Lightning riders

Carl Patty

“I got hooked on bents back in ’96 and bought my first Lightning Stealth decked out with Magura hydraulic brakes, Zipper turtle shell, and Shimano XT upgrades. I put about 6,000 miles on it commuting. I just handed it down to my wife and she loves it. It the most fun you can have on two wheels.

I remember drag racing against wedgies and blowing their socks off. (Used to be able to raise the front tire about two inches off the ground during acceleration). No disrespect to my upright brethren but I’d rather ride bent than bent over.

My wife and I rode 15 miles the other day on the Yelm-Tenino trail in WA. She was on a Schwinn and I was on a ’bent. After we got back to the car, she was hurting in all the usual places. I told her to take a break and sit on my seat. She said, ‘that’s it, I’m learning to ride a ’bent.’ Today she did. It took her about 25 minutes of draising around but she was finally able to pedal. She loves her Lightning … especially the seat.

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