Photo: geoorgenaterry.com
If you’re seeking a marker for how inclusivity is good business, look to Georgena Terry. She founded Terry Precision Cycling in 1985, producing 20 bikes for friends. Interest in her bikes, designed specifically for women, grew rapidly, and in 1987 she produced 5,000 bicycles. Some of her bikes featured a smaller front wheel, to account for smaller bodies, though she is quick to point out the small front wheel design for smaller bodies did not originate with her. “Remember,” she says, “Bill Boston, an excellent framebuilder, gave the small front wheel credence for both small men and women.” What differentiated Terry from Boston was simple, “I focused solely on the women’s market.” Terry expanded to produce bikes and accessories for men and women, but really mostly women.
One of those accessories, a component really, is the cut-away saddle which Terry now produces for women and men. The cut-away saddle is said to reduce pressure in particular areas, and Terry says she can’t be credited for that either. “Fred Black did this in 1932. He wasn’t focused on female cyclists specifically. It seemed logical to figure out how to benefit women in particular – something ‘anatomical’ saddles in the 1990sstill hadn’t achieved.” So while it’s inaccurate to credit Terry with this innovation, it could be argued that bringing the cut-out saddle back to the market in the 90’s has impacted how saddles are made by designers and how end-users select them.
Terry’s career in cycling has overlapped with an overwhelming truth— the bike world is mostly populated with white men at every level, from riders on the road, to mechanics in shops, to people in leadership positions at the company and organizational level, a truth the rest of American society mirrors as well. But things are changing slowly. Terry says this reality has shifted since she got her start in the industry. “It’s great to see so many more riders — diverse in terms of gender and race. The more people we have on bikes, the better!”
“The more people we have on bikes, the better!”
The cycling world is changing slowly, and Terry’s influence cannot be underestimated. The jump from 20 bikes per year to 5,000 bikes per year certainly wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by market analysts at Big Bike Companies. Consider any large scale bike company: Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant, and REI– they all make bikes with geometries designed specifically for women now, but that didn’t happen until the late 1990’s. Terry didn’t just kick down the door for women in cycling, she made sure they got to ride sick bikes that fit.
Today it’s not uncommon to see used Terrys or women-specific bikes donated at the Bike Works warehouse, and since they’re the right size for many people, they’re always the first to get refurbished and sent to the bike shop for another go. Her work on women-specific needs has undoubtedly changed the world of cycling. “But the greatest need is proper fit,” she says. “Proper fit is the heart of the bicycle ride.”
Nowadays Terry spends her time riding bikes in the morning, Zwift when the weather is bad, and outdoors when it’s not. Her daily rider is a road bike with bar-end shifters and wide-range gearing and a 9-speed drivetrain. “I like to keep things simple and easy to maintain,” she says. “My bike is perfect for road riding or hard packed gravel.” Once she’s done riding, she devotes the rest of the day to working on bike designs for customers.
She sold Terry Bicycles in 2009, but continues designing handbuilt steel bicycles under her name – she kept that part of her business. One thing she notes about modern bikes is they keep getting larger. “The average height of women isn’t getting any larger, so I worry about the industry’s ability to fit shorter women and that the consumer is still getting short shrift.” Terry’s framebuilding material of choice is still steel, and as sales in our shop reflect, steel is built to last. Many of our long-time customers ride 30+ year old bicycles that will only occasionally need the consumables replaced. And she encourages anyone who is interested in building bikes or getting into the bike business to follow their heart. “Being an only child, I have always been comfortable fending for myself. I am my inspiration and support,” she says.