Originally Posted by Helmet Head
I take you off ignore and to what am I treated? Utter nonsense.
I have never heard or read anyone describe these features in your language, or anything approaching it.
The percentage of the population that likes cycling enough to want to do it even when they don't have to, and prefers your clunky "comfort" features to efficiency, is vanishingly tiny and insignificant.
People in Amsterdam and other European and Asian cities cycle because it's the most efficient means of transportation available to them. That is simply not the case in most if not all of the U.S, and, until it is, the popularity of cycling won't change very much. And clever marketing of your tankish "comfort" "utility" bikes certainly won't do it. Get over it already.
HH: He is saying that he doesn't like road bikes. His description is perfectly factual. I have a road bike in my garage, an oild Nishiki with a lugged steel frame and downtube shifters. It is really cool and a blast to ride. I love it, but also agree that it has the disadvantages noted by ILTB. That's OK -- horses for courses, and all that. Bikes are all compromises, and they are optomized for different things. I wouldn't want to ride it to work every day, but it is not designed for that. It is designed to produce fun, and it does that very well. For the intended use, the drawbacks are irrelevant or are overcome by wearing appropriate clothing (back to topic).
I do agree with you on your main point, however. In most of the country, there are no rush hour traffic jams and it does not require fifteen minutes of searching to find a thirteen dollar parking spot. Maybe, in twenty years, San Diego will be like this, but not now. Cars are almost always more convenient for travel there. People will always take the most convenient mode they can afford. If they don't overly care about safety or legality and don't drive enough miles for fuel cost to be a factor, anyone can afford a car. Who needs a bike?
Other places, like metropolitan Washington, DC, are becoming increasingly European with regard to automobile driving conditions. I think that European-style utility cycling holds real promise for growth among prople in congested cities who want to get some regular excercise while getting to work with less inconvenience than driving. There are plenty of folks that can't stand either being stuck in traffic or hamstering away for an hour of every day on an excercise machine. Spending a few grand on a high utility bike would not be a bad solution for them, particularly if they spend twice that much annually on car parking.
Paul