the growth and potential of female bicyclists in the United States. It also suggest five key focus areas to increase women’s ridership. These focus areas which the Women’s Program calls the “5 Cs” are Comfort, Convenience, Consumer Products, Confidence, and Community.
The Women’s Program advisory team tweeted several questions related to their Women On a Roll Report.
Q1: We outline 10 Myths about women & bicycling. Which do you think are the most pervasive?
June 4, 20131 Comment on Dallas pro cyclist commutes by bike
Team TIBCO announced the addition of Lauren Stephens of Dallas to their women’s pro cycling road squad.