Originally Posted by
noglider
I googled opafiets and got this image. Even though this is a male version, it has skirt guards. I wonder why.
Here is an informative page where the image comes from.
My Dutch Bike
Long coats and scarves, maybe? Plus, why not? Weight is not that much of a design criterium, is it? If someone wearing a skirt, suit coat, long coat or other non-spandex-y clothes prefers the top tube, they might still want that "skirt" protection.
It also creates less of a stigma for the step-through vs top tube because they are presented as much the same. That's a big problem here in the US.