Woosh/Funkylyn Collaboration......

[funkylyn]

Well, Hatti and I have just spent an extremely interesting evening putting the bike world to rights over a few Rose's......and I mean INTERESTING !!

We are collaborating over the design of a new special Ebike to be designed especially for the comfort of lady cyclists.
At the moment it is going under the pseudonym of the 'court barton'

We have lots of innovative ideas as to how this will progress, but welcome input from forum members ......and not just the ladies.....so if any of you have any different ideas about making women feel more comfortable whilst riding..... then please let us know

Meanwhile...watch this space and no doubt Hatti too will add her comments when she returns to Southend.

Women N-Power-ed !!

Lynda

 

[shemozzle999]

Extended handlebars with a hook - somewhere to hang your hand bag plus a space for a makeup mirror.

Pulls on flack jacket and retires to bomb shelter.

 

[jazper53]

It would seem side saddle would be out of the question due to possible throttle restrictions

 

[Kudoscycles]

A tandem so that the bloke behind does all the work-Lynn you surely did not expect to get sensible postings from such a sexist generated beginning?
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[funkylyn]

Good idea shemozzle ....make up mirror...why didnt we think of that and the extended handlebars for our bags could double as 'traffic spacers'

Side saddle could be interesting jazper.......but we could NEVER give up our power to throttle ....

Lynda

 

[funkylyn]

A tandem so that the bloke behind does all the work-Lynn you surely did not expect to get sensible postings from such a sexist generated beginning?
Dave
Kudoscycles

We will take all the postings we can get Dave .....all in the cause of research .......

and yes, there are times when its very good for the bloke to do all the work ....so going tandem could be a good one

Are you getting worried that we might have found a profitable niche you hadnt thought of ? ROFLMAO

Lynda

 

[johnc461165]

Lynn it was obvious when you posted this topic that the guys would take the mick out of it, sadly I have had a drink or two and my brain is not working as it should.
So all I can say, which is common in the male word of dominance is YES DEAR YOU ARE RIGHT.

 

[tillson]

We are collaborating over the design of a new special Ebike to be designed especially for the comfort of lady cyclists.

Just a thought. You have immediately cut your potential market size by 50%, maybe more because I would guess that most customers are male. I don't think that the lack of electric bike take up by female cyclists is anything to do with comfort. More to do with other non comfort related factors.

 

[funkylyn]

Just a thought. You have immediately cut your potential market size by 50%, maybe more because I would guess that most customers are male. I don't think that the lack of electric bike take up by female cyclists is anything to do with comfort. More to do with other non comfort related factors.

Ah, but thats where you could be wrong tillson....

We are targeting NEW customers....female ones.....so hopefully we will be increasing the market share not cutting it.
As a matter of interest though....what do you think the other non comfort related factors are ?

We obviously need to keep some of our more ground breaking ideas quiet for now but are interested to hear other input......just in case we have missed something.......hardly likely though, they say two heads are better than one and when they are both female heads.....well.....need I say more

Lynda

 

[funkylyn]

Lynn it was obvious when you posted this topic that the guys would take the mick out of it, sadly I have had a drink or two and my brain is not working as it should.
So all I can say, which is common in the male word of dominance is YES DEAR YOU ARE RIGHT

'Dominance' .....roflol

Oh John.........never mind, you just recover from your drink induced dream world....whilst us two women (brains well working) get on with our 'trail blazing'......Rose' or no Rose' .....thats the difference lol

(You should know by now that we dont actually need men to tell us we are right )

Lynda

 

[RoadieRoger]

A Tandem with seats facing each other so that you can gaze into each others eyes ? Oh and don`t fit a reverse gear .

 

[funkylyn]

A Tandem with seats facing each other so that you can gaze into each others eyes ? .

You are kind of missing the point....we are trying to encourage more lady cyclists.......not put them off for life .....

Lynda

 

[tillson]

Ah, but thats where you could be wrong tillson....

We are targeting NEW customers....female ones.....so hopefully we will be increasing the market share not cutting it.
As a matter of interest though....what do you think the other non comfort related factors are ?

