Why are some bikes specifically made for woman and other made for men?

Question

what the difference? and why the difference?

Answer 1

Length of frame, distance between bars-to-seat, distance between pedals to seat

Body ratios are totally different between men and women, and this is reflected on bicycles

Answer 2

The difference is that a "man's" bike has the horizontal bar at the top to break your balls if you fall off the seat. The reason a woman's bike doesn't have that bar goes back to the days when women wore long skirts. I don't know what kind of bikes they ride in Scotland.

Answer 3

The first guy has it mostly right. Funny that he mentioned the pelvis first.... Women typically have longer legs and shorter torsos. So women's specific bikes have proportionately shorter top tubes. Wider seats, narrower bars, and shorter reach levers.

What the other poster was referring to is a "ladies" frame (different from a women's specific design).

Not all women need a woman's specific frame.

Answer 4

men and women are built different.  a woman's pelvis tends to be wider, requiring a wider saddle.  they tend to have shorter torsos compared to legs, smaller hands, and those types of things.  in racing bikes, the main difference is the proportions.  womens bikes usually come in smaller sizes, and generally have shorter top tube length.  they can use smaller brake levers designed for smaller hands, wider saddles and shorter crank arms, narrower handle bars and those types of things.