Are motorcycle gear manufacturers sexist?

[Rogue Hawk]

Women's gear is largely inadequate. Yazz brought this up in the Brazilian thread, and I agree. Women's jackets and gloves are paper thin and lack the same armor men's gear has. Their riding jeans are hip huggers and cut skinny so no armor fits under them. And when they make 'women's versions' of men's jackets, they charge the same for them but do cost cutting. AStar and Dianese are big culprits.

I was chatting with a woman in Cycle Gear once and she said, "Why do companies all think women want pink gear and embroidered flowers?". She is a sport bike rider and has a hard time finding race grade equipment. So are manufacturers sexist or are they simply responding to what sells?

 

[Bob Denman]

It sure would help if the female riders would refuse to buy that junk... nojoke
DEMAND quality gear, and vote with your wallet (Or pocketbook...)

 

[Spyder 42]

Aerostitch and Motoport are two companies that provide quality gear with armor. Expensive? Yes, but I like my skin.

 

[SPECTACUALR SPIDERMAN]

i think one of the problems is women want to show off the curves in their body so manufacturers build for that.

 

[JayBros]

Look at FirstGear. They appear to have very good women's gear.

 

[trikermutha]

Not sure why everything has to be related to sex,creed or color these days. Most cheap stuff is junk. I don't really think its related to a particular gender. :gaah:

You want quality you will pay more. Like USA made items you pay more but get better quality and the money is helping our economy.

I find the BRP wear items just as equal to all genders.

Just my three cents worth :yikes:

 

[BajaRon]

Firstgear does a fair job of providing female riding gear. But there are a few things that make it tough. I hope I don't get in trouble for the truth....

Women are a small portion of the market. Large volume makes things less expensive, more profitable. Low volume makes things more expensive and much less profitable. Frankly, there just isn't that much money in it. It's not sexist. It's just business.

Women's bodies are more difficult and more expensive to fit. Making straight clothing is less expensive than making curved clothing. Men's straight clothing tends to be a more universal fit. Curved clothing, not so much. Especially when you factor in all the different sizes and shape variables on the female side.

Even though wholesalers don't buy that much volume in women's gear. There is always a pretty large volume of gear left over at the end of the year. So you get discounted, discontinued gear for women selling at low prices to liquidate it. This not only tends to hurt new product sales. it really hurts the bottom line, which is not an incentive to produce more options for this line of gear.

And may I say it as delicately as I possibly can .... Women are, on average, more particular about fit than are men. It tends to drive returns, etc., which is another negative incentive for manufactures and retailers alike.

However, more and more women are riding. And as their voices accumulate, the industry is beginning to change. Rather than producing what a man thinks a woman should wear. They are actually asking women what they want.

Things are getting better for the ladies. And I am all for that!

Good ladies gear is out there. Not as readily available and easy to find as men's gear. But if you look, you can find it.

 

[ARtraveler]

Yazz's complaint was about "leather" gear for ladies.

We have a place in Anchorage that has the "good" stuff. Alaska Leather.

I sent her a PM and she replied back that she found some "good" stuff there.

In spring--they have racks and racks of it for the new season. Linda has two leather jackets from them--and loves them. :yes:

 

[asp125]

Check out Olympia, they have quality womens gear. The big complaint I hear is why manufacturers think all women riders are a size 2. Then on the flip side I also hear that "riding pants with hip armor makes me look fat!". BajaRon nailed it, I think. Smaller womens market plus more fit/appearance conscious makes it harder to carry lots of different cuts and sizes.

 

[pegasus1300]

+1 on the Olympia and 1st gear choices. I have bought both for Cynthia and both had armor and both looked good on her and she liked them.

 

[Docster]

It sure would help if the female riders would refuse to buy that junk... nojoke
DEMAND quality gear, and vote with your wallet (Or pocketbook...)

:agree: Manufacturer's wouldn't be making gear that doesn't sell. Like gunmakers and pink guns. They'll only be made as long as their selling.

 

[RinconRyder]

Women's gear is largely inadequate. Yazz brought this up in the Brazilian thread, and I agree. Women's jackets and gloves are paper thin and lack the same armor men's gear has. Their riding jeans are hip huggers and cut skinny so no armor fits under them. And when they make 'women's versions' of men's jackets, they charge the same for them but do cost cutting. AStar and Dianese are big culprits.

I was chatting with a woman in Cycle Gear once and she said, "Why do companies all think women want pink gear and embroidered flowers?". She is a sport bike rider and has a hard time finding race grade equipment. So are manufacturers sexist or are they simply responding to what sells?

I rode with a young lady for years who was ATGATT and she apparently had no problem buying full protection gear (which wasn't pink). She was also very small and even so, sizing didn't appear to be a problem either.

 

[Buckeye Bleau]

Like Trikermotha said above, seriously we are going to label them as sexist?

