It makes sense if you're designing bicycles in the 1860s or so.
The bar is purely for structural support: The frame is basically a triangle, and therefore strong.
If you remove the bar, you lose some of that strength, even with welded metals.
Riding bicycles was more commonly a working function (like carrying things from one place to another) and this was primarily a male-oriented activity. Those that rode them for fun did it mainly for sport, another 'male-oriented' thing at the time.
As women became interested, they had to find a way to keep their dresses (Nope, women didn't wear pants back then... At least, not proper women!) from hanging over the bar. As a matter of fact, the very act of raising one leg to get it over the bar would have been scandalous for a woman, even in those super-long dresses. So they removed that structural support from women's bikes and tended to curve the lower bar and then, to get added support, they added another lower bar (It mainly held the steering column straight, but provided added support for the seat.
This way, the bar would start at the bottom of the steering column, curve to follow the shape of the front wheel, then curve back to attach to the bottom of the seat-post. A second, identically-shaped bar would start from the top of the steering column, follow a parallel path, and attach to the seat-post about 6" above the first one.
Yes, it hurts like you wouldn't believe for a guy to hit that bar, but it wouldn't feel GOOD for a woman to hit it!
The bar is purely for structural support: The frame is basically a triangle, and therefore strong.
If you remove the bar, you lose some of that strength, even with welded metals.
Riding bicycles was more commonly a working function (like carrying things from one place to another) and this was primarily a male-oriented activity. Those that rode them for fun did it mainly for sport, another 'male-oriented' thing at the time.
As women became interested, they had to find a way to keep their dresses (Nope, women didn't wear pants back then... At least, not proper women!) from hanging over the bar. As a matter of fact, the very act of raising one leg to get it over the bar would have been scandalous for a woman, even in those super-long dresses. So they removed that structural support from women's bikes and tended to curve the lower bar and then, to get added support, they added another lower bar (It mainly held the steering column straight, but provided added support for the seat.
This way, the bar would start at the bottom of the steering column, curve to follow the shape of the front wheel, then curve back to attach to the bottom of the seat-post. A second, identically-shaped bar would start from the top of the steering column, follow a parallel path, and attach to the seat-post about 6" above the first one.
Yes, it hurts like you wouldn't believe for a guy to hit that bar, but it wouldn't feel GOOD for a woman to hit it!
