It's certainly a vicious circle: they're not more popular because they're not more popular...Nearholmer wrote: ↑4 Jun 2023, 9:51am Pete
I suspect that at the root we might be “loudly agreeing” about much of this.
My point about the versatility of a basic upright began as a counter to the apparent contention that most people don’t use recumbents because they are closed-minded and dismissive, whereas I tend to think that recumbents remain a bit niche because they aren’t as versatile. That probably creates a sort of vicious circle, whereby because they aren’t seen much, people are ignorant of their existence, starter-cyclists don’t even think of them as an option, which limits sales, which keeps prices relatively high, which keeps them out of mainstream bike shops etc.
I don't think it's "most people" dismissing them with non-sequiturs, but there are certainly some. Contrast your curiosity with "you'll never get me on one of those things!" which I've heard from an experienced sport cycling coach. Most people don't go there because they're an unknown quantity and at that sort of price there will be established upright alternatives that any given punter will know will work for them, but "too low, can't be safe, don't confuse me with facts as my mind is made up" is quite a widespread attitude.
Versatility is down to the particular implementation. That the most versatile bike going is an upright doesn't make any given upright inherently versatile. TT bikes, track bikes, BMXs, downhill MTBs, road bikes really aren't that versatile, none of them as are versatile as something like an HPVel Grasshopper, though a Grasshopper is less versatile than an upright hybrid (as its name suggests, a general purpose do a bit of everything).
But despite not being especially versatile, expensive niche road bikes sell far more than the whole recumbent market put together: people know what they're getting and have a use for it.
Not just one! Have a go on loads of different ones! And a Moulton, and a Pedersen, and a bakfiets, and a trike, and a lean-to-steer trike, and a unicycle and just everything!
Pete.