Charlie Cunningham along with Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Tom Ritchey, Steve Potts and Charlie Kelly, is one of the forefathers of mountain biking. In August 2015, the then 67-year-old Charlie Cunningham crashed his bike badly and suffered serious injuries (BIKE reported).
Like the other MTB pioneers, Cunnigham battled it out on Mt Tamalpais in his day. However, he didn't go for the heavy clunkers, but for lighter, more agile bikes. So it is hardly surprising that he started building aluminium frames. In 1979, he built his first aluminium prototype, the "CC Proto". This bike can be seen today in the Marin Museum of Bicycling. Later, countless other frames followed, which he built in Fairfax. Together with Steve Potts and Mark Slate, he founded the WTB brand in 1982. Cunningham has been a member of the MTB Hall of Fame since 1988.
Since his serious fall and the subsequent emergency operation, his recovery has been repeatedly set back by complications in the healing process, and treatment is very cost-intensive. For this reason, a charity event will be held on 23 March at the Marin Museum of Bicycling in Fairfax, California. Among other things, there will be an auction there, the proceeds of which will go to the Cunningham Fund.
The highlight of the auctions is the end of a Ebay-Auction: The legendary Yeti frame builder Frank "The Welder" Wadleton welded an aluminium frame reminiscent of the works of Charlie Cunningham. Steve Potts added the iconic Type 2 fork. The "Good Guys" group donated missing parts - all originals from the time, of course.
The result is a unique bike that pays homage to Charlie Cunningham. Anyone who knows how high the treatment costs of chronically ill patients can be must be smiling wearily at the sum that ended up being paid for the retro cult piece. But 5500 US dollars isn't bad for an aluminium rigid bike, is it? We don't know whether the highest bidder wanted to go to Fairfax anyway or whether he had to empty his own petty cash for the auction. Only that he apparently decided not to have the bike shipped. "Thank you...I will pick up bicycle" he commented on his evaluation on the auction portal.
