Laidback Bike Report

We travel to Rennes, France after Spezi 2026 to meet up with Philippe DesCubes. He is a recumbent trike world champion racer and also just happens to own a highly regarded recumbent bike shop named Velofasto. Philippe walks us through his amazing shop and then we talk about his racing achievements. He also specializes in adaptive mobility so we take a trip to meet a brave young man who has overcom...

Our annual live webcast where Honza, Gary, Jimm and Tray describe the most interesting products seen at the world's largest recumbent show. This year's Spezi event in Freiburg, Germany provides much to discuss. 00:00:00  Intro 00:00:30  What’s on Today’s Show 00:01:00  Panel Introduction 00:02:15  Sponsor Introduction 00:07:30  Spezi 2026 Panel Review with Honza, Jimm, Tray and Gary 01:4...

In this episode of the Laidback Bike Report, we go behind the scenes of one of the most exciting and secretive recent developments in the recumbent world: The Theta Velomobile. For months, a small team of 4 scientists and engineers in Germany worked in total silence, even hiding their Strava data to keep their project a secret from the "nosy folks" on the German Velomobile Forum. They de...

Step back in time to the "virtual free-for-all" of the early 1980s American recumbent revolution! In this episode we sit down with industry veteran Jeff Wills to uncover the forgotten history of the Aerocoupe—a pioneering human-powered trike born out of the Southern California HPV racing scene. Jeff shares incredible stories from the 1980 Speed Championships at Ontario Motor Speedway, wh...

What happens when a young upright bike racer makes the switch to recumbents? In this episode of the Laidback Bike Report, we’re joined by Matthew Lefthand. For Matthew, the transition wasn't just about finding a more comfortable seat—it was about finding a new way to satisfy his competitive drive and improve his longevity on the circuit. Matthew takes us through his evolution from overweight...

What does it take to design a world-class velomobile from the ground up? From Brazil, we talk to the designer himself, Paulo, to discuss the engineering, aerodynamics, and passion behind the Harpia. We go from the initial sketches to the open road and do a dive deep into the build process. Finally, we examine the challenges of velomobile production in South America and what's next for this in...

This year is the 25th Anniversary of one of the most highly respected recumbent manufacturers in the world. This past autumn AZUB Recumbents held a successful celebration event in the Czech Republic right in their home city, Uhersky Brod. Since the excitement has by now calmed down we thought it was a perfect time to sit down with the founders. CEO Aleš Zemánek shares some great stories of the ori...

Wally Swarchuk took 16 years to design and build his dream . This retired geography teacher from Canada began with no skills or experience in building bikes. He taught himself to weld and experimented with many prototypes before coming up with his current Tilt4orce Velocar. We hear his incredible story and then have our old friend Dr. Craig Cornelius evaluate this project using his many years of ...

Nothing short of a revolution in electric assisted trikes is on the way before the end of 2025! We've talked about the French CIXI system in the past (most recently in our interview with their engineers at Spezi 2025) but now they are being implemented on trikes from ICE, HASE and maybe more. These trikes will have no chain, chainrings, chain tubes, idler wheels, derailleurs, cassettes, shift...

We get a serious evaluation of the top two internal gear hubs for your trike. Mel from RecumbentPDX breaks it all down comparing the Rohloff and the new 3 X 3.  Then our German correspondent Jascha Buettler takes us to Dronten in the Netherlands for the 25th anniversary celebration of Velomobiel.nl. Our pal Marshall Randall and wife Kelle are the new owners of Recumbent Cycle-Con. They are with us...

Many of the frames for our bents are manufactured in Taiwan. Around the world many recumbent brands have trusted George Chen and Performer Cycles to provide this metal or carbon fiber skeleton for their products for over 25 years. He also sells his own brand of bikes and trikes to markets globally. We sat down with George to learn more about the history and philosophy of his company, his designs a...

We're recently back from the world's largest recumbent bike and trike show. We'll go booth by booth and talk about all the products that intrigued us at this year's Spezi event with our panel. 00:00:00  Intro 00:00:25  What’s on Today’s Show 00:01:10  Panel Introduction 00:03:30  Sponsor Introduction 01:11:45  Spezi 2025 Highlights with our panel including Tray Bourgoyne, Micke...

