Manufacturer sites

Building recumbent bicycles is a tough business. Bigger and older manufacturers tend to have larger, more consistently available Web sites; younger or smaller ones seem to change servers more often and generally have more trouble staying online. If you try a link on this page and get an error, I'd suggest you come back a few days later and try again. Brands with a G link icon are also represented by pictures on my gallery page. Models highlighted in yellow in tables are ones I think are especially good values, except I didn't highlight any ActionBent bikes because they are all value priced.

Bikes page: A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z
Trikes page: A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

If you're a recumbent manufacturer and you're not linked here, or you don't like what I wrote, email me and we'll get it sorted out.

Bikes

ActionBent Recumbents (Redmond WA) G http://www.actionbent.com/
Impressive value pricing; 23 models for 2009 (including trikes) made in Taiwan. They mostly have round-section sliding boom and boom bolts, twist-grip or bar-end shifters, and chain tubes, but are relatively light in weight. ActionBent's model lineup sometimes changes in mid-season. ActionBent sells direct to customers. You may want to locate a Local Bike Shop that sells other recumbents or has a really good mechanic, and have the bike shipped there and assembled for you. Some models don't require much assembly. Available models seem to change drastically from year to year.

Except as noted, ActionBent SWB bikes have a sliding boom frame design, seat heights of 22 to 23 inches and 41-inch wheelbase, and apparently all have a load limit of 265 lbs (120kg) except the DeSantis Touring. For ActionBent trike models see my trikes page.

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Altena Bike (Dussen Netherlands) http://www.altena-bike.nl/
Two SWB models, one with full suspension, a recumbent tandem, and a 16/20 mini-SWB for children. All bikes apparently made to order. They also now offer a rear-wheels module called Opus3, designed to convert almost any upright bike into an upright delta trike.

Azub Bike (Czech Republic) http://www.azub.cz/
Eight SWB models for 2009, all with rear suspension and suspension fork option. USS is standard but an ASS option is available on all models.

European bikes tend to be a bit pricey for Americans due to current exchange rates.

Bacchetta (St Petersburg FL) G http://www.bacchettabikes.com/
Eleven models for 2009, all with ASS; the makers admired Italian road bikes of the 60's and 70's (me too).

* These are Bacchetta's categories for their bikes.

Some Bacchetta bikes that don't come with disk brakes standard have frame tabs for them anyway. See the site for full specs, including fit range for specific models and frame sizes.

Backsafer (Miami FL) http://www.backsafer.com/
One model, a folding CLWB 20/20 recumbent. Completely Flash-dependent site with no HTML option, and kind of hard to use.

Barcroft Cycles (Lake Barcroft VA) http://www.barcroftcycles.com/
Four MWB models for 2009 plus the Columbia recumbent tandem.

BikeE (Corvallis OR) G
BikeE went out of business suddenly in third quarter 2002. They made several models of user-friendly CLWB bikes with anodized aluminum box beam frames, including suspension and tandem models.

Boulder Bikes (Lyons CO) http://www.boulderbikes.com/
Galaxy SWB; placeholder page as of May 2008, September 2009, snail mail and email addresses only.

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Burley (Eugene OR) G http://www.burley.com/ See Razors Edge Bicycle
(formerly Burley Design Cooperative)
Burley was a cooperative in Eugene, Oregon that started with child trailers and tandems, and after 2000 made some very nice recumbents, but they folded sometime over the 2005/2006 off-season. The story I got from the local dealer in 2006 was that some folks in Eugene bought the assets, and have scaled back and are just making the trailers.

These were the pre-2006 Burley recumbent models:

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Calfee Design (La Selva Beach CA) http://www.calfeedesign.com/
Carbon fiber frames including Stiletto LWB linkage-steering ASS recumbent. Fascinating upright roadie and mountain frames made of bamboo (!) which is smoked, heat-treated, and urethane finished; they say with better vibration damping than carbon fiber. Wow. Not cheap.

Cambie Cycle (Vancouver BC) http://www.cambiecycles.com/
Recumboni USS LWB looks a lot like Easy Racers, and has disk brakes and Mueller WindWrap fairing standard; also a dealer in other recumbent makes.

Carbent HPV (Los Angeles CA) http://bentupcycles.com/
Highracers with carbon fiber frames, $5000+. Offered exclusively by LA-area recumbent dealer Bent Up Cycles.

Challenge Ligfietsen (Apeldoorn Netherlands) http://www.challenge-recumbents.com/
Fourteen SWB and MWB models for 2009, some with suspension, Euro-style lowracers, and a radical-looking tadpole trike.

