wink

[/Quote ]

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.[/QUOTE]

The kids here do like my EZ Sport AX.I also have people pull off the road and stop me to ask what it is and where to get one.We do have two bike shops here that carry the Sun recumbent and trikes.I do log over 125 miles a week most of the time year round as I live just south of Daytona Beach.I have notice more recumbents here than most places.I know down around Melbourne Fl.There is a lot more than here.Last weekend I saw two recumbent tandems the first I have seen on the road.They were along A!A beach side south of Melbourne.Also there is a bike shop down there somewhere that has recumbents in the window but don`t remember where but it was Sunday and they were closed.

Wink

cat0020

I went to the Philadelphia Bike Share Forum last night and learned of some interesting stats from cities that have bike share program in place..

When there are cyclist in traffic flow, bicycle accident rate tend to go down dramatically. when # of cyclist double in large cities like Paris or Lyon, bicycle accident rate went down 80%.

Most common reason for cummuters not riding their bicycles is that they are afraid of getting hit by a car, second reason: don't want to get bike stolen.

cat0020

no news, but a bump

MarkMe

Fun thread. I have been seriously riding my Bacchetta since Sept w/ the Western Wheelers Club here in central CA and I have lots of conversations w/ people about the bent(many recognize the improved comfort factor). Even though many of these riders are retired and could easily benefit from a more comfortable ride, there seems to be a lot of resistance to bucking the status que. As I get better and can ride w/ the faster riders(many are younger), I expect the image of bents to improve.
Changing the world one mind at a time!
Mark

LWB_guy

Okay, to get a greater market share of recumbents, 3 things need to occur:
(1) Sell 'em in Walmart.
(2) Sell 'em in three different sizes, small, medium, and large.
(3) The small one has to sell for less than $100. The other ones can sell for more, but shouldn't cost the buyer more than $250.

Sorry--couldn't resist

cat0020

You mean that small recumbent for kids? like one of these $299 junt?

https://cgi.ebay.com/Triton-3-Wheeled...QQcmdZViewItem

countersTrike

Crashing this event starting tomorrow and politely asking "where are the really innovative recumbents?"

https://www.designsc.org/

LWB_guy

Sounds like a great idea, since you're already in Santa Cruz. Please post pictures if you can.

countersTrike

I am not going to this event because recumbents are not even considered 'innovative' or being displayed, so- sorry. About 15 to 25 years ago a parade and a small museum had "supine, laid-back, unusual or parade" bikes, but I did not take any photos. Plenty of links, but none of this event or the parade:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/16584749@N00/
https://www.frappr.com/?a=myphotos&id=665720
https://www.flickr.com/groups/555784@N20/pool/
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...&id=1312438855

BlazingPedals

Wow, so... cookie-cutter uprights are considered innovative as long as someone makes them look different, like if they put different wheels on one, change the handlebar tape, or give it a fancy paint job. I'm glad I understand that now!

dclaryjr

There's an older gentlemen (in his 60s I'd guess) who rides around my neighborhood on one of these except it's orange. I had no idea where these came from.

wink

I would say lower price.I get a lot of interest until they find out how much they cost.Some one said build them for kids.And they are right but not many parents are going to put out the bucks they coast for there kid to ride and leave in the rain and what have you.We do have a little girl in the neighborhood that has close to a recumbent.Or I guess a peddle forward that they got at Wal-Mart on sale for like 39 dollars the only one I have ever seen at Wail-Mart.It did`t go over to good I would guess as they had it on clearance.She wanted it cause she sees me riding my Sun AX.

scarabeoguy

Bingo!!!!! You have got to the heart of the real issue........This is in fact what turns a lot of people off,

BlazingPedals

I don't have one for a trike, but I bet I could once the weather warms up. Something like this?

tryfuhl

There's a guy I see every now and then who rides a recumbent here in Lynchburg, VA.


I think that it looks kinda goofy but I don't know his reasons for riding it. It's kinda hard to erase the image of how a bike is "supposed to" look.

