Well, I think he has a chance. Here is the deal, the typical bike rider on this forum will not buy it, they are too set in their ways to change. A lot of other people won't either as they too don't like change...but you will find eccentrics, collectors, curious, and true believers who will buy the bike, so if your friend stays lean, makes a quality product, he'll be selling these bikes for years to this crowd. I'd buy one just for the looks it would get, different is good in some people's eyes.

Instead of comparing it to the horse/car...try comparing it to the DVORAK keyboard layout. It is in many ways much better then the QWERTY keyboard, but there is so much market momentum and not enough advantage for it to ever take over as the standard.