It's pretty clear, even before you walk through the door, that Cambie Cycles isn't your typical bike shop. The bikes parked out front of the shop don't look like normal bicycles — and that's because they're not. They're recumbents, bikes that put the rider in a laid-back, reclining position.
Cambie Cycles, which has been serving the Cambie Corridor for almost 30 years, is Vancouver's first and only recumbent bicycle specialist. The shop has been selling recumbents since owner Brock Davis first saw one featured in the pages of Popular Science magazine in 1986. Even though they have been around for almost a century, recumbents weren't easily sourced in the ‘80s, so Brock decided to build his own.
Today the Recumboni, Cambie Cycles' house bike, is still hand built right in the shop's basement. Additionally, Cambie Cycles carries several different brands and types of recumbents, from short-wheelbase commuters to low-slung tricycle tourers. When asked to explain the appeal of recumbents, Brock doesn't hesitate. “Comfort. The laid-back position allows cyclists for whom the traditional cycling posture causes pain to keep on riding.” Even for the average cyclist, there's a saying that once you go 'bent...
