Twitter reacts to manufacturer's sexist blurb on female mountain bike range
Czech Republic-based bike manufacturer Superior has incurred the wrath of cyclists worldwide after making a host of seriously sexist remarks in its blurb for its new women's mountain bike.
Superior claim that female cyclists 'do not generally need to push their limits' and that they 'just want to enjoy the time spent in nature' when they ride downhill trails.
The blurb reads: "Female cyclists do not generally need to push their limits, race against time and increase their adrenaline when riding rough downhill trails.
"They just want to enjoy the time spent in nature on the bike, and their expectations from the bike are completely diff erent than men's. They look mainly for safe, easy and, of course, stylish bikes that have good and natural handling."
Unsurprisingly, and justifiably, this hasn't gone down too well, with cyclists taking to Twitter to share their surprise and distaste for the context of the blurb.
Here are some of the best tweets.
1. Professional rider Kathryn Bertine has long been an advocate of equal opportunities for female cyclists, including lobbying for a female version Tour de France in recent years.
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2. Jaymi took a medical view of the situation.
3. While Emily was getting tired with having to push her limits all the time.
4. Unfortunately, Rebecca, this doesn't appear to be a joke.
5. It wasn't just Twitter where Superior Bikes were taking a bit of a kicking.
6. Kat Simpson pulls out a few more gender stereotypes just for good measure.
7. And Mark Nicol delves into the Superior marketing strategy.
What are your thoughts?
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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.
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