Recumbent - What could contribute for greater market share for recumbents?

I've been thinking about these questions lately:
What do you think could expand the market share of recumbent bicycles?
How to lower the cost of entry lever recumbents so they could be comparable to entry lever upright bicycles? Is the main reason for recumbent no as popular because of price mainly?

What make people hesitant to try recumbent bicycles for themselves?

With the babyboomers growing into retirement age, I would think that there is a large market for recumbent bicycles that are still untapped in the US, but yet recumbents still cost way more expensive and retail bicycles stores rarely have them in stock.

When I'm out riding my recumbent I always get people that ask me about my recumbent bike: are they really comfortable? how do you stay upright? are they dangerous?

But when I offer them to ride for themselves, people always refuse to try, even after I insist.
Something is missing.. I can't quite figure out what...

Where are the kids recumbents? They are the ones open to change.

Get them sold in WalMart at a price competitive with other forms of bike.

To do that I think we need a glamorous recumbents-only bicycling race with sponsorship opps, perhaps on an aerodynamic tail section. Maybe ride on velodromes, but have gears for maximum speeds and different strategies than track bike races, and maybe recumbent vs diamond frame challenges.

People are unfamiliar with them. They need to be advertised more. Show sexy ads in bike magazines, and other media. Right now recumbents are the crazy uncles of the cycling family ridden by ex-hippys, and granola eating save the world types. They would need to be re-associated so that people see them as cool to ride.
Also, the pricing is prohibitive to many people. Who wants to spend $1000+ on something they don't know if they will like. If they have ridden one upright and liked it, chances they will like another more expensive upright more. But why would they want to gamble so much money just to try a recumbent when they have no idea whether they would like it or not?

When you consider that so many people have never even seen a recumbent...I think all it would take is for one prominent person to be widely seen looking cool on a bent and having fun. A sports star, an actor, a popular personality. People will say, "Hey, what's that?!...I want one!" Just need to reach that tipping point.

I generate a lot of interest by kicking roadie butt. When they pull back into the parking lot to find me cooled off, loaded up, shiowered, changed, and having earned a degree online while waiting for them to finish, they are intrigued to say the least :)

Of course, among hard-cored roadies this is ill-advised. I was actually yelled at for passing a paceline at 30mph the other day...."it's too dangerous to pass us" they cried! (and cired, and cried)

I question why we want to increase the ownership of recumbents. I sort of like being one of the fastest guys around here, after being a 17 mph nobody on my upright. If more people got (fast) recumbents, I'd go back to being just one of the pack. But if you want to generate interest, Greg's way works. I totally spanked the group tonight, about half of whom were Cat4s and 3s. And more importantly, I looked gooood doing it!

I actually enjoy cleaning the drool marks off my bike after invitational century rides..........

I don't think that riding around in what looks like (to a lot of people) a La-Z-Boy recliner is ever going to capture a large percentage of the cycling market share.

You guys just need to accept your minority status in the cycling community. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Why should we care about how much market share 'bents have? I'm prepared to leave that up to the marketing departments of recumbent manufacturers - you know, the people that are paid to do it. I've got enough stuff to worry about already.

Give John Schlitter enough time, and we'll eventually forget that there's anything OTHER than recumbents.....but I'm just as happy being one of the elite few. :)

At the least local time trial I beat CAT 2, 3, and 4s. It was a pretty hilly TT as well. It got plenty of notice and a sweet paycheck. The cat 1's still whipped my fanny though.

Well, one thing that's needed is a major change in the attitudes of the bike mfgs and the bike shops! Several years ago when I first got interested in a recumbent, I visited a large bike shop near my home to see what they had. This was a thoroughly professional looking shop with lots of bikes all in racks and a well organized repair shop. When I asked about a recumbent I was led to the very back corner of the sales floor where there was a Burley of some sort and a $2K Cannondale recumbent. Both were hanging from the ceiling where you couldn't easily get to them. The sales guy immediately started questioning my reasoning for wanting a recumbent and tried steering me to one of their GIANT or SPECIALIZED 'comfort' bikes. He obviously had no interest in selling either of those recumbents.

