BiGHA Comments

skip wrote:

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...
snip

I asked "Have you paid the full $3000.00 price for a Bigha?" and people
danced around the answer so I said "And still no answer..."


Lorenzo:

At this point in time I think you can safely assume that in so far as this
newsgroup goes the answer to your question is NO. Apparently no one posting
to a.r.b.r. has paid $3000 for a BiGHA. I believe the closest to a yes
answer you had was from Ed Wong saying he would buy one for $3000.00 if he
had the money. I'm not sure why the others won't give you a straight
answer, but I can tell you that I haven't purchased one. If I had $3000.00
to spend (not) on a new CLWB bike my personal preference (for whatever
that's worth) would be for a Tailwind and $2000.00 in change. Nevertheless
I think it's good for people to have as many choices and price ranges
available to them as possible. That's what's great about free enterprise.

skip



I'm sure there is some market for Bighas, after all people buy Segways
and Hummers. But why do people fall all over themselves saying how great
this thing is when they would never, ever buy one? Do they think Bigha
is going to send them a free one?

Bigha could be a force in the recumbent market if they reduced the price
to the competitive $1200 to $1500 range. As it is now, the only buyers
are people who know nothing at all about recumbents except that they
want one, and have $3000 to **** away on something that they don't know
anything about, and can't figure out how to do simple research on the
internet. That's a pretty limited market share. If they are going to
stay in business, Bigha needs to learn a little something about free
enterprise.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"We recognize, however dimly, that greater efficiency, ease, and
security may come at a substantial price in freedom, that law and order
can be a doublethink version of oppression, that individual liberties
surrendered for whatever good reason are freedom lost."
Walter Cronkite, in the preface to the 1984 edition of 1984

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...


I'm sure there is some market for Bighas, after all people buy Segways
and Hummers. But why do people fall all over themselves saying how great
this thing is when they would never, ever buy one? Do they think Bigha
is going to send them a free one?

I could say that about many brands of bikes I'd never get

Bigha could be a force in the recumbent market if they reduced the price
to the competitive $1200 to $1500 range. As it is now, the only buyers
are people who know nothing at all about recumbents except that they
want one, and have $3000 to **** away on something that they don't know
anything about, and can't figure out how to do simple research on the
internet. That's a pretty limited market share. If they are going to
stay in business, Bigha needs to learn a little something about free
enterprise.

They aren't marketing to recumbent folks and how do you know its a limited
market share? Just because neither of us would buy one doesn't mean it won't
sell big. Hell looking at some of the high priced bikes at the local bike
shop tells me many might. As you say people buy Segways (not many) and
Hummers (a lot), seems logical they might buy this too, at this time with
the product in its infancy nobody knows what the sales figures are and I'm
not willing to say its a failure or that nobody here will buy one...yet

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...
skip wrote:

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...
snip

I asked "Have you paid the full $3000.00 price for a Bigha?" and people
danced around the answer so I said "And still no answer..."


Lorenzo:

At this point in time I think you can safely assume that in so far as
this
newsgroup goes the answer to your question is NO. Apparently no one
posting
to a.r.b.r. has paid $3000 for a BiGHA. I believe the closest to a yes
answer you had was from Ed Wong saying he would buy one for $3000.00 if
he
had the money. I'm not sure why the others won't give you a straight
answer, but I can tell you that I haven't purchased one. If I had
$3000.00
to spend (not) on a new CLWB bike my personal preference (for whatever
that's worth) would be for a Tailwind and $2000.00 in change.
Nevertheless
I think it's good for people to have as many choices and price ranges
available to them as possible. That's what's great about free
enterprise.

skip



I'm sure there is some market for Bighas, after all people buy Segways
and Hummers. But why do people fall all over themselves saying how great
this thing is when they would never, ever buy one? Do they think Bigha
is going to send them a free one?

I readily concede your point that nobody on arbr has paid $3000 for a Bigha.
We're not the target market either. Personally, I would not buy it for $1k,
but that's just my preference.

That said, I think a Mercedes S500AMG is a fabulous automobile. Never gonna
buy one though. Not when I can get everything I need out of a car with a
Focus at 1/10 the price.

