Pop up a picture of women’s specific cycle kit or a bike on the internet that features pink, and you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll get comments that bemoan the fact that yet another item of women’s kit is pink, and others stating that they like the colour.
Is the issue the colour itself? The problem with pink is it’s long been used as shorthand for ‘this product is for women’. In the days of sophisticated marketing for sophisticated consumers, these days this just smacks of laziness.
Cycle in the Pink
When questioned, a lot of women will state that it’s not the colour itself that’s the issue, so much as the assumption that as they are women they should like it, that there’s little choice of kit that doesn’t feature it at all, or that they don’t mind certain shades but perhaps object to pastel tones or the additional floral flourishes that often accompany it. In fact, it many ways it’s not the colour but the lack of good design.
This is certainly something that’s changing, and it’s happening a lot from the ground up. Fed up with the lack of choice, and recognising that if they don’t like it the chances are a lot of other women don’t either, a number of women are setting up their own businesses. Outfoxed, Flare Clothing Co, and soon, Lärka which will launch in Autumn 2015.
Lärka founder Sara Sanderson, frustrated by the lack of bold block colours and patterns in women’s cycling kit, released a variety of colour swatches to determine her potential customers what colours they liked.
“I wanted to see what colours women actually wanted to wear , and the more colourful combinations have by far been the most popular.” States Sarah. “I must say though I chose a vibrant pink rather than a pastel pink in my survey which I think makes a difference. Most women didn’t mind pink, only a few didn’t want to see it at all, although there is a clear division between women who love it and women who hate it. I couldn’t not include it in my range as it would definitely be missed if I did.”
The big companies are also responding. Evans Cycles are working on shop redesigns, Specialized have issued guidelines for their retailers, Wiggle have an increasingly large women’s product range, and Giro work with designers to make beautiful designs that are appealing without sacrificing function. These are just a few examples.
Why the interest? A cynic might say it’s because the women’s cycling market is burgeoning, growing more rapidly than the mens, and pure market forces mean that the company that gives the market what it wants, and markets it well, will win out.
Make no mistake either, the women’s cycling market isn’t naive. Put a unisex and women’s specific bike side by side, and if the women’s has inferior componentry, it’s just not going to wash.
