The Ground Hugger XR2 recumbent
bicycle was recently developed as an in-house project. It takes the idea of
lifestyle impacts on energy demand a bit farther. We’ve seen how a sort of
"purist" attitude can become a mindset and get people turned on to certain
activities. I n the name of fitness, people run until they drop from exhaustion with
no actual destination in mind. And smart, educated folks like us do manual labor, like
weightlifting and rowing stationary machines, without actually accomplishing anything,
other than feeling and looking better.
Today, cycling enthusiasts pay $2,000 or more for
high-tech bicycles that provide little real additional benefit in actual performance -
once you break the $1000-dollar price barrier. Most of the appeal has to do with the
pleasure of enjoying fine craftsmanship and beautiful design, and getting turned on to a
sort of mental image of what it means to be part of an elite group - to sort of wear the
image.
So with the right practical support and innovative
product design, it’s easy to envision that the idea of combining fresh-air fitness
with the need to go somewhere could become the "in" thing to do. It just
wouldn’t be cool anymore to use a ton of hardware to travel three miles to work.
These are mindset challenges that can be influenced by product design and marketing
messages.
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