And yeah, there's the image of how to stay up, why do they need a papasan chair (j/k), etc... people just aren't familiar with them.

bkaapcke

I get a lot of interest from older guys in my EZ Sport LWB recumbent. One look and they know they are looking at real riding comfort. But I don't see anyone getting a new bike. So, they are just curiosities to most people. bk

radioflier

I have to agree - I get some interest from adults in the neighborhood, but most are younger than me and still raising families. The discussion eventually turns to "how much" and they quickly loose any interest they had when I tell them $1K for my base EZ Sport CX. Also, most really have little time for riding and thus "cycling in comfort" is low on their priorities. I occasionally see a couple riding thru the neighborhood on a RANS SCREAMER but they appear to be retired like me; otherwise, and few comfort bikes and lots of 20-30 yr olds riding road bikes.

BlazingPedals

Huffy Venice:



Not a true recumbent, but as close as you'll ever find in the dept store world of cheap bikes. Was sold for many years, but despite a Huffy price tag, it never took off. I took its failure as proof that price or even styling won't make recumbents more popular. There's just too much inertia in the industry and selling any recumbent at any price is going to be an uphill battle.

I think they originally sold for $159 US. You can still find these in garage sales, and if you looked hard enough you'd even find one as NOS.

farnorth51

Looks like the old ReBike. Didn't Huffy sell those for awhile as well. I had one but someone stole it up in Barrow, AK. When I found it the next day it was missing the seat. That bent ended up in the recycle pile. I can remember there was great enthusiasm for the ReBike since they were sold in Dept stores and were relatively low priced therefore exposing the masses to recumbents. There was a fan page so that folks could tell how these ReBikes changed their lives. I'm assuming that the really serious riders upgraded since I don't see to many ReBikes floating around. It is hard to beat a Tour Easy with a fairing for cool looking. When ever I ride something else like a Bike E it just doesn't look as "cool".

BlazingPedals

Now that you mention it, I think Huffy DID sell the Huffy Venice!

The 'cool' factor is one of the reasons bents don't sell well in the U.S., at least. Look at the stereotypical recumbent rider: Gray hair, beard, fat belly, sandals, and if he's on a trike, an uber-dorky flag - the bigger and gaudier the better! Face it, some of or bretheren need a serious make-over. No younger riders want to be associated with that image. If we as a group would clean up our image, make it more mainstream, then we might be taken more seriously and our bikes wouldn't be viewed as things that only weird old guys own.

radioflier

"Look at the stereotypical recumbent rider: Gray hair, beard, fat belly, sandals, and if he's on a trike, an uber-dorky flag - the bigger and gaudier the better! Face it, some of or bretheren need a serious make-over."

HEY, I RESEMBLE THAT REMARK!!!

BlazingPedals

Another factor is the rider's ability; which unfortunately isnt' something that can always be fixed. But it goes to the stereotype and the bike gets blamed for the rider. I've lost count of how many times I passed somebody like Maverick giving the tower a fly-by, then later they tell me the didn't know bents could do that. After all, every recumbent they've ever seen was S-L-O-W. If you were a youngster, would you want to ride something that was obviously incapable of going fast? I've changed quite a few minds, just by exceeding their expectations.

radioflier

Nope! When I was a kid everything was about how fast you could go! Little has changed in the past 50 years. I recall riding thru an woodsy area that could be best described as "dirt-bike" friendly. Problem was, this was before dirt bikes were invented! Didn't matter, the object was to see how fast we could go thru this winding, hilling, treed area on our street bikes. Speed was KING! The neighborhood kids I see on my recumbent aren't the least bit interested in my recumbent. They want a bike that can do tricks, hop curbs, etc, which neither I nor my bike are capable of doing.

crackerdog

If I only had one bike, it wouldn't be a recumbent. They don't climb well for the average person, they don't jump curbs, they don't fit on bus racks, etc. They are more of a specialized bike, like a good road or mtn bike. Most people have crappy uprights that barely work, I can't imagine using a bent that is in that bad a condition. When you compare the number of bents to other specialized bikes, like downhill or touring or cargo, they aren't that rare.

BerserkerCycle

Jumping Curbs can be accomplished with a full suspension tricycle like Berserker offers. I do agree with some earlier comments that the primary market for recumbent tricycles is with the more experienced crowd. Of a survey of over 250 people the median age interested in our tricycle was 55yrs, the primary reason for people to look into recumbents like the berserker is because of neck/back & ballance problems.

Brian

Check out the Berserker tricycle below (minus seat cover and foam):