Originally Posted by
big chainring
I agree with the OP. The bike manufacturers build and sell racing bikes. Trek for example offers one touring bike.
Most road bikes are very limited to the tire size that they will accept because clearances are so tight. After a Winter that many of us have experienced I wouldn't like to ride a bike with 23-25mm tires. Its pothole city in the midwest.
The sport/recreation bike catagory has split into cyclo-cross and hybrid bikes. For example the geometry of an old Raleigh Super Course of the 1970's, practical, sporty, versatile, is a forgotten breed. I watched a century/charity ride go by my house last summer. Probably 98% of the riders were on what I would consider racing bikes.
I just wouldn't want a bike that can't accept 32mm tires. Or a bike with straight forks, super short wheelbase, and 16 spoke wheels.
Trek sells a lot of different bikes. If everyone seems to be riding "racing" bikes, that's because everyone seems to think differently from you and I, not because Trek is selling the wrong bikes. If all the customers were clamoring for cruisers or touring bikes or whatever, that's what they'd be selling. And if they didn't sell what the customers wanted, they'd shortly be in the dustbin of bicycle history.
