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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

A serious issue facing female cyclists, another example of male anatomy being the default!

34 replies

NigelYerABawbag · 26/03/2019 16:24

‘I had a huge swelling’: why my life as a female cyclist led to vulva surgery

Here - vulval swelling, pain, and damage caused by saddles.

It sounds horrific and a real issue for female cyclists.

OP posts:
ABC1234DEF · 26/03/2019 22:05

Have you done any long bike rides?

Frequently.

Along with decent shorts, liberal chamois cream, a saddle that suits me, and a good bike fit.

Cycling as a female Vs male also has its benefits, for example a lower average weight = easier on the inclines.

As for getting killed under left turning lorries, anyone with any common sense (and/or capable of reading the warnings on the back of said lorries) will know that sitting in a lorry's blind spot is unlikely to have a positive outcome.

PalatineUvula · 27/03/2019 01:07

"Cycling as a female Vs male also has its benefits, for example a lower average weight = easier on the inclines. "

Well no.

www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/jappl.2000.89.1.81

The average 18-29 yo woman was 65kg

And the average man was 80kg.

18.5kg of lower body muscle in the men.

12.5kg in the women.

Bike weighs 9kg, say, no difference between men and women there.

Male: 80kg + 9kg = 89kg. 89kg up a say 5% hill is 9.8067 sin arctan 5% 89 = 43.6N

Female 65kg + 9kg = 74kg. 9.8067 sin arctan 5% 74 = 36.2N

Divide by muscle mass:

43.6N / 18.5 = 2.36 m/s^2 male
36.2N / 12.5 = 2.89 m/s^2 female

So it's about 23% harder for a woman.

By age 40, both sexes have typically put on 10kg without gaining muscle mass. This is then 2.64 m/s2 male versus 3.31 m/s2 female.

So a fat middle-aged bloke (BMI 29) can still climb hills easier than a young woman of healthy weight (BMI 24).

He'd have to be in the obese range (BMI 34.8), and bordering on extremely obese (BMI 35+) for him to be doing as much work as a woman of healthy BMI (BMI 24).

deydododatdodontdeydo · 27/03/2019 06:45

If bikes were optimised for the default male anatomy, you'd think they'd have designed them so they didn't sit on their bollocks, trapping nerves and causing numbness, erectile dysfunction, etc.
Seems like it's an inherent flaw in bike design.

TemporaryPermanent · 27/03/2019 06:53

it was a fascinating article. But to me the takeaway was that professional or very top flight amateur sport is basically insanity with people pushing their bodies far beyond what is reasonable. I'm quite sporty btw and I encourage my son to enjoy his sports. he's just had the best part of a year out of training due to injury. The article essentially describes a culture at British Cycling where men and women are encouraged to lose their genitals for sporting success. That is insane. I wish we'd used lottery money to build cycling infrastructure rather than deciding to buy more Olympic medals.

Boiledeggandtoast · 27/03/2019 07:54

SirVixofVixHall Thanks for your reply. I'm sure you're right, although I was hoping to avoid HRT as I can manage my other symptoms it's just the wretched UTIs. (I don't want to derail the thread on the pros and cons of HRT, but thank you for your thoughts.)

Boiledeggandtoast · 27/03/2019 08:00

ABC1234DEF I agree about left turning lorries, but last week I had a van come from behind, cut across a bus lane and turn left in front of me knocking me off my bike.

andyoldlabour · 27/03/2019 08:25

Heat, friction, pressure - all things which makes a cyclist uncomfortable.
Modern materials have made life better, but also create new problems. Synthetic fabrics are comfortable but can result in heat build up, so shorts have to have an extremely good insert (made of chamois leather in the old days, which resembled sandpaper after a few washes). Always use chamois cream or vaseline which is a lot cheaper.
Always make sure the saddle is set level, not point up or point down.
Make sure the saddle height is set correctly - too high and you will rock from side to side and also stretch the knee ligaments.
Learn how to pedal correctly - "ankling"

Buy a good saddle - do not economise on this piece of equipment.

sellesanmarco.it/en/negozio/approach-en-2/era-lady-racing/

zanahoria · 27/03/2019 08:36

Leather always beats synthetic material and too many model saddles are made simply to reduce weight.

This is the way to go

www.bicyclecomfort.co.uk/wms/fm/userfiles/catalogus/110065-1.jpg

EmmaGrundyForPM · 27/03/2019 11:54

Radio 5 are discussing this right now.

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