Those of you who have been around recumbents for some time know Pat Franz for sure. His experience with recumbent bikes and trikes is vast. He even started a company building the two-wheelers by himself but later concentrated only on making accessories and components. Yes Pat Franz is the founder of TerraCycle, which is now owned by Casimir Covert-Keefe and Quintin Pruett. By contrast, Dana Liebermann, owner of Bent Up Cycles, a recumbent bike shop in Hollywood, CA and Race Across America participant, only recently embarked on perhaps the biggest venture of his life when he bought the Bacchetta brand.
Now it seems he sees its future largely in electric versions of Bacchetta, and it’s not entirely surprising. The first model it’s producing in collaboration with Terra Cycle is the Bacchetta Pronto and also the Pronto Alto. Those are, a 20/26″ and dual 26″ or dual 700c stick bikes, which means a recumbent bike with no suspension and a frame in the form of one long tube with no bends.
And here, the two short stories come together. Pat Franz had a chance to test-ride a Pronto for quite some time, and during a ride in beautiful, hilly Portland, OR, Dana interviewed him to see what his experience was like. If you are interested in e-assisted recumbent two-wheelers like the Bacchetta Pronto, the video is really worth it.
And since it looks like more changes are afoot in Hollywood, I’m also going to interview Dana about where his shop and Bacchetta are headed.
[UPDATE] After I posted this article, Dana Lieberman wrote me that it wasn’t him who conducted the interview, but Mel Birgé, owner of the RecumbentPDX store in Portland, OR.
