Video: Back on Wheels

For most of us the love of riding outweighs the risk - we don't give it a second thought, but we all know what can happen. This is the reality for a few, and despite their injuries, nothing can stop them from enjoying the thing they love the most.

Michal Kosik sacrificed everything to mountain biking. But after a serious accident five years ago he was to remain seated for the rest of his life. His spinal cord will probably never heal.


But Michal never gave up. He decided to build his own off-road quad and get back on wheels, he teamed up with famous freerider, Richard Gasperotti and together they travelled to the French province of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to ride the steep slopes once again.


Michal began the journey to create his bike a few years ago following his injury. The project took almost five years to complete. Built from aluminium alloy 7020, the welded frame was sprayed in Poland. The bike is built around a monocoque seat made from carbon fibre, similar to those used by disabled skiers. It has an independent four-wheel shock suspension from Marzocchi and reinforced special rims from Remerx, which are able to carry more weight. One of the main pitfalls of the project was money - this and waiting on resources as well as trying to find someone willing to build the bike was an issue at the start. Luckily, Michal was contacted by two brothers, Ivo and Peter Santavy. They had experience with building regular bikes and various special bikes in their garage enterprise 'No Question Bike' and they offered to help as a part of their academic work.

Adaptive mountain bikes are becoming more common, with the likes of Merici Sport, Project ENDURO and aMTB as well as many others - it is giving people the chance to continue doing what they love or even the ability to try something new for the first time.