Many moons ago now, Ian Sims lost his job as a laboratory technician.
In need of a cost-friendly way to move around, he borrowed his son’s mountain bike. But it wasn’t for him – he didn’t find it comfortable and it seemed too much like hard work.
So he started to tinker, and before long he’d created a recumbent bike, which enabled him to zip around at high speeds without feeling like he was pushing too hard. He thought it was a more intelligent way of making a bike – lying back improved aerodynamics as well as comfort.
The bike shop from which Ian had been buying parts showed him pictures in a UK cycling magazine of recumbent tri bikes. Ian was fairly confident he could do a better job, and so he did.
Further down the track and Ian is now running Greenspeed, designers and manufacturers of recumbent tricycles.
A big thrill for Ian is knowing that Greenspeed bikes usually go to people who otherwise cannot exercise. Those who have suffered motor vehicle accidents and other major injuries and afflictions can all of a sudden taste the freedom so many of us take for granted when out on our two wheels.
Most of Greenspeed’s market comes from the US. It was there he was touring last year when he came across two female clients, both of whom were convinced they would never again be able to ride. Their Greenspeed recumbent tri bikes changed all that, and now they can get out in the great outdoors with their respective husbands steering at the wheel, whilst they pedal from the back seat.
Check out Ian's story in the video above.
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