by Traci Hukill
Oct. 15, 2013—When a rider pedaled up to the Girls Gone Wilder group ride the other day on a stylish powder blue mountain bike, it was impossible to ignore. First was the color. So pretty, so femme! Then there were the lines of the frame—graceful, swooping low to high. And then there was the name "Juliana" in beautiful script and a white temporary label that said "Joplin." It was like the bike version of a movie star had just rolled up. You had to look, but you didn't want to gawk.
Later, at Twin Gates, Maxine Schimmel explained why Juliana Bicycles really are strong enough for a man but made for a woman. "There are lots of components that are actually sized differently," she explained, pointing out details on the Joplin she was riding for the day. The geometry is fitted to female proportions and center of gravity, with different bar, stem and crank lengths and fittings. The grips are smaller for our dainty hands. And then there's the sea—
"That seat is AMAZING," broke in ride leader Susan Bender. "That seat makes it possible to ride two days in a row without crying."
Which brings us right to the lip of the chasm, if you will, between bicycling equipment for the sexes. This particular issue is not spoken of often. In the June 2010 issue of O Magazine, actress Glenn Close referred to it an essay about taboo words. "After being in [The Vagina Monologues]," she wrote, "I actually walked into a bike shop and asked for the 'vagina-friendly' bike seat. I thought the guy behind the counter was going to pop a gasket. But it was the best way to describe what I was looking for."
Leave it to the Connecticut-born, blueblooded Close to cut to the chase with a dose of Hepburnesque straight talk. But seriously! We're not asking for Happy Ride vibrating bicycle seats. We're not actually suggesting that antique tractor seats are the better option. We're just asking for a bike that doesn't hurt our lady parts. Juliana Bikes—designed by Olympic mountain biker Juli Furtado and built by Santa Cruz Bicycles—makes the effort with a grooved and padded saddle it terms "women-specific." Saddle construction is always mentioned on the bicycle specs pages.
There's plenty more to a Juliana bike, though. The flagship model, the Furtado, comes in two flavors of fanciness, component- and materials-wise; two colors (Roarange and Metallic Blue); and the coveted 27.5-inch wheels everyone seems to want. The Joplin comes in three shades of fancy, features Sky Blue or Storm Gray on 29-inch wheels and weighs in at a mere 30 pounds or so, less than some handbags I know. The Origin, which started the whole thing in 1999 with Furtado's first foray into bike design with the Juliana Santa Cruz line of bicycles, comes in Pearl White and Persimmon and includes an XS size option. And the Nevis is your basic aluminum hardtail made for petite types and starting at around $1500. A good overview of the entire line, which was released in May 2013, can be found on bikerumor.com.
Curious? Juliana, with Family Cycling Center, is hosting a Juliana Bicycles Demo at De Laveaga Park on Oct. 19, 2013. You bring a credit card, ID and bike pedals and they'll bring the bikes, plus food and a chance to meet Juli "Queen of the Dirt" Furtado herself.
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