| Charlie Cunningham | |
| Birth Date: | 23 August 1948 |
| Birth Place: | Washington, D.C., United States |
| Occupation: | Mountain biker |
| Known For: | Wilderness Trail Bikes |
Charlie Cunningham (born August 23, 1948)[1] is a mountain biker from Fairfax, California.[2]
Along with frame builder Steve Potts 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, are charter inductees to Crested Butte's Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.[2]
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, Marin County. His father, Bruce Cunningham, was a World War II and Korean War 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.
In the early 1980s, Cunningham invented a number of features for use on modern mountain bikes:
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.