First recumbent on my route

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NickM

Veteran
Andy in Sig said:
...In my opinion and experience recumbents are, in most areas, simply a better ride than DFs but I am sure that there will be somebody with equal experience of both who will take the opposite view.
Oh, I doubt that - all the cyclists I know who have extensive experience of recumbents prefer riding recumbents. I don't use my recumbents for commuting (heavy traffic is not their ideal milieu, and they would be wasted), but even with 20-odd years' experience of uprights I now never ride one for pleasure when a recumbent is available.

As for bonj, Keith had him banged to rights on page 1 :rolleyes:
 

col

Legendary Member
Id love a go on one,i watched a race some years ago in my local park,there were upright races too,but the recumbents race had me fascinated,i liked the look of them,but i havnt seen one on the road at all?
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
bonj;33117][QUOTE=Arch said:
So even if balance problems are so rare (and I bet they're more common than you think - inner ear problems, strokes, congenital physical disabilities, injuries etc), those people don't matter?
No, they're just different types - not numbers of people. (Well, I'm not exactly sure they're all 'different', in the sense of being distinct, but still...)
[/quote]

What are you going on about?

They're not more common than I think. I think they're rare, and they ARE rare.

Well, that's alright then. bonj thinks not many people have those problems, so obviously that's correct. All those people must just be figments of society's imagination...


Arch said:
There's a saying you know, variety is the spice of life...
yes but it should be variety in where you ride, not what you ride...

Why should it? Because you think so. Right, well, I think something else. So until you can explain why your opinions are more valid than mine or anyone else's (oh, I'm looking forward to this...), variety can be in whatever you like...

Oh, and Tynan, sorry, in effect you walked in, threw down your point and then said "This is a stupid place to be". I think in that case most people's responce would be "well, if you think that, why hang around?"

Col - there are more and more recumbents about - they are, despite bonj, growing in popularity. It may be something to do with where you live - as Cunobelin says, interest grows around a keen recumbent owner, or a good shop.
 

bonj2

Guest
Arch;33938][QUOTE=bonj said:
Well, I'm not exactly sure they're all 'different', in the sense of being distinct, but still...

What are you going on about?
[/quote]
You said, "inner ear problems, strokes, congenital physical disabilities, injuries" as reasons why people might have balance problems. You obviously made an attempt to make the list as long as possible by listing as many possible reasons as you could think of why people might have balance problems, but some of them are the same thing! For instance, an 'inner ear problem' often is a congenital physical disability. So they're not distinct things...

Arch said:
Well, that's alright then. bonj thinks not many people have those problems, so obviously that's correct. All those people must just be figments of society's imagination...
I didn't say they didn't exist, did I... just that they were rare. Would have thought better of you to use a straw-man argument. Are we having a blond day today Arch?



Arch said:
bonj said:
Arch said:
There's a saying you know, variety is the spice of life...
yes but it should be variety in where you ride, not what you ride...

Why should it? Because you think so.
Yes, because I think so.

Arch said:
Right, well, I think something else.
Great, think that. Doesn't bother me.

Arch said:
So until you can explain why your opinions are more valid than mine or anyone else's (oh, I'm looking forward to this...), variety can be in whatever you like...
They're not. They're just my opinions. Doesn't mean I can't post them though does it.

Arch said:
Col - there are more and more recumbents about - they are, despite bonj, growing in popularity.
Nope. Popularity is not really a matter of opinion. Do you know for a fact that they're growing in popularity? Have you got any evidence, such as statistics published accurately reporting the number of recumbents used nationwide year on year?
And don't think the "well they keep getting produced and sold so somebody must be riding them" argument won't do, as old ones will fall by the wayside or simply lie unused in a shed, the fact that they exist doesn't mean they're being used, which you would think would be the measure of how popular they are, not simply how many exist.

Arch said:
It may be something to do with where you live - as Cunobelin says, interest grows around a keen recumbent owner, or a good shop.

It may be. In some little villages where they all know each other and eat scones on a sunday one eccentric geezer might have got a load of the villagers to have a go on his recumbent, and they decided they liked it and they got one aswell for a laugh. But you don't really see them in cities much, presumably because they aren't very good in traffic?
 

col

Legendary Member
Col - there are more and more recumbents about - they are, despite bonj, growing in popularity. It may be something to do with where you live - as Cunobelin says, interest grows around a keen recumbent owner, or a good shop.


We have a Halfords,a bike shop just up from queen street,and an iron horse shop i think its called,and one opposite station road,now i havnt been in the iron horse shop for a long time so couldnt say what they have,but the other three dont have anything about recumbents at all,which is a bit dissapointing:sad:
 

bonj2

Guest
col said:
We have a Halfords,a bike shop just up from queen street,and an iron horse shop i think its called,and one opposite station road,now i havnt been in the iron horse shop for a long time so couldnt say what they have,but the other three dont have anything about recumbents at all,which is a bit dissapointing:sad:


probably iron horses I would imagine...
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
bonj said:
You said, "inner ear problems, strokes, congenital physical disabilities, injuries" as reasons why people might have balance problems. You obviously made an attempt to make the list as long as possible by listing as many possible reasons as you could think of why people might have balance problems, but some of them are the same thing! For instance, an 'inner ear problem' often is a congenital physical disability. So they're not distinct things...

But they often are distinct things, so my list stands. My point is that you think there are very few people with a balance problem, and I also suspect that there are many more than you think.
Arch said:
Well, that's alright then. bonj thinks not many people have those problems, so obviously that's correct. All those people must just be figments of society's imagination...
I didn't say they didn't exist, did I... just that they were rare. Would have thought better of you to use a straw-man argument. Are we having a blond day today Arch?