Bigha could be a force in the recumbent market if they reduced the price
to the competitive $1200 to $1500 range. As it is now, the only buyers
are people who know nothing at all about recumbents except that they
want one, and have $3000 to **** away on something that they don't know
anything about, and can't figure out how to do simple research on the
internet. That's a pretty limited market share. If they are going to
stay in business, Bigha needs to learn a little something about free
enterprise.

I really think that their target market is big enough. Wanna bet that it
shows up in the Hammacher-Schlemmner catalogue next year? At $4000 with more
fancy doo-dads hanging off of it, a special paint job and a limited edition
decal? It'll sell out. Ford sold 1,000 Thunderbirds that way a couple years
ago - before they built the first one! There are an astounding number of
folks who will buy things just to show others that they damn well can. You
pretty much described many of them, but I think you underestimated the
scope.

Tom Thompson

Mike Rice wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 17:59:18 GMT, "Lorenzo L. Love"
wrote:

So I ask again, who with any real recumbent experience has
paid the full retail $3000.00 for this slow heavy comfort bike? There is
no need for you to get rude and offensive, just answer the question.

Lorenzo L. Love


Lorenzo I think your missing one thing. People with real recumbent
experience are not the target market for this machine. People with
disposable monies attracted to the finnished appearance are. To that
market $3000 for a luxury item (even one which may never be used) is
perfectly reasonable.

Mike Rice, who paid around 2/3 the BiGHa's price for his Tour Easy.

That's the problem, only people who know nothing about recumbents are
likely to buy a Bigha. But with the internet they can find lots and lots
of info about recumbents very easily. Recumbents aren't a secret
anymore. And even people who can afford $3000.00 on a luxury item are
going to shop around. For the price, Bigha or Goldrush? Bigha or Sabre?
Bigha or Greenspeed? Bigha or two V-Rexs so the wife can come along?
Bigha or four EZ-1 SC Lites for the whole family? It only takes a few
minutes on the internet to see these alternatives and make comparisons.
And Bigha is marketing on the interenet, to the very people most likely
to use the internet for product comparison. How is Bigha going to keep
their potential customers ignorant of all the better values? As a
marketing strategy, it just doesn't make sense.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"We recognize, however dimly, that greater efficiency, ease, and
security may come at a substantial price in freedom, that law and order
can be a doublethink version of oppression, that individual liberties
surrendered for whatever good reason are freedom lost."
Walter Cronkite, in the preface to the 1984 edition of 1984

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...
Mike Rice wrote:

On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 17:59:18 GMT, "Lorenzo L. Love"
wrote:

So I ask again, who with any real recumbent experience has
paid the full retail $3000.00 for this slow heavy comfort bike? There is
no need for you to get rude and offensive, just answer the question.

Lorenzo L. Love


Lorenzo I think your missing one thing. People with real recumbent
experience are not the target market for this machine. People with
disposable monies attracted to the finnished appearance are. To that
market $3000 for a luxury item (even one which may never be used) is
perfectly reasonable.

Mike Rice, who paid around 2/3 the BiGHa's price for his Tour Easy.

That's the problem, only people who know nothing about recumbents are
likely to buy a Bigha. But with the internet they can find lots and lots
of info about recumbents very easily. Recumbents aren't a secret
anymore.

Wanna bet? I run into countless people who've never seen one before, in my
area (Dallas/Fort Worth Texas) only 2 stores sell them and I very rarely see
anyone out with them. And even with all the information available on the net
most either don't know how to find them or don't care to look. Ever had
somone post a question here about info for a particular bike when most of us
(I hope) could have easily found the information using Google. I get that
kind of stuff every day

And even people who can afford $3000.00 on a luxury item are
going to shop around. For the price, Bigha or Goldrush? Bigha or Sabre?
Bigha or Greenspeed? Bigha or two V-Rexs so the wife can come along?
Bigha or four EZ-1 SC Lites for the whole family?

No, the target customers will choose between a BigHa and a Schwinn, they
will never know what a Goldrush, Sabre or Greenspeed are.

It only takes a few
minutes on the internet to see these alternatives and make comparisons.
And Bigha is marketing on the interenet, to the very people most likely
to use the internet for product comparison.

