Designed by a French horn player in the (then) Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra, the Counterpoint Presto is one versatile concept bike. A compact- SWB  frame for two 20 inch wheels, with a pivoting steering column, optional pivoted front boom (making it more compact for transport and storage), a front fairing, and great luggage- carrying capacity for touring and in-town use. The carbon- fibre nose cone made by a company called  Roots in the Sky  (the name itself's already a bonus) is sufficiently light to permit being attached with Velcro straps. It then doubles as an anchoring point (or, should one say,  perimeter?) for a body sock  made out of a stretching waterproof, yet breathable, material, which together with the teardrop- shape front fender (reminiscent of the automotive style of the 1930s) turns the Presto into a well- streamlined vehicle.
    This was the bike, that I instinctively fell for when I once searched for a recumbent to acquire. Unfortunately, there were none anywhere near Sweden to be test- ridden first, and I was not too keen on spending a projected $3000 --which it'd have cost to order it from the USA-- sight unseen. Therefore, when I spotted this one at the HPV Championships in München, I was more than anxious to test- ride it right then and there.
    Unfortunatly, that thing called FATE intervened, and not on my behalf. . .  the bike was to take part in a race first, during which it acquired a flat, and the rider/ owner did not have a repair kit with him. I was promised a new try the next day, but that day, a Sunday in September 1992, I elected to give the Championships a miss, and do something else instead. Thus I had to wait another year until a new opportunity to ride a Presto presented itself.
    In hindsight, I believe that, were I able to test ride it on that very first occassion, it'd have been a lasting Love at First Ride , and, subsequently, I probably would not have acquired the Roulandt a couple of weeks later, but arranged to buy a Presto instead.
    Sadly, due to a product liability verdict against the builder won by a dissatisfied customer, whose frame was faulty, and led to him being injured, the bike is no longer being made in the USA. On the other hand, that nice design possessed enough appeal to win the hearts and wallets of the UK Pashley company, that now makes it on licence and markets a better, stiffer, all-Cr-Mo frame version uder the trade name PDQ. As recumbents go, fairly cheaply, too.
    Though that accronym usually stands for Pretty Damn Quick , it also happens to be the initials of PDQ Bach, one of Johan Sebastian Bach's sons, also a composer, and thus continues the "musical" ("easy chair on wheels" ;-)) label tradition of the Counterpoint company, whose other product, an upright-and- recumbent combo tandem is named an Opus.