alternate theories about why recumbents don't sell

[Chalo]

[email protected] wrote:
>
> I believe this is the same principle as a longer pendulum
> having a larger period. Another way of looking at it is
> trying to balance a yardstick vs a 12" ruler on your finger.
> It is much easier to balance the yardstick. (I have never
> ridden a giraffe unicycle, so I'm speaking hypothetically.)

Yep. The same applies to tallbikes, which can easily be ridden at very
slow speeds that would cause a normal bike to become tippy.

Chalo

 

[dkahn400]

On Jan 17, 12:55 am, [email protected] wrote:
>
> One reason that recumbents don't catch on is that kids are the primary
> bicycle market, and kids can't fool around with a recumbent:

That depends on the recumbent. See
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBQ-nH8LdY>

--
Dave...

 

[[email protected]]

On 25 Jan 2007 13:44:29 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email protected]>
wrote:

>On Jan 17, 12:55 am, [email protected] wrote:
>>
>> One reason that recumbents don't catch on is that kids are the primary
>> bicycle market, and kids can't fool around with a recumbent:
>
>That depends on the recumbent. See
><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBQ-nH8LdY>

Dear Dave,

Well, there's always hope . . .

But look below the video at the first comment on KMart's advertising
video for "KMX Kart Bikes a new revolution to cycling" to see a
real-world two-word response to tipping tricycles from side to side.

Not a curb in sight.

Hate to try to ride one up a hill.

And what would a kid would do with the ubiquitous backpack demanded by
modern education? No luggage rack, no way to keep it on your back.
Maybe put it in your lap?

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

 

[[email protected]]

On Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:22:52 -0700, [email protected] wrote:

>On 25 Jan 2007 13:44:29 -0800, "dkahn400" <[email protected]>
>wrote:
>
>>On Jan 17, 12:55 am, [email protected] wrote:
>>>
>>> One reason that recumbents don't catch on is that kids are the primary
>>> bicycle market, and kids can't fool around with a recumbent:
>>
>>That depends on the recumbent. See
>><http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBQ-nH8LdY>
>
>Dear Dave,
>
>Well, there's always hope . . .
>
>But look below the video at the first comment on KMart's advertising
>video for "KMX Kart Bikes a new revolution to cycling" to see a
>real-world two-word response to tipping tricycles from side to side.
>
>Not a curb in sight.
>
>Hate to try to ride one up a hill.
>
>And what would a kid would do with the ubiquitous backpack demanded by
>modern education? No luggage rack, no way to keep it on your back.
>Maybe put it in your lap?
>
>Cheers,
>
>Carl Fogel

Aaargh! My mistake--nothing to do with KMart, despite the "KMX Kart"
name!

http://www.rbr.info/kmx.html

CF

 

[A Muzi]

> On Jan 17, 12:55 am, [email protected] wrote:
>> One reason that recumbents don't catch on is that kids are the primary
>> bicycle market, and kids can't fool around with a recumbent:

dkahn400 wrote:
> That depends on the recumbent. See
> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBQ-nH8LdY>


I see that link uses the words 'new' and 'revolution' to describe a copy
of the Trailmate USA 'Banana Peel' which has been in production in
Sarasota for 25+ years.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[bob prohaska's usenet account]

[email protected] wrote:
>
> She's just another European enthusiast of what's indoor or artistic
> cycling:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Artistic+cycling
>
> These hateful creatures spend their idle time making people like me
> feel inferior, sometimes in teams.
>
Amen to that, and thanks for the link!

bob prohaska

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
A Muzi <[email protected]> wrote:

> > On Jan 17, 12:55 am, [email protected] wrote:
> >> One reason that recumbents don't catch on is that kids are the primary
> >> bicycle market, and kids can't fool around with a recumbent:
>
> dkahn400 wrote:
> > That depends on the recumbent. See
> > <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBQ-nH8LdY>
>
>
> I see that link uses the words 'new' and 'revolution' to describe a copy
> of the Trailmate USA 'Banana Peel' which has been in production in
> Sarasota for 25+ years.

I was interested, so I followed the hint.

http://www.trailmate.com/productBananaPeel.cfm

The Banana Peel is a delta trike, while the KMX is a tadpole trike.

The KMX is RWD, while the Banana Peel is FWD.

Either way, the one part of that video where the rider actually flies a
drop has me spooked. Either there's a lot of cushioning in the seat, or
that kid has a very sore spine.

