History
Founder of Jersey Bents, Laurence Bonilla, thought he would never be able to ride a bike again after back surgery and years of back pain. His daughter spotted a recumbent on a Rails-to-Trails bike path, and thought it would be the perfect bike for her dad so that he could ride with her without discomfort. However, purchasing a recumbent in the late 1990s was nothing short of a challenge. Though there were hundreds of bike stores in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, only a few sold recumbents. Of those, only a few recumbent models were stocked in-store. Cyclists interested in purchasing a recumbent had to special order a bike without having the option of test riding beforehand. In 1999, Laurence partnered with his local bike shop and started Jersey