The major bike mfgs could do a lot to promote recumbentry it they offered something like the Sun EZ-1 or Sport below $1K. I know of a shop in another part of the state sells the Sport CX for $900. It's a very user friendly recumbent that most could easily adapt to. Then get the bike shops to put it up front and in center. Promote it instead a devoting most of your efforts in turning us into LA wanna-bees! To us aging baby boomers the Sun Sport remind us of the bikes we had as kids. I'm extremely pleased with mine and plan on putting lots of easy going miles on it in the coming years.

I have a difficult time believing that the mfgs don't recognize the potential market as the baby boomers hit retirement. In general we have the most financial resources that anyone before us has had AND we plan on staying active as long as we call. I couldnt ride if I didn't have my recumbent, regardless of what the jerk in the bike shop had to say! The mfgs should hook up with organziations such as AARP and have displays of user-friendly recumbents at senior-related trade shows and the like. In other words, embrace us instead of shuning us!

BTW - most of the kids in my neighborhood aren't the least bit impressed with my recumbent (it doesn't hop curbs and do other trick things). The older adults have really taken to it and have expressed interest in it. For the most part forget the kids and recumbents - instead, try focusing on those of us of more advanced age.

Growing up, I had ridden my bicycle just about everywhere, to school, to library, to the store, to visit friends, to that secret hiding spot near the lake, etc..

It seems to me, nowadays kids gets driven everywhere, school bus take them to school, driven to soccer games, etc.. never even have much time to even hangout with their friends or even find a secret spot.. Kids nowadays seems to look at bicycles as the "uncool" way to travel. I don't know if promoting younger riders to ride recumbent would be as feasable task as promoting recumbents to older riders.

By that rational, the pricing issue should have less impact in growing the market, but to an entend (say $2000 or above). It all depends on how much the potential purchaser is willing to spend for comfort... and I believe that most people would spend much more if they only realize the comfort of the recumbent bicycle versus DF bicycles.

Still more thoughts.. but please continue to discuss..

Lance Armstrong was never on a Wizwheelz? Cindy Lohan was never on a Trailmate? An entire list of small kids 'bents never appeared? No Bicycle Rod 'n Kustom, Unique HPVs? No articles in Forbes, Wired, Popular Science, any newspapers? My memory must be failing. :(

Probably pushing "green", how useful for hauling 'bents can be (like the older special Utility Vehicle, or canoe, organ, refrigerator hauling) or recycling old bikes (like Mother Earth News) would help the industry these environmentaly-minded days.

Ordering unique parts or tires from faraway or hiring a machinist to repair something impossible to replace is kind of a turn-off. That is how it is now- "reverse advertising".

CountersTrike

Probably pushing "green", how useful for hauling 'bents can be (like the older special Utility Vehicle, or canoe, organ, refrigerator hauling) or recycling old bikes (like Mother Earth News) would help the industry these environmentaly-minded days.


I think that just emphasizes the ex-hippie, save the world, granola eating persona that recumbents already have.

One of the things that popped into my head when reading about the utility vehicle, hauling, etc, was a little old lady riding one of those old trike bikes with a basket.

I think the main thing is to ride your bent, and be seen by people. I just cycled around Georgian Bay, and I had a number of cyclists come up to me saying that they'd thought about bents, and asked a bunch of questions about them. That might nudge them towards getting a bent. And non-cyclists who had never heard of them see it, and think, that looks fun. And I talked to a number of people who don't cycle because of pain, and talking to me gets them thinking about bents.

I agree that it would be a great help to have some sort of celebrity "spokesman" in improving attitudes towards 'bents. Here's an example of a negative attitude....Due to a recently discovered problem with some cervical discs, I have been advised to stay off bikes. Head position is difinitely aggravating the disc problem, resulting in a pinched nerve at this time, and I have been warned it could get worse. Docs have no problem at all with me getting on a 'bent, tho. Improved head position, less strain on the neck, shoulders, you all know the drill. The problem is me. Somehow, I almost feel like a traitor or something, abandoning the DF for the bent, somehow I will not really be a cyclist anymore, just some tree hugger or something. A really bad attitude that I am trying to fight, cuz I really want to stay on the bike. Looks like the bent will be my only option. So this Saturday I am hitting a local shop that specializes in bents, and will start doing some research and test rides.
It seems so obvious that as we get older and some of the abuse we heaped upon ourselves when we were younger would start to catch up to us, and the 'bent seems to be a way to keep active. But that attitude....
Wish me luck!