Cruzbike (Lumberton NC) http://www.cruzbike.com/
Interesting front-wheel drive recumbents with pivoting boom, several models.

Cycle Genius (Houston TX) http://www.cyclegenius.com/
Three LWB models for 2009 including Raven with dual 700c wheels, Sparrow value-price CLWB, and Phoenix "mobility extender" tadpole trike with chair-height seat, all with aluminum frames.

Easy Racers Inc. (Freedom CA) G http://www.easyracers.com/

Well-respected, mature-design, touring/performance LWB/ASS recumbents, all with 20-inch front wheels and maxed-out 700c rear. All have ASS steering, 66-inch wheelbase in the medium frame size, and 22-inch seat height. The Javelin, introduced in 2007, has a simplified mono-tube frame and higher 23-inch bottom-bracket height. The other four models have triangulated frames similar to each other and 13-inch BB height.

A fully-faired Easy Racers special called the Gold Rush is in the Smithsonian now, after a guy called Fast Freddie broke 65 mph and won a cash prize.

Easy Racers also designs the EZ-1 line of value-priced recumbents, manufactured in Taiwan by Sun Bicycles.

EcoBent (Turin Italy) http://www.ecobent.com/en/
One €585 SWB 26/26 high-racer model, with grip shifters and V-brakes. That's 585 Euro, about US$860 as of September 2009.

EZ-1—see Sun Bicycles

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Haluzak (Santa Rosa CA)
Haluzak has gone out of business. The Haluzak Horizon was a MWB USS design with indirect steering, with about the same wheelbase as a conventional upright bike. There were three models plus a delta trike.

Hase Spezialräder (Waltrop Germany) http://hasebikes.com/
Several models of unique LWB delta trikes, Tagun LWB two-wheeler, and Pino hybrid tandems (rear rider upright, front recumbent). The interesting Trets is a child-size delta trike, which with the removal of the front wheel, riser, and handlebars, becomes a kind of child trailer with drive pedals. US dealers listed.

HP Velotechnik (Kriftel Germany) http://www.hpvelotechnik.com/
SWB full-suspension semi-lowracer Speedmachine and Streetmachine models, Grasshopper fx folding SWB, Spirit CLWB, all full-suspension; Scorpion tadpole trike and Scorpion fx folding trike, both with rear suspension. US dealers.

Human Powered Products (Otis Orchards WA) http://www.asisna.com/hppbikes/
SWB/USS 26/16 bikes.

LaBent by LaDue (Lincoln NE) http://www.labentbyladue.com/
Plans and kits for a LWB ASS with very low seat height, made from two upright bikes and square tubing. Reportedly 40-45 pounds. Now also offers finished frames, painted or not.

Lightfoot Cycles (Darby MT) http://www.lightfootcycles.com/
LWB/ASS and MWB bikes, delta trikes, cargo haulers, 4-wheelers. The Magnum trike model is a great option for really big folks (over 6'4" or over 300 pounds).

Lightning Cycle Dynamics (Lompoc CA) G http://www.lightningbikes.com/
SWB ASS performance recumbents, including the P-38, value-priced Phantom version, the fully-faired F-40, and the 20-pound carbon-fiber/aluminum R-84.

Linear Recumbents (Alfred NY) http://www.linearrecumbent.com/
Back in business with a LWB and at least prototypes of a SWB, both USS.

Longbikes (Littleton CO) G http://www.longbikes.com/
The Slipstream LWB USS is the descendant of Dick Ryan's Vanguard touring paragon, with redesigned frame and lower 23-inch seat height. They also have the Eliminator SWB and Jetstream and Gulfstream tandems. The Gulfstream is similar to the old Ryan Duplex, more than ten feet long overall, with low bottom brackets for both driver and stoker. The design style is appealing, with everything built to be sturdy and no compromises.

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M5 Ligfietsen (Middelburg Netherlands) http://www.m5-ligfietsen.nl/
Multiple MWB ASS/USS models, some lowracers, some higher; also a CLWB and a tandem.

If I have mistakenly listed the street name instead of the city for recumbent manufacturers in the Netherlands, please send email and straighten me out. Thank you.

Maaf Bikes (Rhede Germany) http://maafbikes.com/
Bikes with fully enclosed drivetrain, two SWB and a LWB.

Maxarya (Toronto ON) http://maxarya.com/
Rear or full suspension CLWB with mid-drive; can be had with 20/20 or 20/16 wheels.

MetaBikes (Spain) http://maxarya.com/
SWB bikes with radical-looking frames for various wheel-size combinations; may only be selling framesets in the US.

