Originally Posted by I-Like-To-Bike
I agree that the bicycling environment is the biggest intimidation factor. I doubt that many potential cyclists pay any attention at all to Internet discussion list posters, IMO, the counter productive (to bicycling advocacy) "intense exercise" attitude prevails in the North American milieu of the available bike publications/books, biking enthusiast clubs, and sales rap of the Bicycling Marketers and LBS outlets for their product.
Maybe it prevails because
it sells bikes. Marketers generally are not in the business of flogging products in a manner that fails to move stuff off the sales floor.
People buy products based on the lifestyle image that is attached to that product. Often, they'll completely disregard whether that product is in any way appropriate for their intended use. In contemporary America, there's a lot more money to be made in "fast and aggressive" or "xtreme d00d" marketing than there is in affordable practicality.