Just a week before the American Cycle-Con, a show that has changed owners just recently comes another important news for all the recumbent enthusiasts. This time from Germany and with a much bigger impact. The Spezialradmesse known as SPEZI is the world’s largest show for special bikes, and around 10 000 visitors enjoyed the event in the German town of Germersheim every year. Read more in the press release from Hardy Siebecke and the new owners here below.
It was apparent the show could be better, more compact, but larger. It was clear that new ideas can come with new and bigger space, and I hope this will come true in the near future. Fingers crossed for the organizers and also for the whole recumbent community. We all need good recumbent show and the excellent atmosphere we all love.
Lauchringen/Baden-Württemberg: After a three-year break due to corona, the international special bike fair SPEZI 2023 is taking place again. As the world’s largest special bike trade fair with up to 130 exhibitors and around 10,000 visitors, the SPEZI is now relocating to Baden-Württemberg after 24 successful trade fairs in Germersheim (Rhineland-Palatinate). To be more precise, to Lauchringen a family-friendly community near the Swiss border between the districts of Lörrach and Konstanz. The SPEZI offers an international stage for cargo bikes, velomobiles, tandems, recumbent bikes, trikes, rehab bikes, and folding bikes.
At the handover, founder Hardy Siebecke says: “With Florian and Gabriel Wolf and their partner Franz Furmaniak from Lauchringen, we can be sure that the spirit and flair of the SPEZI will be preserved and further inspired by new ideas.” The former textile industry area “Lauffenmühle”, where the fair will take place from 2023, offers exhibitors more room and space and is still more compact for visitors. The municipality stands by the new makers with much support and commitment. Lauchringen’s Mayor Thomas Schäuble says: “Helping to shape the urban mobility change in the rural region is a task that we are motivated to tackle and support”.
The variety of bicycles and bicycle-like vehicles is an added value for people and their individual needs. The SPEZI makes this visible every year. Florian Wolf: “Especially in today’s world, this is so important. Many years ago, I got to know the trade fair as a visitor, since 2016, we have been represented as a recumbent manufacturer with Wolf & Wolf GmbH as an exhibitor. It was immediately clear to us that we wanted to continue this fair, this meeting, this festival.” Gabriel Wolf says regarding the change of location, “Of course, there are risks involved, but the cooperation with Lauchringen also offers decisive potential”.
Many ideas are already being planned. What the new organizers will be able to do in the short term can be eagerly awaited.
On April 29th and 30th, 2023 the gates to the 25th SPEZI will be opened in Lauchringen.
The international special bike fair SPEZI was founded in 1996 by Haasies Radschlag in Germersheim. Hardy Siebecke was responsible for organizing and running the fair until 2019. The internationally unique exhibition for the special bike industry has been recording increasing numbers of exhibitors and visitors for years. In 2019, 130 exhibitors from 19 countries were present in Germersheim. They showed a wide spectrum of human-powered vehicles. Every year, the SPEZI presents the world’s largest range of recumbent cycles and attracts around 10 000 special bike fans from all over the world. The supporting program of the fair includes specialist lectures and practical demonstrations as well as large test courses for visitors.
Lauffenmühle – the new Spezi 2023 location
The Lauffenmühle was one of the largest textile companies in Germany in the 20th century. Founded in 1835 as a cotton mill, in the course of industrialization Lauffenmühle became one of the major employers in the German High Rhine region. Before the first bankruptcy in 1993, over 2000 workers were employed. The Lauffenmühle could not escape the downward trend in the German textile industry in the second half of the 20th century and closed in 2019.
The factory shaped the development of the Unterlauchringen village to today’s municipality of Lauchringen. After the plant was closed at the end of July 2019, the city of Lauchringen acquired the Lauffenmühle and is designing a long-term rededication and renewal process for the industrial site.
