Meet Thomas Bannister – one-handed mountain biker

Following a serious crash that left Tom with a left brachial plexus injury, he has adapted his bike to ride one-handed.

You might remember this video we posted a little while ago, telling Will Craig's story. Will lost his arm in a car accident and is a very active mountain biker in Vancouver's North Shore. To help him conquer the tricky and gnarly square turns and root-sections that fill the North Shore trails, Will and his friends built a Fox-shock damped arm that connects directly to his bike handlebars.

The video above is the first in a series created by Notbroken, a brand set up by Rhys and Tom Wheeler after Tom lost the use of his right arm following a mountain bike crash in 2011. The series, entitled “The Art of Balance”, aims to share and promote the UK’s adaptive athletes with the first instalment focusing on Thomas Bannister, who—like Will Craig and Notbroken's co-founder—rides with one arm.

The video introduces us to Tom's modified bike; a few basic modifications were all that was needed in order for him to shred muddy trails with style. As Tom describes, twitchy steering—due to excess feedback through the steering—was one the bigger challenges he needed to overcome. But, simply attaching a steering damper to the bike did the trick. Combine this with formula brake levers and the rear derailleur shifter (no need for a front with a single-speed chainring) mounted on one side of the handlebar and he's good to go.

As Notbroken puts it—enjoy Tom's unique riding style!

This post is also available on my website at adaptnetwork.com/art-balance-thomas-bannister-one-handed-mountain-biker