I doubt it, most people interested won't know BigHa even has a web page.
Again you have a whole segment of people who are pretty much internet dumb.
The product will be one of those niche products sold by, as stated in a
previous message, Hammacher-Schlemmner or other outlets like that. If they
see it in a store they'll likely hop on it to see how it feels then take it
home without ANY research.

BTW: I'll wager most recumbent owners did the same thing

How is Bigha going to keep
their potential customers ignorant of all the better values? As a
marketing strategy, it just doesn't make sense.

The market will decide that, I find many businesses have survived that don't
make sense (like AOL)

Well, I guess I'm the world's biggest idiot for paying $3000 for my
Bigha. When I first heard of them I checked out this board. I ended
up purchasing despite all the negativity. I couldn't be happier with
my Bigha. I ride it often.

Feel free to rip me all you want, I'll be happy nontheless. Had I
listened to everyone who said such and such was a bad idea, I wouldn't
have gone to college, wouldn't have married (and had children),
wouldn't have my job, my house, my car, my Bigha, etc. I learned long
ago to listen to the familiar voice inside instead of the strange ones
outside.


"Eduardo L P Jr" wrote in message ...
"Lorenzo L. Love" escreveu na mensagem
nk.net...
.............

The questions remains: Who with any real recumbent experience would pay
the full retail $3000.00 for this slow heavy comfort bike?

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove


In simple words: NO and NEVER!

[]'s Eduardo
--


Ypê Bike: http://www.ypebike.cjb.net/
Ypê Mono: http://www.ype.unicyclist.com/


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Ian wrote in message ...

Edward Dolan wrote:

I love you Lorenzo L. Love! You are a monomaniac almost up to my own
high standards. Nobody but nobody in their right mind is going to pay
$3000. for a Bigha. But it is important to hammer away at this as
there are a lot of idiots in this world.

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

You two should get married.

Jackie Mason: Are you married? Who me? Married? Why I would just as
soon marry a horse as marry a woman, or this chair!

Zorba the Greek: Are you married? Am I not a man. Yes I was married,
wife, children, house, the full catastrophe!

Ed Dolan - Minnesota

Mark Leuck wrote:

"Lorenzo L. Love" wrote in message
nk.net...

Mike Rice wrote:


On Tue, 11 Nov 2003 17:59:18 GMT, "Lorenzo L. Love"
wrote:


So I ask again, who with any real recumbent experience has
paid the full retail $3000.00 for this slow heavy comfort bike? There is
no need for you to get rude and offensive, just answer the question.

Lorenzo L. Love


Lorenzo I think your missing one thing. People with real recumbent
experience are not the target market for this machine. People with
disposable monies attracted to the finnished appearance are. To that
market $3000 for a luxury item (even one which may never be used) is
perfectly reasonable.

Mike Rice, who paid around 2/3 the BiGHa's price for his Tour Easy.

That's the problem, only people who know nothing about recumbents are
likely to buy a Bigha. But with the internet they can find lots and lots
of info about recumbents very easily. Recumbents aren't a secret
anymore.


Wanna bet? I run into countless people who've never seen one before, in my
area (Dallas/Fort Worth Texas) only 2 stores sell them and I very rarely see
anyone out with them. And even with all the information available on the net
most either don't know how to find them or don't care to look. Ever had
somone post a question here about info for a particular bike when most of us
(I hope) could have easily found the information using Google. I get that
kind of stuff every day


And even people who can afford $3000.00 on a luxury item are
going to shop around. For the price, Bigha or Goldrush? Bigha or Sabre?
Bigha or Greenspeed? Bigha or two V-Rexs so the wife can come along?
Bigha or four EZ-1 SC Lites for the whole family?


No, the target customers will choose between a BigHa and a Schwinn, they
will never know what a Goldrush, Sabre or Greenspeed are.


It only takes a few
minutes on the internet to see these alternatives and make comparisons.
And Bigha is marketing on the interenet, to the very people most likely
to use the internet for product comparison.


I doubt it, most people interested won't know BigHa even has a web page.
Again you have a whole segment of people who are pretty much internet dumb.
The product will be one of those niche products sold by, as stated in a
previous message, Hammacher-Schlemmner or other outlets like that. If they
see it in a store they'll likely hop on it to see how it feels then take it
home without ANY research.

