Recumbent Trike Dealer
 

If anyone was looking for a fun new business -- or an existing bike shop wants to get into some new products -- check out recumbent cycling. I'm not ready to go 3 wheeling, but there is a market.
We spent 2 1/2 waiting for a delivery last week at the ONLY Western Washington retail location for recumbents.

What we saw:
8 potential clients come and go --
one was a veteran and she got the owners attention to look at and demo a few bikes
one was a guy who'd dropped off a bike for servicing over a week ago and he left without his bike
one was a guy in suit who took one look into the catastrophic looking shop, shook his head and left
one was a man who seeme totally patient but he left before we did and no money changed hands
one drove from Camano Island for over 3 hours to demo a specific bike. She had a 10 AM appointment. The shop knew she was coming for that specific bike. It was not put together. There were no readily available recumbents for her to try. While we all enjoyed a gab fest, she would have loved to try riding a recumbent. She left after 2 hours. I dont' think the owner so much as said hello.

And we had a 10 AM appointment set up at least a week before. My husband had an appointment to take possession of a new CatTrike. What we saw: barely put together. Scuffed up cranks and other spots. Filthy chain and filthier boom. Missing bits and pieces. Wrong Seat... the list went on but by 12:30 we signed off and took the trike for a test ride. The gear shifters were lose and wobbly. Many other details indicated a safety check was required. Took the bike to a local dealer who reported back that it needed a lot of love. Shop guy's initial test ended before he left his parking lot.

And each earlier time we were at this shop, there were 2 or 3 people wanting to check out the trikes -- and walking away without buying.

Bottom Line -- if you are a dealer and want to cash in on what will soon be a new baby boomer desired item -- because many end up with balance issues but still want to ride -- check out selling recumbent trikes. Seriously a good opportunity -- even if it is custom orders only.

There is a market.

You've got to be talking about Angle Lake.

Dale knows what he is doing but neatness and timeliness are not his fortes.

Sorry to hear your bike assembly was not good, my semi-recumbent was right on and works like a charm today 10 years later.

Of course, that means Dale is also 10 years older now.

The 'old-timers' will chime in about how knowledgeable Dale is and make excuses for his filthy shop and disorganization. There won't be many other comments because people migrate to other shops that know what true customer service is. My three visits to his 'shop' were all unsatisfactory and resulted in my purchasing a Rans Stratus and a Terra Trike elsewhere--I'll drive a couple hundred miles for reliable service.

Whoa, I just looked at the Yelp reviews; Fenders and baskets detaching while riding ( and yet the reviewer gives three stars? ), 6-month waits for repairs, handlebars rotating... wow.

Anyhow, to sort of get back to the original post--here in upstate NY I have seen an incredible increase in the number of recumbents and trikes, especially along the Erie Canal towpath corridor. A couple of years ago you might see one or two a summer, and now it's half a dozen every time I go out for a ride. And yet we don't have any local shops that carry them as stock items.