Originally Posted by
thdave
These bikes look great and I understand what and why you have them. But there's still a place for a Breezer, imo. In fact, I'd argue that it's an untapped market that I hope grows a lot.
What if you're just using a bike for utility? Just for biking to work and shopping/running errands. What if you're primarily biking in your own town--and your typical trip is 1-4 miles, for example?
Why have an exposed chain? Why an exposed transmission that requires tune ups? Why strap your pant leg at all? Why have a triple chainring?
I love my IGH and chainguard. And I love biking around town instead of driving my steel cage. Also, I use my Breezer on bad weather days, like this morning when it rained the whole way in, for my 5 mile commute. Sure, I'd rather use my road bike, which is much faster--but it's not nearly as functional. A transportation bike like the Breezer or the Novara Transfer, which we saw some nice pics recently on another thread, is functional, low maintenance, and a means to change a lifestyle.
You know, I've spent a lot of time on car forums and I see the same thing most of the people in this thread seem to be saying... "Well, I use this and I like it a lot so it must be better." Sure, for you I'm sure the choice you've made works better. That's why you made that choice. There is still a market for products like the Breezer, and people who want a bike like the Breezer probably wouldn't even look at a bike like cyccommute's Salsa. They want a bike that "looks comfortable," and to the non-bicycle initiate the Breezer looks much more inviting than any of the solutions used by users on this site.
I get around just fine on my road bikes, but my family doesn't understand why I would ride something with drop bars and a skinny saddle everywhere I go. They all want bikes with squishy saddles, upright positions, and fat tires. If I set my Le Tour and the Breezer in front of most of my family and friends and told them they had to commute every day for a week on one of them the Breezer would win 90% of the time. This isn't a bad thing. The people who buy the Breezer are going to use it, and that is more people on bikes. I don't see how any part of that is a bad thing.