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In the early 90’s, Christian Bagg was at the top of his game. He was pushing the limits during the early days of both snowboarding and mountain biking. He was riding on the edge and searching for that next thrill––bigger, steeper, faster. But one day, Bagg crossed that line and broke his back during a snowboarding big air contest. The fall would leave him paralyzed from the waist down.
However, Christian Bagg was not about to surrender to his circumstances. As a mechanical designer, Bagg began working on prototypes for adaptive cross country skis and mountain bikes. The task was daunting but his motivation was summed up in a simple sentence: “If I don’t build it, no one else will.”
Bagg’s initial five attempts at building an adaptive mountain bike failed. But eventually, he hit the right combination.
“The Reach evolved from this thing with a cross-country sit-ski bolted to the front of it, to this super professional, electric motor, articulation, best bike part on the planet,” said Bagg. “We built a mountain bike.”
He certainly did. And this three-wheeled beast wasn’t built to simply cruise around on a dirt road––it was built to rip. In this video, Bagg shares the inspirational story of how he developed the Reach, what it felt like to ride again, and the reward of helping fellow paraplegics get back on the bike.
“I get to have these moments in nature that I had when I was a kid,” said Bagg. “It’s unbelievable.”