Originally Posted by
cat0020
I personally think that if more people get to experience the recumbent bicycles they would realize that upright bicycles really damage their anatomy more than they need to.
Although I wasn't a bike messenger, at nearly 50 years of age and having ridden upright bicycles and/or motorcycles (noting that a cruiser is pretty much a recumbent), I must say that "my package", back, arms, and neck are all doing fine. Yes, I've ridden recumbents as well as cruisers and, well, they're just not my cup of tea... yet. Neither are comfort bikes or touring motorcycles, because my riding habits don't lend themselves to bike paths or long motorcycle road trips.
Mind you, I think recumbents are great... as are cruisers and just about every other type of motorcycle: frankly, anything with two wheels that has a design goal and some panache is OK in my book. And, I also agree that there are probably a lot of folks riding upright bicycles who really derive no benefit from them and who would do better on a recumbent... given their goals (fitness and recreation) and what are often-times recumbent friendly locales. But, if you look at the very bikes that people ride and how they're equipped you must no doubt realize that many bicycle buying decisions aren't based on "practicality" or "suitability". Therefore, when attempting to influence change an appeal to the same senses that drive those buying decisions are pretty much needed.
I guess my point is, like most efforts to change people's behaviors, the use of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and other less than effective tactics or lines of rationale that have the underlying premise -- you're obviously not the brightest bulb given your current behaviors -- continue to be put forward despite their lack of success. Mind you, the image of tandems suffers from the same "lack of sex appeal" that recumbents are often times tagged with and also suffer from bad marketing, image issues, and ineffective advocacy.
Bottom Line: Frankly, "hey, if you want to really try something different and fun give a recumbent a try" would probably get more folks onto recumbents for a test ride that the usual spiel regarding "anatomy problems", sore butts, shoulders, and numb hands. It also helps when the person delivering the message fits a similar demograhic to their audience... that's a big part of the image problem and that will always be the biggest barrier.
After all, Harley Davidson wouldn't be in business if they were selling motorcycles: they proved that in the 70's and 80's. However, once they reorganized and figured out that what they were selling was an image and learned how to leverage that... bingo.