On any kind of upright bike, the rider can post (or levitate, as our
saddlephobic friend would have it), thus decoupling the rider's weight
(and spine) from the landing. The knees do the hard work, absorbing the
shock over more time and space than a seated rider could.

The KMX looks like fun, though. Sort of a deranged Green Machine for
adults.

Well, heh, the Green Machine was actually like the Banana Peel:

http://www.amazon.com/None-Huffy-Green-Machine/dp/B00008431G

Either way, amusing toys.

--
Ryan Cousineau [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com/
"I don't want kids who are thinking about going into mathematics
to think that they have to take drugs to succeed." -Paul Erdos

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
Mark Hickey <[email protected]> wrote:

> [email protected] wrote:
>
>
> >She's just another European enthusiast of what's indoor or artistic
> >cycling:
> >
> >http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Artistic+cycling
> >
> >These hateful creatures spend their idle time making people like me
> >feel inferior, sometimes in teams.
>
> It got worse when I lived in China. I went to a small acrobatics
> performance. A guy on a 6' unicycle was putting bowls on one foot
> while keeping the unicycle upright using the other one. Then he'd
> flip the bowl with his free foot in a graceful arc, up onto onto his
> head. INTO the other bowls he'd previously sent up there in such an
> unlikely fashion. Over and over and over, without missing.

W.C. Fields said his most difficult maneuver was to
stand on one foot, balance a top hat on the other foot
by the brim, balance a lit cigar on the crown of the
top hat, kick them up, and finish with the top hat on
his head, the cigar in his mouth. He is on film
performing this marvel.

--
Michael Press

 

[Michael Press]

In article
<[email protected]>,
Dan Burkhart
<[email protected]>
wrote:

> Mark Hickey Wrote:
> > [email protected] wrote:
> >
> >
> > >She's just another European enthusiast of what's indoor or artistic
> > >cycling:
> > >
> > >http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Artistic+cycling
> > >
> > >These hateful creatures spend their idle time making people like me
> > >feel inferior, sometimes in teams.
> >
> > It got worse when I lived in China. I went to a small acrobatics
> > performance. A guy on a 6' unicycle was putting bowls on one foot
> > while keeping the unicycle upright using the other one. Then he'd
> > flip the bowl with his free foot in a graceful arc, up onto onto his
> > head. INTO the other bowls he'd previously sent up there in such an
> > unlikely fashion. Over and over and over, without missing.
> >
> > I've felt like an absolute klutz ever since. ;-)
> >
> > Mark Hickey
> > Habanero Cycles
> > http://www.habcycles.com
> > Home of the $795 ti frame
>
> I saw that exact same stunt performed just last week at Disney World.
> A young oriental girl stacked 5 or 6 bowls on her head in the fashion
> you describe, following that by flipping a cup into the bowls, and then
> a spoon into the cup.
> I have a regular size unicycle in my shop which I have never succeeded
> in balancing, so I am already impressed that someone can stay up on a 6'
> one.

If someone can stay up on any unicycle, the taller one
is easier. Dismount may pose a challenge.

--
Michael Press

 

[dabac]

...
Not a curb in sight.

Hate to try to ride one up a hill.

And what would a kid would do with the ubiquitous backpack demanded by
modern education? No luggage rack, no way to keep it on your back.
Maybe put it in your lap?

ALthough I realize the challenge and joy of mastering your vehicle it still seems somewhat "backwards" to me to get a 3-wheeled bike and then start riding it around on 2 wheels...

 

[dabac]

....Either way, the one part of that video where the rider actually flies a
drop has me spooked. Either there's a lot of cushioning in the seat, or
that kid has a very sore spine.

Oh, I don't know about that. Have you ever looked at the jumps kids run over in sleds and toboggans? They don't even have the benefit of pneumatic tyres and still seem to do OK most of the time.

I'd be more concerned about the limited braking space, or the consequences of a tumble, where snow would definitely be a more forgiving surface for a faceplant.

 

[Mark Hickey]

Michael Press <[email protected]> wrote:

>W.C. Fields said his most difficult maneuver was to
>stand on one foot, balance a top hat on the other foot
>by the brim, balance a lit cigar on the crown of the
>top hat, kick them up, and finish with the top hat on
>his head, the cigar in his mouth. He is on film
>performing this marvel.

What - you can't do that?

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame