The Problem with Marketing the Recumbent isThe Name

wrote:

Bicycle types: BMX, Mountain, Street, etc

How abouta new category: "Highway"
because:
The fastest bicycle in the world is the Varna Diablo recumbent which
broke the official world speed record on October 6, 2001 achieving the
incredible speed of 80.55 mph
Highway bicycles would be: Cannondale, Speedmachine, Trek, Rans, etc.
Get rid of the name recumbent.

Half right IMHO.
I think a lot of the problem is that keen cyclists see most bikes as
functional types: you have a city bike for the city, a touring bike for
touring, a racing bike for racing etc. And that leaves as a "recumbent"
as, well, something you lie back on? It's divorced from what the bike
actually /does/, which could be city, touring, racing etc.

I think it would help if "recumbent" was seen as an adjective rather
than a plain noun. I ride a recumbent tourer. It's very different from
a recumbent racer. You'd not get most cyclists confusing a tourer and a
racer, but they lump recumbents all together regardless of functional
design.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/