Comfort bikes were hot last year and hotter this year. Recumbents could well be the next trend. Tandems had a good year. Just about every major company had at least four models on display. Gary Fisher, the mountain bike icon, showed four comfort bikes.
Comfort bikes cover a pretty broad range.
They have pretty much absorbed the city bike and hybrid bike categories. The defining features are the suspension seat posts and suspension stems. Tandems and Recumbents Tandems had a record year with about 40,000 sales. 2000 is projected to be better. John Schubert writes for Adventure Cyclist.