Lance Armstrong was never on a Wizwheelz? Cindy Lohan was never on a Trailmate? An entire list of small kids 'bents never appeared? No Bicycle Rod 'n Kustom, Unique HPVs? No articles in Forbes, Wired, Popular Science, any newspapers? My memory must be failing. :(

You don't see the concept of recumbent riding images nearly as much as a DF cyclist in pharmaceutical products (pain killer, alergy medicine, etc..), bottle water, financial services, vacation spot commercials.. etc.. I guess the marketers that produce those never quite consider recumbent riding as an (better) alternative..

Two things:

1. Recumbents need to be in local bike shops right beside all the Treks, Cannondales and Giants.

2. Recumbents need to be less expensive.

I don't think that riding around in what looks like (to a lot of people) a La-Z-Boy recliner is ever going to capture a large percentage of the cycling market share.

You guys just need to accept your minority status in the cycling community. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Actually, if we could get Paris, Brittany or Oprah photographed riding a recumbent on a regular basis that would do amazing things. Even better would be to have a marjor character on a TV show riding the bike on a regular basis. But it has to be a serious character, say Warrick Brown on CSI, or one of the characters on Gossip Girl. Getting athletes like Tony Romo or ARod to ride a recumbent would help too.

If you think its ridiculous that recumbents might become popular, consider the SUV. Any car designer of the '70s would have thought that the SUV becoming the dominant design of the 2000's was a laughable idea. But here it is.

But when I offer them to ride for themselves, people always refuse to try, even after I insist.
Something is missing.. I can't quite figure out what...

Don't know - i'm with Jeff-O regarding having nowhere to go & try one out - even just sit on in a shop.

if we could get Paris, Brittany

:eek: No, no, no! Please, someone who will be taken seriously. Besides, I don't think those two have the attention span to become regular riders.

Availability and price matter, but the biggest factor is image. Right now in the US, the stereotypical recumbent rider is an older man, gray hair, beard, and pot belly. To take it further, they ride in sandals and baggy shorts. The stereotype didn't just pop out of thin air, an amazing number of bent riders fit the profile. While I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being what we are, it's a fact that the younger, fitter crowd does not want to identify with that identity. Thus you'll get the comment, "That looks like fun. Maybe I'll get one when I'm OLD." To them, riding a bent would be giving up their youth. And you know how much our culture worships youthfulness.

But again, I'm happy the way things are. The hammers can check my bike out and comment how fast it must be, then when I whup them, they think I must be Superman(tm). DUH!!! I sure don't want them getting one!

I've been thinking about these questions lately:
What do you think could expand the market share of recumbent bicycles? ..

This is pretty simple. Get the UCI to drop the diamond frame and go with the lowracer. ;-)

This is pretty simple. Get the UCI to drop the diamond frame and go with the lowracer. ;-)

+1!

I want to see what Lance could do on a Ti-Rush w/full fairing! :D

He'd be in Paris a WEEK before the chase group! :p



other than THAT, ...there used to be A Bent 4 Rent*! :o


*The worlds largest recumbent only RENTAL shop, featuring bikes & trikes from dozens of manufacturers.
You could rent a BikeE or a Windcheetah, by the hour or by the day.
Too bad it closed in '98. :cry:

Heh. I ride with a group of CATted racers every Tues and Thursday. They usually get around our 32 mile loop in around 22 point whatever mph. It has 6 miles of flat at the beginning and end of the ride, and everything in between is rollers that peak to a good steepness so you slow way down near each crest, plus a 1.5 mile long monster hill at gets to above 12% in two places.

My previous best had been right behind them at 21.7. I've finally tinkered with the lowracer enough and gotten enough training and time on the bike in preparation for a 500 mile 4-man Texas Time Trial RAAM qualifier.