Alright, that was slightly sloppy language on my part. But if you think such people are 'rare' and they are in fact much more common than you think, what about the disparity? Do you think those are all made up?

Nope. Popularity is not really a matter of opinion. Do you know for a fact that they're growing in popularity? Have you got any evidence, such as statistics published accurately reporting the number of recumbents used nationwide year on year?

I know that I know more people with them each year. I suspect the figures you want don't exist because as you know full well, no-one surveys how many of what type of bikes are on the road. Even figures for the total number of 'normal' cyclists out there are usually based on the sales figures you will refuse to accept.

And don't think the "well they keep getting produced and sold so somebody must be riding them" argument won't do,

I assume you mean "don't think the "well they keep getting produced and sold so somebody must be riding them" argument will do", or that's a double negative, and therefore means the opposite....
 

bonj2

Guest
Arch said:
But they often are distinct things, so my list stands. My point is that you think there are very few people with a balance problem, and I also suspect that there are many more than you think.
Yes, ok - great, but you suspect wrong.

Arch said:
Alright, that was slightly sloppy language on my part. But if you think such people are 'rare' and they are in fact much more common than you think, what about the disparity? Do you think those are all made up?
if they're a lot more common than I think - but I don't think they are more common than I think...

And what do you mean 'what about the disparity' - what about what disparity? disparity between what...?
I don't think anything's 'made up' - you're the only one that's brought made up into the conversation.

Arch said:
bonj said:
Arch said:
there are more and more recumbents about - they are, despite bonj, growing in popularity.
Have you got any evidence, such as statistics published accurately reporting the number of recumbents used nationwide year on year?
I know that I know more people with them each year.
Yes well that's probably because you know more people each year!
That's a good logic, isn't it - let's estimate the population like that. Have I met any new people this year that I didn't know last year? Yes I have, so the population must have gone up! :blush:

Arch said:
I suspect the figures you want don't exist because as you know full well, no-one surveys how many of what type of bikes are on the road. Even figures for the total number of 'normal' cyclists out there are usually based on the sales figures you will refuse to accept.
Sales figures will be able to estimate the number of normal cyclists, because research has probably been done into the ratio of the number of people that buy bikes to the number of people that actually use them. To get a half-decent estimation of whether the popularity is rising, you would not only have to measure that ratio, but also measure the change in that ratio.
For instance it may be the case that someone hears about recumbents and thinks "oh yes I've got one of those in my shed I'll have a go on, i'll dust it off" and the ratio goes down, conversely, someone might think "I can't be arsed riding my recumbent any more, I keep falling off it" and the ratio goes up.

Arch said:
I assume you mean "don't think the "well they keep getting produced and sold so somebody must be riding them" argument will do", or that's a double negative, and therefore means the opposite....

Yes I do mean that don't be so pedantic :rolleyes:
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
bonj said:
And what do you mean 'what about the disparity' - what about what disparity? disparity between what...?
I don't think anything's 'made up' - you're the only one that's brought made up into the conversation.

The disparity between the number of people you think have problems, and the number who really do...

Yes well that's probably because you know more people each year!

No, the number of people I know stays pretty constant year to year... I don't have the sort of wild social life you do, I expect...

Arch said:
I assume you mean "don't think the "well they keep getting produced and sold so somebody must be riding them" argument will do", or that's a double negative, and therefore means the opposite....

Yes I do mean that don't be so pedantic :rolleyes:

Pedantry works well enough for you though. Well, except you're the only pedant I know who often manages to be a pedant and wrong...:blush:
 

bonj2

Guest
Arch;34357][quote name= said:
what about what disparity?

The disparity between the number of people you think have problems, and the number who really do...
[/quote]
There isn't any such disparity.


No, the number of people I know stays pretty constant year to year... I don't have the sort of wild social life you do, I expect...
Well if you know more people with recumbents yet you don't know any more people in total, then it must be because the ones you already know have gone out and bought recumbents. And that's probably because you've persuaded them to. Because you like recumbents, and are fairly evangelical about them. So it's not really a good indicator of the popularity of them in general.



Arch said:
Pedantry works well enough for you though. Well, except you're the only pedant I know who often manages to be a pedant and wrong...:rolleyes:

Yes but I don't use pedantry when it's obvious that the person meant something else. If they're being ambiguous, then I'll pick them up on it, but where I draw the line is, a muddled argument that they don't really know how to put into words, I'll pick up on. But an obvious typo, then I won't. Typing 'won't' do instead of 'will do' was an obvious typo.
 

Arch

Married to Night Train
Location
Salford, UK
bonj said:
Well if you know more people with recumbents yet you don't know any more people in total, then it must be because the ones you already know have gone out and bought recumbents. And that's probably because you've persuaded them to. Because you like recumbents, and are fairly evangelical about them.

Not really. I'm a follower of trends, not a leader. I don't know of anyone who's bought one because I have one. They've bought them because they've seen them, read about them, tried them and liked them.

So it's not really a good indicator of the popularity of them in general.

Silly me, I thought more people owning them was a measure of greater popularity. How could I be so wrong?


Incidentally, I do know someone who's thinking of selling his Trice, to get something easier to take on the train to Audaxes. <bonj puffs up with righteous bile> He's thinking of getting an Airnimal instead. <bonj explodes in shower of incomprehension>
 
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