# Why do men's bikes have a bar and women's don't?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-bikes-have-a-bar-and-womens-dont/182422>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 17, 2003, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-bikes-have-a-bar-and-womens-dont/182422 "2003-06-17T11:29:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![cowgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@cowgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cowgirl)\
**Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-bikes-have-a-bar-and-womens-dont/182422/21 "2003-06-17T18:51:53Z")

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I have always been of the “Why the hell do I need a so-called Women’s bike?” persuasion. But since I’ve been commuting by bike I’m getting really fed up with changing in and out of bike shorts and skirt everywhere I go.

My next bike will be a women’s bike.

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**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\
**Post date:** [June 18, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-mens-bikes-have-a-bar-and-womens-dont/182422/22 "2003-06-18T01:44:49Z")

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What sort of skirts do you wear? I find skirts (loose, ankle length or short and slightly stretchy) among the better things to wear on a guys bike. The bar keeps the material out of the way of the gears (unlike long trousers, which get crunched on a depressingly regular basis) and unless there’s a very strong wind I find the skirt pretty much stays where it is without flying around much.

On a girls bike, I’m sure my skirts would get tangled in the gears all the time. I’m sticking with my blokes’ model!

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