Edoardo Savoia is thirteen, though he looks younger. He was born with complications that no amount of testing has fully explained, and he has non-verbal autism alongside significant hyperactivity. For some time, his father Umberto had been searching for a physical activity—something beyond walks—that they could share together in their hometown of Prato. He thought about a bicycle, but as Edoardo outgrew the child seat, nothing seemed safe enough. Not even a tandem.
A few years earlier, in the Treviso region, Mario Paganessi had faced the same problem with his own son. He'd put the child seat away and started using a standard tandem, with his son pedaling behind. Then one day, stopped at a red light with an educational assistant, his son jumped down and bolted into traffic. The assistant nearly had a heart attack; his son was lucky to escape unhurt. "That's when we understood," Paganessi recalls, "a tandem just wouldn't work for him." A standard tandem has another problem: if one rider stops pedaling, the whole bike stalls. And there's no way to keep an eye on what the person behind is doing. What Paganessi began to imagine was a tandem reversed—one where the more vulnerable child sat in front.
The idea took root, especially through Paganessi's work with Oltre Il labirinto, a foundation serving families with autistic children (Paganessi is one of its founders). The foundation constantly searches for ways to fund its day centers, which receive no public money. Many of the young people it serves have low-functioning autism—the kind that, as Paganessi explains, makes up the majority of cases.
«We hear plenty of important stories,» Paganessi notes, «but many of them mislead and cause real harm. They show autistic young people working, earning wages. The reality is that most autism is non-verbal and brings serious behavioral challenges.» These young people need carefully designed, well-organized activities—the kind that depend on finding private funding. The breakthrough came when Banca della Marca reviewed the project and decided to finance the development and manufacture of a tandem suited for young people unable to pedal on their own.
Prototypes and designs followed, each one a struggle—chiefly because of cost. Some of the more complex parts, like the drivetrain and frame, were significantly discounted by Japanese and Chinese manufacturers who recognized the project's social value. The rest of the components are Italian-made and, wherever possible, assembled by the young people at the Treviso center.
We hear plenty of important stories, but many of them mislead and cause real harm.
Most autism is non-verbal and brings serious behavioral challenges.
The young people who live with it need carefully designed, well-organized activities.
In 2015, the first Hugbikes were born—hug means embrace: a tandem with an unusual design and an extended handlebar that lets the rider in back wrap their arms around the one in front. For the person in front to feel they're really riding, a standard-sized handlebar fits inside the extended one. Safety limits its control, but it gives something far more important: the joy of wind in the face.
This was exactly what Umberto Savoia needed. He bought one—perhaps the second ever made—after seeing Edoardo's face light up during a test ride. True, these tandems don't come cheap, but the investment also supports job opportunities for the young people at the day centers. They help—under expert supervision—test every Hugbike before it ships.
Now Edoardo pedals the Prato bike paths while his father hums his favorite songs, close enough for his son to hear. The precious Hugbike has been stolen twice—and both times recovered. But the real story, Umberto says, is what happened next: the local community decided to fund two more tandems for public use around Prato. Meanwhile, the Hugbike is gaining attention beyond Italy. The French association Mathi has embraced it enthusiastically for their young people.
The hope is to see more of them on the bike paths that are sprouting up across our cities—shared by families who want to try something new, and by groups of friends ready to discover what inclusive physical activity actually means.