You’re looking at history and meaning, not specific design details, but I can tell you that for women it’s a lot more than “not a lot of bulk at crotch and ankles”. Standard pants designs with a seam right up the middle are hostile to biking comfort; there’s a reason bike shorts have that funny smooth pad in the middle. I’ve been ranting about pants all week on my blog and giving this quite a bit of thought as I pedal to and from work.

There’s another angle on this you may get into in another post (I’ll keep looking around–great blog!), and that’s whether the current Cycle Chic movement celebrates biking by anyone, anywhere, wearing anything, or whether it’s just another constrictive fashion corset into which people (women in particular) are expected to fit. (Related post on my blog: http://bikestylespokane.com/2011/08/02/wearing-real-clothes-a-radical-political-statement/)

@BarbChamberlain
@BikeStyleSpok