From Vancouver, British Columbia we take a close look at the Veemo. This reasonably priced light electric vehicle is now backed by the large mobility company Envo who promise to bring this rider and climate friendly transportation to North America and the world. They are in it for the long haul. Spezi 2025 is almost here so we sit down with the promoters to see what to expect this year at the worl...

Adaptive Adventures is an organization that provides freedom through mobility. They travel around the USA and beyond to serve thousands of disabled adults and children with challenge events in water sports, snow events and cycling. We visited them at their Colorado headquarters in January to learn more about how their recumbent cycling programs benefit people of all ages. Next we meet Alex Pargete...

We've lamented the decline of the 2 wheeled recumbent bike over the last number of years on this webcast. The Cruzbike has been an exception and more recently Dana Lieberman's Bacchetta has reappeared on the scene. Today we talk to Stefano Bonazzoli in Italy where he is now promoting his beautifully designed Slyway Ultra carbon fiber bike. He tells us all about the 3 flexible versions of...

We take the show on the road to Colorado to visit Electric Bike Outfitters in Denver. CEO Jason Livingston gives a tour of his facility then begins a detailed tear down of a hub and a mid-drive motor. We get to see what's inside each type of e-assist and Jason shows us how to properly lubricate and maintain each for long term use. With e-assist safety high on everyone's mind right now he...

Though he's now retired, Geoff Adams spent his professional career creating music and video for many children's shows you may remember. Being an avid recumbent rider since the 1990s he also brings those amazing talents to bear on the laidback world he loves. From lowracers to trikes we discuss it all with Geoff and share the laughs and lighthearted stories from 4 of his incredible bent v...

Armin Ziegler has toured in many places around the world with his recumbent bikes, trikes and velomobiles. This Swiss adventurer has a well regarded collection of travel blogs that have entertained bent riders for many years. As with many velomobile riders he had been stopped by curious police a number of times always ending in a friendly chat and quick return to the road. This past May his Greek...

We have two incredibly inspiring stories that share a connection involving a Steintrike Wild One trike.  First up we talk to John Gunterman. John is a US veteran who was injured in the middle east. He talks about his journey of recovery, how Steintrikes have played a part in it and how he now is dedicated to helping others ride to health. Setting goals is a large part of John's plan and his f...

Always one of our more popular webcasts! We have our panel of Cycle-Con 2024 attending experts share what they consider to be the highlights from each exhibitor at the event. Joining me will be Tray Bourgoyne, Larry Seidman, Larry Varney, and Kelvin Clark from Angletech. 00:00:00  Intro 00:00:50  What’s on Today’s Show 00:01:15  Panel Introduction 00:03:30  Sponsor Introduction 00:05:40  Cycle-Con...

We have two bent riders who take off roading to a more comfortable place. Hezi Yismach is an Israeli bike designer and builder with a penchant for innovation. Richard Ehrlich rides his custom built off road bents where even mountain bikes are challenged. This Canadian adventure rider is even competitive in many of the racing events he enters. We will learn about these amazing guys and then engage...

A solar panel above and a small electric motor on the wheel of his AZUB Six bike was all the assistance Jack Butler needed to become this year's Sun Trip Champion. The Englishman battled former champ Frances Jean-Marc Dubouloz who rode a WAW velomobile on a fiercely contested route from Lyon, France to the Sahara Desert in Morocco and back. Jack tells us all about his adventure racing history...

The Elecy is a futuristic replacement for your current car. It uses sustainable materials with a modular design created to get you and a small passenger around town. This is all the brainchild of Tamara Ivancova an ambitious young aeronautical engineer from the UK who shares the details of her project and her plan to take her company called Amara Automotive to the next level. Do you ride your bent...

Join Recumbent News' Honza Galla, Swedish bent shop owner Alve Henricson, our own Tray Bourgoyne, Peter Stull and me as we stroll down the virtual aisles of Spezi 2024. We'll talk about everything that we found interesting, unique or shocking at this annual celebration of the world's "Special Bikes". You can find all our Spezi 2024 booth interviews and collection video on...

Buying a European velomobile in America has been fraught with poor selection/availability, shipping disasters and minimal expert guidance. Ben Parke has worked very hard over the last year to change all that with his new Minnesota dealership called Northland Velo. Ben's close business connection with Romanian based Velomobile World is bringing a wide range of models to his customers at discou...