Last night I rolled in with a 24.2 avg :). I got yelled at last week for passing the entire paceline of 30 people in one single flyby, and last night they were so pissed n one said a word to me. :)

So don't worry - we're getting noticed here, at any rate :)

Why should we care about how much market share 'bents have? I'm prepared to leave that up to the marketing departments of recumbent manufacturers - you know, the people that are paid to do it. I've got enough stuff to worry about already.

To me, the big reasons to want to improve recumbents market share are; 1) price, 2) availability, 3) more models. If they become more than specialized low volume machines then the price will drop accordingly. The number of shops carrying bents will increase making it easier to try different models instead of wondering if a bike will work for you. More manufacturers will get in the game and there will be more bent models to choose from. Wouldn't it be great to have to choose from 20-30 quality bents under $1000?

I havent read this thread yet but from an outsiders perspective, I just purchased my first bet tonight ( a trike) I would say its the images on the internet that most swayed me from buying a recumbent. I was looking for a trike and 90% of the pictures that come up are old, disabled guys and wifes with back problems or some other ailment. Where are the people like me that have been Mtn and road biking for years that finnally realize that bents are efficient, or like my trike, just fun. I say get more pics out there that dont have some guy on a super low fast recumbent in riding tights but get pics of regular people , converts, in real world cenarios, commuting to work or out for a good week end ride. Bent arent just for older folks. Post your pics where they will count.

Now I have read the theread I still feel it is an image proplem. When twenty somethings want to find out what kind of mode of transportaion is 'cool' or new they look to google. If the images that come up are 'g*y'.......... then they sluff it off and look for somthing else. I think they sould be shown images of cross country rides and hard core commutes on recumbents with some weekend speed rides with people that arent ' grey haired baggy weirdos on some funny bike but istead people that are pushing the boundaries into the fututre of efficient human powared vehicles. its all about image, if the people on this site would post pics where they can be found I believe the next generation could be easily convinced of the practicality of these 'wierd' bikes.

This is just the toughts of an outsider biker that has seen the light of the efficiency and fun of recumbents.

Saturate the stream and you will become mainstream -

The UCI will not change; why should they? They have the right to manage their sport however they want.

What recumbent promotors should do is start a rival organization to sponsor recumbents only events parallel with the big UCI events.

1) Price
I've been trying to find an affordable recumbent for 2 weeks now, that's the first problem. As long as I can buy any old standard bike for $70.00, I really have to be convinced to buy a BIKE for the price of a cruise. Yes, I've already read quite a few, "Well SOME people are just too CHEAP to buy a RECUMBENT. You get what you PAY for!" Yes, and for over $600.00, I expect it to be a fabulous bike but I'm hearing that the EZ-1 uses cheap hardware.

2) Smug
I've read a ton of bad snotty attitudes from recumbent riders so I'm liking it even less to be in the same company. But I'm cheap and looking for something under $1000.00 so in many recumbent groups, I shouldn't have an opinion. I think too many people think owning a recumbent is some sort of elite social circle.

3) Fear
I've been reading for days about the learning curve and how it takes weeks to stop wobbling and Utube videos of people falling off their recumbents (can you hear the smug owners laughing it up?). At the store I went to I wouldn't even test ride it like they wanted me to because they made such a big deal about it. I'd like to go back and test ride it but now I'm worried about falling over in the parking lot with a bunch of strangers watching and laughing.

4) Looks
Fugly. Hey, what fun colors! Black. Red. Blue. Oh boy. I'm so underwhelmed I think I'll buy 2 or 3, no wait, that model only comes in red. If riding a bike is so much fun why can't there be fun colors. If I'm going to spend THAT much money on a bike, why do I have to repaint it? Shouldn't it come ready for someone with a personality? Or at least someone younger than 50 and female?

As it is, I feel like I need to be checking those sites about how to build a stupid recumbent instead of buying one that way I can justify the repainting and I'll save hundreds of dollars. HUNDREDS! That's the sad part, I'm about to just freakin' give up on the idea, which means giving up biking because I am done with my underparts burning from the bike seat and being perched on 2 bones for hours. I'm just done with the pain. Over it. Done. I think I'll just buy some good walking shoes.

