There is an LBS which is just a couple of blocks from my office. It is a huge LBS, occupying 5 buildings and with at least 1500 bikes in stock. They have one floor of a store dedicated to bents and crank forwards. So unlike a store that might have a half-dozen bents squeezed into some space at the end of an aisle, they have about 25 different bents & trikes in stock. And they are doing a good business in selling a lot of bents.

I'm giving this detail because while this LBS is an authorized Rans dealer, and has multiple Rans bents on the floor, they have stopped carrying the Rans crank forwards due to almost non-existent sales. When I stopped by recently and inquired as to whether they had Rans CFs, they told me that I was the first person to ask about them in months. They told me that it took them about a year to sell off the last three floor models at discounted prices. They could order one for me, but I would have to commit to buying it and pay for it upfront.

So I contacted the next closest Rans authorized dealer and they gave me the same story. Quit stocking them because they couldn't sell them.

I hear a lot of positives about the Rans CFs on various on-line forums. And a lot of recommendations to check them out. But I'm finding that checking them out is a very difficult assignment. Apparently getting people to pay $1000+ for a CF bike is not easy.