There are also a couple of things up there that don't quite add up for me. First of all, people don't ride recumbents at Kona because that's against the rules, not because they "don't accept" them. (EDIT: Maybe you meant that even if they were legal, no one would ride them. Fair enough -- but I think that's a separate discussion. Seems to me that the use of recumbents would be a fundamental change to the sport, not merely an equipment upgrade.)
But bikes like the Cheetah don't find their way to the LBS because Cheetah is a tiny company, consisting of like three people, who hand-makes bikes one at a time. You don't see a lot of Ruegamer frames around either, or Calfee frames ... same story. Boutique manufacturers are the only ones who CAN make crazy frames, because the others are catering to ProTour teams. There are a few "tweener" companies, who are larger than the small shops, but still not tied to ProTour teams, who could stand to carve out a really cool niche if they took some leaps with frame design. Companies like Blue, Ceepo, etc.
And of all the superbikes out there, I can't think of ANY that use a different "steering mechanism." Lotus, Cheetah, Titanflex, BP Stealth, Hotta, Corima .... all of these use standard forks. The closest thing to a "different steering mechanism" would actually be something like the Trek Speed Concept, but it shouldn't handle any differently, because essentially the steering column is in the same place, at the same angle.
Finally, I think you lost the "replacement parts" fight when you mentioned BB30. You know that every stock Specialized Transition uses a BB30? There are plenty of those at Kona, yet no public outcry as to the unavailability of BB30 replacement parts on race day. And moreover, EVERY bike has unique parts subject to breaking, that would be difficult to replace on race day. Like seatposts/seatmast toppers (pretty much every manufacturer has something different). Like Tektro under-the-bb brakes. Like special stem configurations (Felt, LOOK). Yet these bikes make it to Kona year after year. People can probably gather that their bike has special parts, but they take the risk anyway.
Listen, I like Blue. Very cool-looking bikes. I have a good friend who rides one, and you know what? He's way faster than me. I have nothing against Blue's decision not to go radical ... it just seems that the reasons you gave don't make total sense.
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