Nazca Ligfietsen (Nijeveen Netherlands) http://www.nazca-ligfietsen.nl/
Rear suspension ASS/USS SWB, several models, with some low-racers.

Optima Ligfietsen (Ijmuiden Netherlands) http://www.optima-cycles.nl/
Eleven models for 2008, SWB/MWB/CLWB, including two tadpole trikes with rear suspension.

Oracle Cycle Works (Oshawa ON) http://www.oraclecycleworks.com/
Omega full-suspension USS SWB with disc brakes looks very cool; $2995 Canadian, about US$2800 as of September 2009.

Radius Recumbents (Muenster Germany) http://www.radius-liegeraeder.de/english/

Rans Recumbents (Hays KS) G http://www.ransbikes.com/
SWB and LWB recumbents, mostly with TIG-welded chromoly frames and all with ASS steering. Rans also makes ultralight airplanes.

If you want to go out and humiliate upright roadie pacelines, or something like that, one of the fastest recumbents you can whip out a fat checkbook and buy is a custom-spec Rans Seavo tandem, equipped with front and rear disk brakes, a polycarbonate fairing, aero wheels or spoke covers, a Coroplast tail box, tall gearing, and two suitably crazed riders. (A tandem makes about the same size hole in the air, but has twice as much "engine.") AngleTech sells custom Rans bikes.

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RaptoBike (Amsterdam Netherlands) http://www.raptobike.nl/
FWD low-racer, and apparently a mid-racer of some sort planned.

Razors Edge Bicycle (Seymour TN) http://www.got-bent.com/
These folks have apparently bought the tooling for some or all of the former Burley recumbents, and it looks like the entry-level Koosah LWB and the high-end Hepcat SWB and Jett Creek LWB models are available for 2009.

Rotator (Santa Rosa CA) G http://www.rotatorrecumbent.com/
LWB/SWB ASS bikes and a tadpole trike, with 48-speed mid-drives. The word is that Stephen Delaire is taking a hiatus after 25 years, and may or may not come back to building recumbents. As of January 2010 a page on the site says "we are no longer taking orders."

Route-X (Colombia) http://www.route-x.com/
One SWB model called NEOC, apparently, made in South America and sold in Florida and online.

Rowingbike (Middelburg Netherlands) http://rowingbike.com/
Unique line of recumbents propelled by an arms-and-legs rowing motion, similar to that seen in racing shells. Includes a SWB, a tadpole trike, and a tandem with both driver and stoker rowing and the stoker facing to the rear.

Ryan—see Longbikes

S&B (Gardena CA) http://home.pacbell.net/recumbnt/
Tadpole and delta trikes, a SWB, and a tandem tadpole trike.

Slyway (Italy) http://www.slywayprojects.com/
Several models including a carbon fiber high-racer.

Sun Bicycles (Taiwan) G http://www.sunbicycles.com/
The EZ-1 line of value-priced recumbents, designed by Easy Racers, is manufactured in Taiwan by Sun, and sold by Local Bike Shops everywhere. Medium size towns often have several dealers selling this line; ask for a Sun brochure. The basic EZ-1 should retail for well under $1,000. Sun and ActionBent have pretty much taken over the entry-level niche that was dominated by the BikeE CT before 2002.

All 2009 Sun two-wheel recumbents are ASS.

Question marks reflect information not available on the Sun Website on 3 October 2009..

Toxy recumbents (Hörnerkirchen Germany) http://www.toxy.de/index_en.html
Four SWB/USS bikes plus an ASS lowracer, all with 20/20 wheels and full suspension.

Turner Recumbents (Tucson AZ) http://turnerrecumbents.com/
Lightweight performance T-Lite SWB USS, T-Long LWB USS, Transport CLWB ASS, and a unique custom-order T-4-2 recumbent tandem with two forks and three inline wheels.

Velokraft (Krakow Poland) http://www.velokraft.com/
Four radical recumbents with carbon fiber frames.

Vision Recumbents (Seattle WA) G
Vision went out of business in early 2004 and their assets were auctioned off. They made SWB, LWB, suspension, and tandem bikes with an elegant monotube frame design and no power-side idlers. Most dealers who sold Vision as their only recumbent line probably went to Sun/EZ-1 or Burley or both, those that didn't give up on recumbents entirely.

Volae Recumbents (Stevens Point WI) http://www.volaerecumbents.com/
Performance SWB ASS bikes, six "high-racer" models (four with dual 650c wheels and two with dual 26-inch) and two more conventional 26/20 designs.

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ZOXBikes (Erlangen Germany) http://www.zoxbikes.de/
Several lowracer models, a tandem, and a delta trike; site in German only.