BTW: I'll wager most recumbent owners did the same thing


How is Bigha going to keep
their potential customers ignorant of all the better values? As a
marketing strategy, it just doesn't make sense.


The market will decide that, I find many businesses have survived that don't
make sense (like AOL)


But no one can hop on it at a store, it is only sold on line, sight
unseen, direct from Bigha, not from Hammacher-Schlemmner or Sharper
Image or any other catalog dealer. From your internet browser, the one
with the search button at the top.

AOL stays in business by massive advertising. A few years ago AutoBike
used that tactic to sell millions of really crappy bikes so we know it
works for bikes too. You couldn't turn on the TV late at night without
seeing an AutoBike infomercial. The few full page ads Bigha has placed
in high end non-biking magazines just don't reach that kind of numbers.
If you do see their ad, you have to go to the internet to order a Bigha,
so their customers are internet literate.

Someone compared it to a Thunderbird car. But it's just a bicycle. Tell
someone how much your recumbent cost and you'll get "That much for JUST
a bicycle?" response. Now double or triple the cost for a Bigha. Things
like cars can have lots of sex appeal. Not many people in the general
public see sex appeal in a bicycle. How many people have gotten laid
because he drives a snazzy bicycle?

The Segway might be a better comparison, but Segways got massive
prerelease publicity and they can claim to be somewhat unique and
innovative. But they still don't sell for squat. Bighas are really
pretty ordinary recumbents despite the integrated electronics. I predict
sales of less then squat.

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"We recognize, however dimly, that greater efficiency, ease, and
security may come at a substantial price in freedom, that law and order
can be a doublethink version of oppression, that individual liberties
surrendered for whatever good reason are freedom lost."
Walter Cronkite, in the preface to the 1984 edition of 1984

TJ Theismen wrote:

Well, I guess I'm the world's biggest idiot for paying $3000 for my
Bigha. When I first heard of them I checked out this board. I ended
up purchasing despite all the negativity. I couldn't be happier with
my Bigha. I ride it often.

Feel free to rip me all you want, I'll be happy nontheless. Had I
listened to everyone who said such and such was a bad idea, I wouldn't
have gone to college, wouldn't have married (and had children),
wouldn't have my job, my house, my car, my Bigha, etc. I learned long
ago to listen to the familiar voice inside instead of the strange ones
outside.


Have you ridden any other recumbents before buying a Bigha? Or since?
Why did you decide to spend that much when there are other much cheaper
bikes that are in the same class? In what way is this bike superior to
similar but much less expensive bikes? In what way is this bike the
equal to similarly priced but much higher performance bikes? Does that
voice in your head often tell you to spend that kind of money?

Lorenzo L. Love
http://home.thegrid.net/~lllove

"We recognize, however dimly, that greater efficiency, ease, and
security may come at a substantial price in freedom, that law and order
can be a doublethink version of oppression, that individual liberties
surrendered for whatever good reason are freedom lost."
Walter Cronkite, in the preface to the 1984 edition of 1984

"TJ Theismen" escreveu na mensagem
om...
...............
Feel free to rip me all you want, I'll be happy nontheless. Had I
listened to everyone who said such and such was a bad idea, I wouldn't
have gone to college, wouldn't have married (and had children),
wouldn't have my job, my house, my car, my Bigha, etc. I learned long
ago to listen to the familiar voice inside instead of the strange ones
outside.
..............


I'll never rip you Mr. Theismen! I respect your choice and your opinion,
because I guess you'll respect mine too. I live in a country with 0% of
recumbents tradition. To have my own recumbent, I need to build my own.
Maybe you don't like a semi-lowracer with front wheeldrive by a twist chain,
but this was my choice.

As you do, I don't care if other people aprove or not my choices. I have a
tandem upright to ride with my wife. I have an ancient Phillips (1948) which
I've restored to mint state. I like very much my old touring bicycle which
I've converted to fixed gear. When I'm bored with two wheels, I like to ride
my unicycle. I don't have preconceptions with HPV's.

Don't worry... Be happy!

All the best!

Eduardo
--


Ypê Bike: http://www.ypebike.cjb.net/
Ypê Mono: http://www.ype.unicyclist.com/



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