Let's pedal backwards for help on this -- ROBUST, via its Indo-European origins, is derived from REUDH (later, for us = RED) which in turn resulted in the Latin word ROBUS as applied to a particular species of oak with reddish wood. [The botanical name for the European Oak is Quercus robur]. As the oak is synonymous with strength and hardiness, ROBUS in due course came to mean "strength." In English and German, it is ROBUST, in Spanish and Italian, ROBUSTO, and finally in French ROBUSTE. Same word, same definition. Why not name a bike ROBUST, if you believe in your product and want to sell it?
JB (too ready to abuse my PhD) Froke
Pebble Beach, CA