Originally Posted by
livedarklions
This is another "sun will rise tomorrow" prediction.
Recumbent bikes are a tiny fraction of the bikes sold in the US. They are a lot harder to obtain than a DF bike. Someone who is buying a bent has probably put a lot of time and effort into finding an appropriate bike to buy, whereas anyone can basically find a new or used DF just about anywhere, so a greater proportion of DF sales will be impulse purchases and/or purchases that are just not well-researched. I don't need your cockamamie "cause pain" over-generalization to make that prediction, just the fact that people who buy bents need a fair amount of commitment to the project just to purchase it in the first place, while buying a DF is mostly just a matter of plunking down enough money.
BTW in my city Lincoln. there are at least two bike shops selling bents and trikes. And Craigs List almost always has one or two for sale.
Was there a COVID bent boom, btw? I'm skeptical.
What I posted, is pretty much an on going thing. Middle aged or older people decide to exercise. They see people just rolling by on a bike, and make a snap decision that is for them. They go to a bike shop, and likely as not will end up with some form of mountain bike. They ride it, and right off they end up with a sore rear end, and find there is more effort than they expected riding up hills. After a couple dozen rides the $500 bike get hung up in the garage for four or five years, and is sold off at a garage sale for $50.
On the other hand if the person bought a recumbent or a trike, they experience no butt pain, but maybe just some tired legs. Second since most of them are not the racer type, they find the view from a bent or tike is fantastic. Yes they also find that hills are hard work, but with the comfort and view, they are willing to go ahead and get more fit. The end result Im sure is that bent and trike buyers keep their machines at a higher rate than new older DF buyers.