I think I'll just buy some good walking shoes.

Then watch out for newbie recumbent riders on the rec trail.

They'll be the baggy short, long hair wearing folks, wobbling all over, with the the s**t eating grins on their faces! ;)

other than THAT, ...there used to be A Bent 4 Rent*! :o


*The worlds largest recumbent only RENTAL shop, featuring bikes & trikes from dozens of manufacturers.
You could rent a BikeE or a Windcheetah, by the hour or by the day.
Too bad it closed in '98. :cry:

I remember it well! After years of a long delta trike, I saw the tadpole trikes in the ad and thought "those look pretty neat! " 1999 was my tadpole 'conversion'. Turned into an addiction; but A Bent 4 Rent was gone. Double sob!!

To me, the big reasons to want to improve recumbents market share are; 1) price, 2) availability, 3) more models. If they become more than specialized low volume machines then the price will drop accordingly. The number of shops carrying bents will increase making it easier to try different models instead of wondering if a bike will work for you. More manufacturers will get in the game and there will be more bent models to choose from. Wouldn't it be great to have to choose from 20-30 quality bents under $1000?

Catch 22. How do you sell more without increased demand?


How do you increase demand without a significant expenditure in advertising.

Catch 22. How do you sell more without increased demand?
How do you increase demand without a significant expenditure in advertising.

Have Oprah ride a recumbent on her show, and giveaway recumbents to her audience?

I wonder what would happen if she ran for president?

Wouldn't it be great to have to choose from 20-30 quality bents under $1000?

A lot of people do not understand how significant the loss of BikeE was to the bent world. The BikeE probably introduced more people to bents than any other manufacturer. They were everywhere. To this date, no one has taken their place and that includes internet dealers like Action Bent.

A lot of people do not understand how significant the loss of BikeE was to the bent world. The BikeE probably introduced more people to bents than any other manufacturer. They were everywhere. To this date, no one has taken their place and that includes internet dealers like Action Bent.

What are some reasons that BikeE went under??

What are some reasons that BikeE went under??

BikeE had contracted out manufacturing to Giant, the Taiwanese DF company. Some of the stuff that Giant made was crap, resulting in lawsuits. Conspiracy theorists say that Giant deliberately sabotaged BikeE so that they could sell their own Revive bike.

So, BikeE went under because of outstanding lawsuits pending, but couldn't they resume their previous in-house production to sell their bikes with another brand name??

Price, availability and image. I get all kinds of people asking about bents when I ride. But no bike shop in town has any in stock and they are not interested in carrying any. They all say they will order one in if someone wants one, but because a lot of bike shops are mainly into racing and mountainbiking they are not too interested.
But there should be something to imprive our image. On a recent rails to trail ride I was passing about a dozen mountain bikes, most ridden by much younger and should have been fitter riders. One gal asked me "how do you like that thing?" and another guy asked as I speeded by "how does that thing do on these trails?" Duh - that 'thing' passed just about every MTB going, even uphill.
But a lot of upright bikers do have a rather negative feeling about recumbents, especially the racers and the triathlete types and serious mountain bikers.
We need a bunch of entry level bents starting at around 5 - 6 hundred bucks. The large crowd of baby boomers about to retire, I think, would be more likely to get into some crank forward bikes. These should be good sellers and are advertised a lot. They have a lot of bent advantages and "look" like regular bikes. Bents tend to look odd, and I think a lot of people find the SWB high BB bikes hard to learn to ride. For those the CF bikes are much better - 1000 times better than those stupid mountain bikes they all buy to never get off a MUP!

So, BikeE went under because of outstanding lawsuits pending, but couldn't they resume their previous in-house production to sell their bikes with another brand name??

They did start up with a much higher end bike that was and continues to be overpriced. BigHa.

We need a bunch of entry level bents starting at around 5 - 6 hundred bucks. The large crowd of baby boomers about to retire, I think, would be more likely to get into some crank forward bikes. These should be good sellers and are advertised a lot. They have a lot of bent advantages and "look" like regular bikes. Bents tend to look odd, and I think a lot of people find the SWB high BB bikes hard to learn to ride.