We obviously need to keep some of our more ground breaking ideas quiet for now but are interested to hear other input......just in case we have missed something.......hardly likely though, they say two heads are better than one and when they are both female heads.....well.....need I say more

Lynda

I'm not sure what the other non-comfort related factors are. Maybe the safety of cycling, perception that ebikes are male orientated gadgets, perception that ebikes require a higher level of technical expertise that are traditionally possessed by men. (Note that I have used the word perceived).

Just look at the forum, many times more men here than women. I just think that making a specific, "lady bike" is unnecessary and isn't addressing the real reason for lack of take up. As I've said, you are cutting out 50% of the population and targeting the 50% which are statistically less likely to buy one. Rather than make a "lady bike" why not go for unisex? It can still be comfortable.

 

[jazper53]

).

Just look at the forum, many times more men here than women. I just think that making a specific, "lady bike" is unnecessary and isn't addressing the real reason for lack of take up. As I've said, you are cutting out 50% of the population and targeting the 50% which are statistically less likely to buy one. Rather than make a "lady bike" why not go for unisex? It can still be comfortable.

About 75% of the E-bikes I have passed on my travels have been used by Woman I know this is not a scientific Poll, but it does seem to me that E-Bikes is more popular amongst the fairer sex.

 

[tillson]

About 75% of the E-bikes I have passed on my travels have been used by Woman I know this is not a scientific Poll, but it does seem to me that E-Bikes is more popular amogst the fairer sex.

Fair enough, I'm quite happy to be proved wrong and I hope that the concept is successful.

 

[Cyclezee]

Nice one Lynda,

An excellent idea to have female input when it comes to design, expectations and how it might differ from what is already available.

 

[flecc]

About 75% of the E-bikes I have passed on my travels have been used by Woman I know this is not a scientific Poll, but it does seem to me that E-Bikes is more popular amongst the fairer sex.

I'm afraid that's not so in this forum, I surveyed our membership quite a while while ago with this posted result. The relative position hasn't changed dramatically since then, but I accept the female proportion will be higher among the non-enthusiasts who don't join forums like this:

We have 33 female members by name or who I know to be female, though there could be a few more under ambivalent names. That's just over 5% of the total membership, and 6% of the active membership. Altogether they've entered 402 posts, but many have a very low posting rate. At the top is Gaynor with 50 posts, closely followed by Maryinoxford, Fatmog and Fatgirl. Here's the complete list with numbers of posts:

Anna 0 // BeckyH 2 // Cocoabeans 21 // CurryCook 2 // Dawn 2 // Diana 1 //Fatgirl 40
Fatmog 48 // Gaynor 50 // Genna 0 // Helen 2 // Helenmew 3 // Jeanette 0
Jeanette Morgan 43 // Jennykins 15 // Jess 0 // JillWorth 1 // Joanieb 9 // Lesley 2
Lucy 0 // Mabsey 19 // Mandy 0 // Mary Jane 2 // Mary0755 0 // Maryam 0 //
Maryinoxford 48 // Marymcc 1 // Mastanlem 16 // Mazb 35 // Paulinet 2 // Sarah 5
Susie 2 // Tintaglia 31

Most popular name is Mary with 5 examples.

Most popular names amongst male members appear to be Peter (not all shown as such) with 8 examples and Steve with 7 examples, though occasionally Steve can be used by a female of course.

 

[jazper53]

I think we the male of the species like to analyse, and break it down into small components, hence the higher ratio of membersip. I except my observations are based more on impressions than fact, or i notice women more than i do men

 

[neptune]

I feel that the marketing of gender specific vehicles is probably doomed to failure. I seem to recall that a few years back, a large car company tried to market a car specifically aimed at women. The Design was a cross between the Renault Clio and the Ford Taurus, and it was named the Cleotaurus. It was only available in pink, and men could not drive it because most of them could not find it...

 

[Waspy]

Here's an idea.

The Renault Twisty electric car comes with no battery.

You rent the battery for £45 per month, so you never have to worry about buying a replacement.

I'm assuming an e-bike battery would be much cheaper.

er.....not sure what this has to do with women though.

So let's take this further:

Buy a Sirocco 2 with no battery £400

Rent a battery at £12.46 per month.

New battery supplied by Woosh every two years.

24 x £12.46 = £299, the cost of a new battery.