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Old 07-04-2004, 06:22 AM   #71 (permalink)
Luigi de Guzman
 
Posts: n/a
Re: switching from a trike to an upright?

On Sat, 03 Jul 2004 23:04:08 -0500, Mike Schwab <MASchwab@Wamusa.com>
wrote:

>I ordered an EZ-1 through my LBS, paid 504 less 10 discount,


Still doesn't compete with cheap or free, my friend.

And I'm not even talking about horrid 50 dollar X*Mart bikes; there's
an immense pool of old bikes out there of reasonable quality that
people merely *give* away.

Note that I'm not disputing any of the *technical* merits of the
recumbent bicycle--far from it. I'm merely suggesting that, for
someone who's new to cycling and who doesn't have much (or any!)
money, the price of even the cheapest recumbent is a significant
barrier to entry.

You will of course argue that the most expensive bike is the one you
don't ride--which is also true. But for someone who isn't *yet*
hooked on cycling as an activity, five hundred dollars may be a bit
too much to ask, especially where decent-quality uprights can be had
for half that price, and reasonable quality used bikes had for an even
smaller fraction.

-Luigi
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