Although I do think the idea of trying to come up with a ‘better’ bicycle (e.g. maybe more aerodynamic, easier on the lumbar spine of people with back problems etc.) is worthwhile, wouldn’t it make sense that the companies that make bicycles would be doing this design analysis. If you come up with something better, you sell more bikes (maybe). This just doesn’t seem like something the NSF should be funding.
The better bicycle already exists. It is the recumbent bike. The real obstacle is that cars and recumbents don’t mix well and recumbents don’t work well on sidewalks. So people who would love to ride a recumbent won’t for safety reasons.
And the NSF isn’t, really.