This is one reason I chose a Sun CX for my bent. The primary reason was comfort and fit, but I always have been drawn to the fact that it looks a lot like my old J.C Higgins bike I had 45 years ago, just streched out a bit. I'm one of these 60 year old retired baby boomers that thinks the bike industry is missing a tremendous business opportunity by ignoring us (other that trying to sell us what they've been offering for years). Going by the average age of the staff at the local bike shops, I suspect the bike industry hasn't looked past the age of 40 for most of its customers!

The UCI will not change; why should they? They have the right to manage their sport however they want.

What recumbent promotors should do is start a rival organization to sponsor recumbents only events parallel with the big UCI events.


+10!

Do you think the IHPVA would be interested?

+10!

Do you think the IHPVA would be interested?

I don't know, not being a member of IHPVA. Why don't you ask them?

Battle Mountain is worth AT LEAST an hour of prime-time ESPN coverage. Package it with some behind the scenes filler material, and it could really pull in the viewers!

1) Price
I've been trying to find an affordable recumbent for 2 weeks now, that's the first problem. As long as I can buy any old standard bike for $70.00, I really have to be convinced to buy a BIKE for the price of a cruise. Yes, I've already read quite a few, "Well SOME people are just too CHEAP to buy a RECUMBENT. You get what you PAY for!" Yes, and for over $600.00, I expect it to be a fabulous bike but I'm hearing that the EZ-1 uses cheap hardware.

A lot of 'enthusiasts' are used to paying $1500 or more for an upright. For them, a $600 upright would be junky too. It's all relative to what you're used to. If you're the type to ride a $70 upright from ChinaMart, then the bent in that range is the Huffy Venice. The EZ-1 will have fabulous componentry compared to the $70 dept store bike.

Battle Mountain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIko6Qo6skE

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzBalUK-sM4&mode=user&search=

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv1tL7eHfQU&mode=related&search=

Thanks, BP. I had only seen Part I of that series. Very well made videos, but I was thinking of something with a little less teenage dorkiness :).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAvEPM2CQYk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE_a_MwU6_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V2FgwN_re4

or even

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ya0VIIo0IDk

Battle Mountain is a yearly event. I can't believe nobody has picked up the rights! Where's Phil Ligget?

Another great recumbent video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKwZ-Kxxazk

Two things:

1. Recumbents need to be in local bike shops right beside all the Treks, Cannondales and Giants.

2. Recumbents need to be less expensive.

Jeff is exactly right. If TW-Bents can offer their quality products at good prices, then the rest of the manufacturers should be able to as well. Recumbent designs can be simpler and less expensive to make than upright bikes. Heck if people can buy a really high quality top of the line folding upright bike for $500, then they should be able to do so for a recumbent. Seriously, look at some recumbent frames. They are so much simpler and less labour intensive to produce that it makes you wonder what is going on.

Here is an idea, how about a consortium of all recumbent manufacturers that pool their advertising dollars to promote recumbent riding and bikes in general. Wouldn't it be a cool campaign if such a consortium hired a retired Tour de France rider to take a different good recumbent every year and race the Tour de France not to win the race but simply to show how much better bents are. Can you imagine the faces of people as they saw how the bent rider blew the socks off of the upright riders. After the completion of the race instead of the focus being on the rider it would be the rider and the consortium talking about all of the quality bents that are available and how the time has come to make the bike world a bent world.

Jeff is exactly right. If TW-Bents can offer their quality products at good prices, then the rest of the manufacturers should be able to as well. Recumbent designs can be simpler and less expensive to make than upright bikes. Heck if people can buy a really high quality top of the line folding upright bike for $500, then they should be able to do so for a recumbent. Seriously, look at some recumbent frames. They are so much simpler and less labour intensive to produce that it makes you wonder what is going on.

Economies of scale, probably. The more of an item you produce, the less expensive each individual item tends to be. I'm guessing that most 'bent models aren't produced in large enough quantities for EoS to come into effect.