Welcome to the Recumbent Cyclist News Archive

June 30, 2019: Recumbent Cyclist News was published from 1990-2007 by us, Bob and Marilyn Bryant. In 1990, commercially built recumbents were new and there was really no dedicated information source. As a new enthusiast searching for a comfortable bike, I was pulled into this completely by accident. My first recumbent test ride came upon the suggestion of Kelvin Clark at Angletech. I had been riding a modified mountain bike with fat slicks and I was there to test ride an Alex Moulton bicycle. That first recumbent ride changed my life. I quickly became obsessed and started collecting all of the information I could find on recumbents.

Along the way, I agreed to take over fledgling newsletter for a small northwest recumbent rider group. We received a small mailing list and few bucks to publish some newsletters. We then started getting subscribers from around the country. RCN had quickly become an outlet for me to share information in a pre-internet world. Soon after we agreed to send RCN to Recumbent Bicycle Club of America (RBCA) members as part of membership dues. Eventually, RCN just became a printed newsletter dedicated to recumbent bikes and trikes. RCNís first press run was less than 50 copies. We had no computer. Text blocks were typed on an electronic typewriter and cut/pasted onto master sheets using a grid and a light table. In contrast, the final edition of 5000+ copies was 100% digital, published to a CD, printed/mailed by a commercial printer and shipped worldwide.

RCN never had any employees. I wrote, tested and published the magazine and Marilyn ran the business side. Writers, copy editor, photographers, graphic artists, etc., were mostly dedicated volunteers. Everybody else was a subcontractor. Some readers may have thought that RCN was too opinionated and my preferences were too apparent. Perhaps this is true. To balance things out, I sought out writers with an opposing or different point of view to my own. We had lots of wonderful enthusiast writers participating in the process. We were dedicated to the publication as well as the promotion of recumbent bikes and trikes for nearly two decades; 101 issues.

Throughout the years printing and postal methods and costs were a delicate balance. RCN was always a small publication. We could never afford full color printing. Early RCNs were printed on copy paper, but we grew beyond the copy shop. After much experimentation we eventually settled on a white newsprint on a web offset press (newspaper). Our printer would take our CD, print, post and mail issues. It was an incredibly efficient operation. The world changed around 2006 and the business was no longer profitable. With forums, podcasts and video coming online, RCN could not compete with the digital world and closed its doors in 2007.

Throughout its 17 year run, RCN covered the birth and heyday of the recumbent industry. There is an incredible wealth of knowledge about the history of our business, sport and people. We saw the most popular recumbent style change, the birth of the highracer and the path that led to the incredible popularity of recumbent tricycles. It was an incredible ride. And now the complete 101 issue RCN archive is online for everyone to see and read. A Special Thank You to Steve Briggs and his volunteers. Steve hosts the site and has obtained and scanned the missing issues and placed them on the site.

Post RCN: Bob & Marilyn Bryant live on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. When Bob isnít riding bikes, talking about bikes, emailing about bikes or surfing the web about bikes, he is a bus driver (at least until he can get back into bikes). Bob worked at a bike coop and ran a small bike shop (Bobís Bike) for a few years where he specialized in refurbishing bikes, selling new/used bikes and recumbents. He is currently testing and commuting daily on a Trek Super Commuter Class 3 ebike and is in the market for a recumbents or two. You can reach Bob at ro.br@yahoo.com