FAIRFAX, Calif. (BRAIN) — Mountain bike pioneer Charlie Cunningham has passed away at the age of 78.
Cunningham, a founding partner in WTB, was an early innovator in aluminum frames for mountain bikes. He also developed cam rim brakes, grease-injection bearings in bike components, both sold by WTB and Suntour. He developed the original Ground Control tire for Specialized.
Cunningham suffered serious brain injuries in a 2015 bike crash. In recent years he's lived in a care facility in California. Cunningham and his wife, Jacquie Phelan, were charter inductees into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988.
Cunningham was born in Washington, D.C., on August 23, 1948. He came from an Air Force family and lived in Alabama, Virginia, Japan, and San Diego during his childhood, later settling in Mill Valley in California's Marin County. His father, Bruce, was a World War II and Korean War fighter pilot. His mother, Carol, was a book artist. In his twenties, Cunningham studied nutrition, water quality, and chemistry, as well as engineering.
As a mountain bike racer he placed 10th at the 1984 NORBA championships in Nederland, Colorado. He also won a national title in the veteran category at 36.
