Bike Company Tries to Promote Women’s Line With Sexist Ad

Are you in the market for a new bike? Well, Czech Republic bicycle manufacturer Superior Bikes claims to know just what ladies love when it comes to cycling, but it’s completely sexist! Their line of women’s downhill mountain bikes was, until yesterday, promoted in an offensive ad that undermines the female cycling community. Copy on their site under their “Modo” collection read the following:

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 on the bike are completely different from the men’s. They look mainly for safe, easy and, of course, stylish bikes that have good and natural handling.

Female cyclists struggle for equality, even when they are pros in the scene. According to Business Insider, the marketing fail comes several weeks after Amanda Batty, a pro downhill mountain bike racer left her writing position at cycling website Pinkbike due to harassment from readers and an overall sexist culture.

If Superior knows exactly what women want, where are the wicker baskets, the portable hair dryer and nail polish station? Clearly they’d assume those details would be attractive to women. They can throw in a cupcake holder while they’re at it, too.

As for the public response to Superior’s misstep, angry cyclists took to Facebook and Twitter to voice their disappoint with Superior’s sexist campaign. Since then, Superior’s copy on the MTB collection has been replaced with something less blatantly awful.