Step back in time to the "virtual free-for-all" of the early 1980s American recumbent revolution! In this episode we sit down with industry veteran Jeff Wills to uncover the forgotten history of the Aerocoupe—a pioneering human-powered trike born out of the Southern California HPV racing scene. Jeff shares incredible stories from the 1980 Speed Championships at Ontario Motor Speedway, where garage-built "missiles" and "streamliners" first challenged the traditional bicycle establishment. In this interview, you’ll discover:

The "No Rules" Era: How the IHPVA rose as a reaction to strict conventional racing associations.

Engineering the Aerocoupe: How Jeff and designer Mark Murphy used moped hubs, awning fabric, and sailplane-inspired chrome tubing to build a trike from scratch.

Lessons in "Dangerous" Design: Jeff gets candid about the "exciting" frame flex and "tank steering" that defined early prototypes.

The Legacy: A look at how these early experiments provided the DNA for the high-performance trikes we ride today.

In our second segment we interview the Spezi 2026 team. This year the world's largest recumbent bicycling event takes place in Freiburg, Germany. We'll find out all the details and highlights of this exciting event which we'll be attending in April.

00:00:00 Intro
00:00:30 What’s on Today’s Show
00:01:35 Panel Introduction
00:03:00 Sponsor Introduction
00:07:35 Honza Galla with Recumbent News Segment
00:11:06 Spezi 2026 Preview with Producers
01:32:30 Jeff Wills and the 80s Aerocoupe Recumbent Trike Build and Racing
01:14:15 Sponsor Thanks
01:18:50 Announcements
01:20:15 Goodbye to panel and crew

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*Thanks to these wonderful sponsors for making the LBR webcast possible*
TerraCycle https://t-cycle.com/ 800-371-5871
TerraTrike/Greenspeed https://wizwheelz.com/ 800-945-9910
Laidback Cycles https://laidbackcycles.com/ 916-668-8766
Bicycle Man https://bicycleman.com/ 607-587-8835
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RecumbentPDX https://recumbentpdx.com/ 503-231-1000
Steintrikes https://stein-trikes-us.com/ 931-237-0889
Utah Trikes http://utahTrikes.com 866-446-2065
Catrike http://catrike.com 407-999-0200
Bacchetta Bikes http://bacchettabikes.com 818-358-2740
Angletech cycledifferent.com 719-687-7475

*Honza’s News Report Links*
--Recumbent News https://www.recumbent.news/

*Guest Links*
Spezi 2026 https://en.spezialradmesse.de/
Jeff Wills https://www.facebook.com/jeff.wills1

*LBR Review Team Links*

*LBR Crew Links*
-Recumbent News-online news website by Honza Galla https://www.recumbent.news/
-BentRider/Larry Varney http://www.bentrideronline.com/
-Nina Paley’s Links
-Nina’s blog https://blog.ninapaley.com/
-Nina’s bike merchandise http://www.palegraylabs.com/other-stuff-1/protective-bicycle-amulet
-Peter Stull https://bicycleman.com/
-Josef Janning https://www.facebook.com/josef.janning
-Tim Segard https://www.bentrevolution.com/
-Tray Bourgoyne Tray@netdoor.com
**The absolute best archive of early recumbent history is Recumbent Cyclist News**
Find years of publisher Bob Bryant’s hard work here: https://rcnpdf.com/

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