On September 18–20, the biggest recumbent event in the United States returns to Xenia, Ohio: Recumbent Cycle-Con.
The show took a break last year, and in the meantime, its organization changed hands. WizWheelz, the company behind TerraTrike and GreenSpeed, handed the event over to Marshall Randall and his wife, Kelle. This year, the show returns to the same location, the same hall, and hopefully with the same unique atmosphere.
There is one important change, though: the return of the original name, Recumbent Cycle-Con.
The show was founded by Chuck Coyne in 2011, with the first edition taking place in Pomona, California, not far from Los Angeles. From there, the event gradually traveled around the United States.
When Chuck ended his career as the show’s organizer and sold the entire project to WizWheelz, the new organizers changed the name from Recumbent Cycle-Con to simply Cycle-Con. The idea was to broaden the range of exhibitors and products beyond the recumbent world. That didn’t quite work out as planned, and Marshall has made what I think is a smart decision: putting “Recumbent” back into the name.
So we can finally go back to calling it RCC. Because somehow, CC never really caught on. RCC simply makes sense.
Just like SPEZI and other major recumbent events, RCC is something I look forward to for weeks and months in advance. In fact, I usually start looking forward to the next edition almost as soon as the current one ends.
I’m looking forward to going to the United States even more this year because we weren’t there last year. That made the wait longer—and the anticipation even stronger.
So here are five reasons why I’m looking forward to Recumbent Cycle-Con.
1. All Those Faces, Familiar and New
At RCC, I’ll once again meet many of my friends and people I’ve gotten to know over the years. In fact, a large part of my circle of friends comes from the recumbent community. Many of them live in North America, and RCC is one of the few opportunities I have to meet them in person.
They include recumbent bike and trike owners, company owners and employees, event organizers, racers, influencers, and many others.
This year, there will once again be plenty of familiar faces at RCC. People like Paul Hollants from HP Velotechnik; Marshall Randall, trike racer and RCC organizer; Mark Crews, head of WizWheelz, the company behind TerraTrike and GreenSpeed; Robert Stein of Steintrikes; Aleš Zemánek from AZUB; Matt Galat, well known for his JaYoe Nation channel, who will also give a presentation about one of his journeys; and Mikey O’Brien, the well-known dealer and YouTuber from Laid Back Cycles in Sacramento, California, and of course, Gary Solomon and his crew from Laidback Bike Report.
It’s always great to spend some time with these people, talk about what’s going on in the recumbent world, exchange stories and ideas.
2. Real Conversations About Real Bikes
Whether you’re completely new to the world of recumbents or you’ve been riding recumbent bikes and trikes for several decades, you probably have questions you’d like to ask.
Facebook groups and Reddit are, of course, good places to ask questions and get answers these days. Often, those answers come from very experienced riders and, from time to time, even directly from people working for recumbent manufacturers.
But coming to Xenia and talking about a particular bike while standing right next to it is something completely different.
You can discuss the bikes and trikes on display directly with company owners, designers, engineers, and mechanics. It’s a unique opportunity to get verified information and hear opinions directly from the people who make the products. And sometimes, you’ll hear a few behind-the-scenes stories as well.
Friday may be reserved for industry professionals and dealers, but that doesn’t mean the dealers and their employees disappear on Saturday. Quite the opposite. This often means you can get not only the manufacturer’s perspective but also the perhaps more independent opinion of a dealer who works with several different brands and may have decades of experience in the recumbent industry.
3. Testing, Testing, Testing
Almost every bike or trike you see on display at RCC can also be ridden.
There’s a long test course that runs through the exhibition hall and continues outside onto a paved loop. You can also turn onto a gravel section and find out how a particular bike or trike behaves away from smooth pavement.
And this is where things get really interesting: you can test bikes from different manufacturers one immediately after another and compare them directly.
If you’re interested in fast trikes, you can jump into an ICE VTX, then find out whether you might actually prefer sitting a little higher and more upright on an ICE Sprint X, and just a few minutes later you can be riding a GreenSpeed Aero or TerraTrike Spyder.
If you’re looking for a full-suspension trike, you might first ride an HP Velotechnik Scorpion fs, then an AZUB Ti-FLY 26 a few minutes later, and before half an hour has passed, you can be testing a fully suspended ICE Adventure.
And if you’re curious about how Steintrikes’ full-suspension trikes behave, their U.S. representatives traditionally prepare their own gravel test track with various obstacles, speed bumps, and other features where you can experience their unique dual-wishbone front suspension.
There are very few opportunities where you can compare so many different recumbents in such a short period of time.
4. The Rides
Xenia, Ohio, is a true cycling hub—a city where several bike trails meet and from which you can head out on all kinds of rides, whether short or long.
The RCC organizers have prepared an official Saturday afternoon ride (5:15 pm led by Mickey from Laidback Cycles) and a Sunday morning ride (8:30 am led by AZUB). There will be some snacks at the turning point and the ride will be about 15 miles both ways.
But the official rides are only part of the story.
Visitors organize plenty of additional rides among themselves, both during the show, before and after it. That gives the whole event a character that is difficult to replicate at a conventional trade show.
And you can experience that atmosphere even more intensely if you take advantage of the option to park your RV at the campground located directly on the fairgrounds.
5. Meeting Some of You
The fifth reason is the opportunity to meet some of you.
Events like RCC are among the few places where I can meet you, the readers of RECUMBENT.news, in person. So if you see me in Xenia, stop me and say hello. Let me know what you like about RECUMBENT.news, what you don’t like, what kinds of articles you enjoy reading, or what you think I should add.
I’ll be happy to hear any feedback you have.
So save the date 18 through 20 September, 2026 (18th only for professionals) and visit www.cycle-con.com
Finally, here’s a video from the last Cycle-Con in 2024 to give you a taste of what to expect if you decide to come to Xenia.
