Elderly Men Should Ride Women's Bikes

A Swedish study tells us what common sense should have already: the elderly, both men and women, should ride women's-style bicycles. The upper crossbar that adds stability to high-speed bikes contributes to accidents when mounting or dismounting.

Four out of ten of the people seriously injured or killed in single-vehicle accidents involving a bike is aged over 65-years-old, according to data compiled by the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI).

Hip injuries are one of the most common types of injuries incurred when and these often occur at low speeds or when the elderly are getting on or off their bikes.

Researchers at the institute have thus come to the conclusion that it would be preferable if men switched to the traditional low-crossbar design of ladies' bikes when they get older.

The researchers added that the health benefits of bike riding still outweigh the risk of injury for the elderly. Maybe it would be a good idea to get rid of the labels for "mens" and "women's" bikes and come up with terms that just indicate whether the style has a high crossbar. Link -via Arbroath  


Well, for starters, we should stop calling them women's bikes, because they aren't, especially in adult sizes. They are called step-through bikes, and outside of the US they are commonly used by both men and women because they are more convenient to use as city and cargo bikes because you don't have to go through contortions to get on one in normal clothes or with a loaded rack behind your seat.
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I suspect that part of the problem is that the bike shops upsell them to the cleated shoes and pedals that lock your foot to the pedal. I've seen a few cyclists fall sideways while trying to get off. There was a physician at the Austin Veloway who fell that way, broke his hip, and died months later from a cluster of complications.
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