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.

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; 10 models for 2008, made in Taiwan. These are no-frills basic-design recumbents, mostly with round-section sliding boom and boom bolts, twist-grip or bar-end shifters, and chain tubes rather than idlers, but relatively light in weight. 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.

Except as noted, ActionBent SWB bikes have seat heights of 22 to 23 inches and 41-inch wheelbase, and apparently all have a load limit of 265 lbs (120kg).

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Altena Bike (Dussen Netherlands) http://www.altena-bike.nl/
Two SWB models, a recumbent tandem, and a 16/20 mini-SWB for children. All bikes apparently made to order.

Azub Bike (Czech Republic) http://www.azub.cz/
Seven SWB models for 2008, 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/
Ten models for 2008, 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.

Bacchetta's Giro 20 TT and all three Corsa models have a weight limit of 230 lbs, rider plus gear; all other models have weight limit of 275 lbs. 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.

Barcroft Cycles (Lake Barcroft VA) http://www.barcroftcycles.com/
Four MWB models for 2008 plus the Columbia recumbent tandem.

BiGHA (Corvallis OR) http://www.bigha.com/
Some of the people from BikeE are involved in BiGHA. The design is a CLWB in three models and four frame sizes, similar in layout to the BikeE AT but different in detail. It costs $3900-$4600 (2008) and weighs 47 to 52 pounds depending on frame size. They have a 9-speed cassette with 3-speed internal hub, rear suspension, a highly adjustable seat, and a standard handlebar console with readouts including speed, cadence, temperature, humidity, automatic headlight and taillight, and turn signals.

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, snail mail and email addresses only.

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Burley (Eugene OR) G http://www.burley.com/ See Razors Edge Bicycle Company
(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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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.

Cannondale (Bethel CT) G http://www.cannondale.com/
This mainstream bike manufacturer introduced a recumbent called Easy Rider for 2002, a full-suspension, ASS CLWB design, with sliding seat and mid-drive. For 2004-2006 they had two models of the same design, called Bent I and Bent II. As of the 2007 season they seem to have dropped the recumbent models.

Carbent HPV (Los Angeles CA) http://bentupcycles.com/
Highracers with carbon fiber frames, $5000+, four models: Sea Dragon Pro/Sport with 650c wheels, Raven Pro/Sport with 700c. Offered exclusively by LA-area recumbent dealer Bent Up Cycles.

Challenge Ligfietsen (Apeldoorn Netherlands) http://www.challenge-recumbents.com/
Thirteen SWB models for 2008, some with suspension, two 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 2008 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, touring/performance LWB/ASS design, all with 20-inch front wheels and maxed-out 700c rear. A fully-faired Easy Racers special called the Gold Rush is in the Smithsonian now, after breaking 65 mph and winning a cash prize. Easy Racers also designs the EZ-1 line of CLWB value-priced recumbents, manufactured in Taiwan by Sun Bicycles.

All have ASS steering, 66-inch wheelbase in the medium frame size, and 22-inch seat height. The new Javelin has a 23-inch bottom-bracket height; others have 13-inch BB height.

EcoBent (Turin Italy) http://www.ecobent.com/en/
One €495 SWB model. That's 495 Euro, about US$760 as of May 2008.

EZ-1—see Sun Bicycles

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Haluzak (Santa Rosa CA) G
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://www.hasebikes.com/
Five models of unique LWB delta trikes, Tagun LWB two-wheeler, and Pino Tour and Pino Race hybrid tandems (rear rider upright, front recumbent).

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 bikes

LaBent by LaDue (Lincoln NE) http://www.radiks.net/~ladue/
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/
Ten LWB/ASS bikes for 2008, a MWB bike, nine delta trikes, 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 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.

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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 instead of the city for recumbent manufacturers in the Netherlands, please send email and straighten me out.

Maxarya (Toronto ON) http://maxarya.com/
Rear or full suspension CLWB with mid-drive

Nazca Ligfietsen (Nijeveen Netherlands) http://www.nazca-ligfietsen.nl/
Rear suspension SWB, several models

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 rear-suspension USS SWB/LWB with disc brakes looks very cool

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 Company (Knoxville TN) http://www.edgebike.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 will be in production for 2009. Apparently at least the high-end Hepcat SWB and Jett Creek LWB models are also to come. The sites got-bent.com and Razors Edge Engineering also seem to be relevant in some way.

Rotator (Santa Rosa CA) G http://www.rotatorrecumbent.com/
LWB/SWB ASS bikes and a tadpole trike, all with 48-speed mid-drives (6×8). The word is that Stephen Delaire of Rotator is taking a hiatus after 25 years, and may or may not come back to building recumbents.

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. EZ-1's and ActionBent have pretty much taken over the entry-level niche that was dominated by the BikeE CT before 2002.

All Sun recumbents are ASS except for the tadpole trike.

Toxy recumbents (Hörnerkirchen Germany) http://www.toxy.de/
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 tandem design with three inline wheels.

Velokraft (Krakow Poland) http://www.velokraft.com/
Three radical-looking recumbent bikes 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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