Charlie Cunningham (born August 23, 1948) is a

mountain biker Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

from

Fairfax, California Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population was 7,605 at the 2020 census. History The Coast Miwok Native Americans occupie ...

. Along with frame builder

Steve Potts Steve Potts may refer to: *Steve Potts (jazz musician) (born 1943), American jazz saxophonist * Steve Potts (footballer) (born 1967), American-born English football coach and former professional footballer * Steve Potts (drummer), drummer with Book ...

and his helper Mark Slate, Cunningham co-founded Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB). Cunningham and Potts were forced out of WTB in 2002 for undisclosed reasons, at the urging of WTB's CEO, Patrick Seidler. Cunningham and his wife,

Jacquie Phelan Jacquie Phelan (born December 10, 1955 in San Francisco, California) is an American road and cyclocross racer, and was the NORBA champion three consecutive years—1983, 1984, and 1985. Phelan is known through the US mountain bike community for h ...

, are charter inductees to Crested Butte's Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

Early life

Cunningham came from an air force family and lived in Alabama, Virginia, Japan, and San Diego during his childhood, ultimately settling in Mill Valley on

Mount Tamalpais Mount Tamalpais (; ; Miwok: ''Támal Pájiṣ''), known locally as Mount Tam, is a peak in Marin County, California, United States, often considered symbolic of Marin County. Much of Mount Tamalpais is protected within public lands such as Mou ...

, Marin County. His father, Bruce Cunningham, was a World War II and

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

fighter pilot who won the Thompson Trophy in 1949, the only year military jets (F-86) competed. His mother, Carol, was a book artist whose imprint ''Sunflower Press'' is found in several museum collections. In his twenties, Cunningham studied nutrition, water quality, and chemistry, as well as engineering. At 25, he became interested in bicycles.

Inventions

In the early 1980s, Cunningham invented a number of features for use on modern mountain bikes: * tubular-style fork crowns * 135 mm lower-dish rear wheel for mountain bikes, which are now the standard * identifying the fundamental tread design principles needed for well-performing mountain bike tires. Cunningham co-designed Ground Control, a tire incorporating these principles. * the Grease Guard Bearing System that allows bicyclists to replace the dirty grease that gets into bicycle bearings with clean grease in seconds, thus extending component life and saving time and money spent fixing and/or replacing parts. * the Roller Cam Brake. The brake arms, the pivot mounting location, and the linkage combined to eliminate flex in the fork blades and frame stays. This brake also featured the linear spring he invented, now used on almost all V-Brakes. The cam was eventually replaced with the Lever Link.

Competitive career

Cunningham raced competitively in 1984, placing tenth overall at the NORBA championships in Nederland, Colorado. He became National Vet Champion at the age of 36. Cunningham built a total of 187 aluminum bicycles (the Indian, the Racer, and the Wombat for smaller people) between 1979 and 1992. They were guaranteed for life and cost about six times as much as custom (steel) bikes. He is now a freelance inventor working on environmentally sustainable projects.

References

External links

Cunningham's page
at the MTB Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Charlie Living people American male cyclists Cycle designers Mountain bike innovators Cyclists from California People from Fairfax, California Sportspeople from Marin County, California Tamalpais High School alumni 1948 births