For goodness sakes, manufacturers build or design based on what sells for a demographic that they want to attract for thier product. They make what they believe the consumer will purchase. I accompanied three ladies down to a certain Spyder event recently, they asked me to show them around at the vendors, one of them bought an Ultimat Seat, all tricked out and multicolored, it had bling, the plain black seat would serve the same function for less. At SpyderPops, with all of his magical products, they bought key chains, at TricLED with thier amazing lights for safety and visibility they bought key chains. But eventually we got to a vendor with Spyder bling, jeweler and hats with sparkles on them, they went nuts. Were those vendors sexists for carrying such non-performance crap just to lure women in, heavens no.

Ok, now let us say that they are profiling, too while we are at it. Geez, this is getting so stale.

Joe

 

[ruralgirl]

I don't know about women's biker leathers, but the degradation of serious outdoor gear for serious outdoor women has been driving me nuts for years! I've spent my life working and playing outdoors in northern states. I don't give a rats rectum about how fashionable my parka or flannel-lined jeans or waterproof winter gloves are. I need the same indestructible materials that men have, and the same practical features, like snorkel hoods, two-way zippers, and true cargo pockets. All my female friends feel the same way, and yet, manufacturer after manufacturer has cheapened and changed the lines that we used to rely on.

E.g., Land's End insulated squall parka was the best on the planet for many years, and at the lowest price around. It had the necessary proportions to fit a woman - namely, shorter sleeves and wider hips - but it wasn't shaped for curves. It was shaped for comfort and optional layering underneath. But then it went for sexy. Fur edging (snorkel) on hood gone, cargo pockets gone, room to layer gone. Now the stupid, shape-hugging piece of crap is only good for fashion runways.

If the junk that manufacturers are offering women these days is driven by sales, then apparently, the ratio of women who love the outdoors compared to those who only own heels and live in fear of breaking their nails is rapidly declining.

Whew, that rant felt good!

 

[SpyderAnn01]

Aerostitch and Motoport are two companies that provide quality gear with armor. Expensive? Yes, but I like my skin.

I love Aerostitch but they do not sell woman's sizes. They modify men's sizes, which isn't great. So you have to take your measurements and contact them and they tell you how to order.

Klim actually has woman's sizes and they are even more expensive than Aerostitch. Both are top quality gear and, in my opinion, worth the price

 

[PistonBlown]

My daughters jacket is an Alpinestar jacket while my wife's is a Dririder. Both are well made and armored. From memory Rev-it, Dririder and Dainese all had a good range of different style women's jackets in textile or leather.

Not sure if these makes are available in the US.

 

[Pirate looks at --]

Rev'it makes some awesome women's riding gear! My wife loves her stuff. Check them out at Revzilla.com.

 

[ARtraveler]

Leather:
Safety factor? Equal to or better than the textile stuff. Just another IMO.

 

[PrairieSpyder]

Check out Olympia, they have quality womens gear. The big complaint I hear is why manufacturers think all women riders are a size 2. Then on the flip side I also hear that "riding pants with hip armor makes me look fat!". BajaRon nailed it, I think. Smaller womens market plus more fit/appearance conscious makes it harder to carry lots of different cuts and sizes.

+1 on the Olympia and 1st gear choices. I have bought both for Cynthia and both had armor and both looked good on her and she liked them.

I love my Olympia Expedition gear, especially the jacket. It's replaced all my other jackets for various climates, airflow options, etc.

Firstgear does a fair job of providing female riding gear. But there are a few things that make it tough. I hope I don't get in trouble for the truth....

Women are a small portion of the market. Large volume makes things less expensive, more profitable. Low volume makes things more expensive and much less profitable. Frankly, there just isn't that much money in it. It's not sexist. It's just business.

So why not sell something that works better? They can have low sales volume of gear we don't want or a low volume of gear we like.

Women's bodies are more difficult and more expensive to fit. Making straight clothing is less expensive than making curved clothing. Men's straight clothing tends to be a more universal fit. Curved clothing, not so much. Especially when you factor in all the different sizes and shape variables on the female side.

Gee, I wonder how all those women's wear companies do it? :dontknow:

Even though wholesalers don't buy that much volume in women's gear. There is always a pretty large volume of gear left over at the end of the year. So you get discounted, discontinued gear for women selling at low prices to liquidate it. This not only tends to hurt new product sales. it really hurts the bottom line, which is not an incentive to produce more options for this line of gear.

If they produced what we really wanted, they might not have so much left over!

And may I say it as delicately as I possibly can .... Women are, on average, more particular about fit than are men. It tends to drive returns, etc., which is another negative incentive for manufactures and retailers alike.

Someone has to hold to a standard! :roflblack:

However, more and more women are riding. And as their voices accumulate, the industry is beginning to change. Rather than producing what a man thinks a woman should wear. They are actually asking women what they want.

I'm all for that! Maybe they should have 2 lines:

• motorcycle-style gear, and
• gear for riding motorcycles

Things are getting better for the ladies. And I am all for that!

Good ladies gear is out there. Not as readily available and easy to find as men's gear. But if you look, you can find it.

 

[2Paw]

Fox Creek has some good stuff.

https://www.foxcreekleather.com/