Q: For years, topics of conversation within the recumbent community have included the question of "When will the recumbent go mainstream?" Would going mainstream be good for recumbents, or is one of the things that makes recumbents so much fun their "outsider status?"

A: For some people, maybe, but not for me. From my viewpoint, it should be a mainstream product. The only reason that it's not is due to the bike shops. The bike industry does not understand that people quit riding due to comfort problems. The jock thing is all-pervasive in the bike industry. The financial guys understand that the major problem lies in the attitudes of the retailers. But the marketing people don't seem to understand it, or can't find a way around it.

Look at the ski industry...you can't buy straight skis any more. But when they introduced shaped skis the response from all the guys in the retail shops was that "yeah maybe they are better for beginners, but real men use straight skis." So the ski makers set up tents at ski areas and gave them to people to try. The people all saw they were better, and in 4-5 years, shaped skis took over the ski industry. But recumbent makers don't have a captive audience at the top of a ski hill. And no one in the business has the financial ability to do that type of marketing.

(Regarding mainstream companies entering the recumbent market): I thought the Trek was OK. It had a couple problems, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with. When Wheel and Sprocket first got them, they sold one a day for two months. The local Trek dealers each had one on the floor, and never sold a single one. How could one shop sell 60 and another sell zero? It's because of the jock-centered staff at most bike shops.

There are maybe 200 shops doing a decent job of selling recumbents out of 6,000. We've (the recumbent industry) been at it for 20 years, and in Boston, there's only one shop that sells any recumbents.