We lost a good one- Charlie Cunningham

Yesterday I went up to Marin County- Fairfax to be exact- the birthplace of the sport of Mountain Biking , at leas according to legend. I went to be present at the memorial for one Charlie Cunningham , one of a handful of folks who are credited as the founding fathers of Mountain biking .The memorial was led by Charlie's wife, Jacque Phelan. The memorial was held at the Marin museum of bicycle history, formerly known as the Mountain Bike hall of fame. This was my first visit to the place and I was surrounded by friends and work associates and fans of Charlie and his work. The crowd barely fit in the small space and it was standing room only for many of the people-they didn't mind a bit as this was a gathering of historic significance as far as the bike world was concerned.
 

I really never got to know Charlie and only had maybe a couple of chances to talk with him. I did get to know him a bit in a round about way-I was one of the folks who Jacque , Charlie's wife (and cycling legend ) had contacted to take stuff out of Charlie's workshop under their house to keep tools and materials from winding up in recycling or the dump. I got to see the inner sanctum of the place where Charlie turned some of his many ideas into workable products such as bicycles and components.

Charlie's interests were not limited to bicycles but for many years he was dedicated to making the most advanced mountain bikes possible for his own use. It was soon after this that other people sought him out for his bicycle frames, forks and components. He made about 180 aluminum frames in all-not a huge number but the few frames that he did make had tremendous significance in that they were unique and that they had features that were years ahead of their time. All this work was confined to this basement shop that was not like any other bike builder's shop-just like Charlie was not like any other bike builder. 

I can't claim to know much about Charlie as a person but I could tell from his shop that he had a lot of ideas and projects going at the same time. His shop was a huge mess but that warmed my heart as my shop was not clean and orderly , at least not until about 5 years ago-and it still isn't really all that clean or orderly. 

Charlie looked at everything with a very critical eye-he was certain that everything he saw could have been improved with some very specific modifications ....he was all about modifying . At a time when most bike builders were trash talking aluminum as a material for bicycle frames, Charlie was convinced that not only was it lighter than steel, it could be made to be as durable -something that was generally not accepted . His opinions in the case of his own frames turned out to be correct-he built around 180 frames and none of them failed in the way that other aluminum bicycle frames had failed -he had figured out a way to tame the material and create bikes that were very light and durable. He also put drop bars on his bikes and it was also not a popular thing to do with mountain bikes until many years layer. He was ahead of the curve most of the time,-either that or he was creating brilliant but wildly impractical tools and parts. 

What I limited things I know about him were learned mostly from looking around his workshop - there were multiples of tools, armies of files, saws and grinders. He had so many tools packed into the small space that it was hard to imagine how he worked in there. But as bike history shows, work he did and the legacy of his active mind will be with us as long as people ride bikes. Charlie even designed tires for Specialized bicycles- this is something I did not know until the memorial. 

I really regret that I did not get to know Charlie better. I get the feeling that in spite of his brilliance , he was a kind soft spoken and engaging person-I have been told as much by everyone I talked to who knew him. The boxes of stuff in my shop-files, fork blades, frame building hardware - they all tell a bit of his story but not nearly enough. He would have to be the one to tell his story and now he is gone ....there is only a small amount of video record of Charlie and it was shown at the memorial. I was very glad to be there and see it. 

From now on in my shop I will have these small bits of evidence of Charlie in my shop and I hope to incorporate some of this metal leftover stash into bikes -maybe these won't be historically significant bikes but at least the leftover bits will find their way onto bikes and onto the roads- one more bike, one less car. 

Another one bites the metal dust-Pargon Machine works.

 Well, you don't know what you got 'till it's gone.......Paragon machine works in Richmond, Calif. has been manufacturing parts in titanium and steel for frame building since the late '80's. Mark Norstad has manned the company since its beginning and had successfully survived economic downturns, the pandemic and of course the often changing and occasionally harsh economic swings of the bike industry. Mark handed off the company to his son, Calvin maybe a year ago. This brings us to yesterday when Calvin sent out an email that Paragon would cease operations immediately and if builders wanted to buy anything, they had better act quickly before the stock ran out. There was no mention of a sale of the business or any kind of continuation of any of their products- this news was particularly harsh as the bike industry is getting hammered by all sorts of adverse economic factors- oversupply of goods, undersupply of customers and tariffs that put small builders in a money squeeze that they are not likely to afford . Yes, I'm getting a little political now- if you really are liking the tariffs then you can stop reading here and curse me and my 'California values' . I don't really care- everyone has to believe in something but what you might believe in is killing my craft and putting some people out of work , some people into the street and in this case, killing a decades-old company that a large number of small builders depended upon. You are reading this blog, correct ? You must have an interest in the subject of small, independent frame builders, correct ?....well, the subject that is literally on life support just got it's oxygen tube yanked out yesterday by factors that were not present a couple of years ago. 

Paragon was not just a supplier, they made products that made the manufacture of bicycle frames more systematic and easier for builders. Paragon as a company responded to the market and periodically updated products and standards to keep small builders current with an industry that has been changing rapidly with no regard for how it effected the frame building community or its customers. Paragon on the other hand really showed a kinship with the small builder. When the bike industry decided to change an axle, brake mount, BB thread or derailleur hanger spec, Paragon was right there within a couple of months offering the new designs to small builders. They kept up with the market in a remarkable way. There are many builders out in the world who came along after Paragon was well established- these builders only know building with Paragon parts and with the closing of the company, these builders will be left out in a big way.

So what does the future hold ? For me, I know that frame building existed before Paragon and it will exist after Paragon , but if someone does not step up and try to keep making the parts - such as Derailleur hangers- there will be a massive blood-letting in the builder community so to speak. Builders who mainly build in titanium will have a really difficult time sourcing parts to complete orders. What am I going to do about it ? Not sure what I can do , other than for now to buy every der. hanger I can find. My hope is that Paragon will sell or release CAD programs and/or drawings so that someone can source parts through a machine shop. I have done this with my 7005 dropouts and flat mounts, courtesy of Mike Ahrens- Mike might play a role in re-launching some of this Paragon stuff. Not sure if Mike wants to re-start his company but he might be the savior in this dilemma to keep bikes with Paragon Der. hangers rolling and make it so builders who exclusively relied upon Paragon parts can continue building. It's a mess-I should not comment on how Paragon got to the decision to close as I do not know the whole story , but having been through nearly 4 decades of this business I can guess that a new owner might not have the experience or confidence to steer a company like Paragon successfully through times like the ones we are in now. Stay tuned....get a spare der. hanger if you need it and wait for the dust to clear. I cannot say that we will all make it through this one- looks like Paragon certainly won't- but if enough of us rally together we might be able to do what Paragon could not manage- we might survive. 

Be careful for what you don't wish for

Every year from Christmas until Jan. 1st I effectively close the shop and work on 'fun' projects. A lot of times these projects start out fun and after awhile turn into something else, maybe not as much fun as anticipated. I can deal with that- building bike frames is a bit of work and building one just for the heck of it feels like even more work, even if it isn't. In the case of this weeks project, it felt like more work and it really was more work. It became so much work that at one point I felt like it was not worth the effort . Let me tell you how this particular frame project went to shit in a new and unanticipated way.

Let me give you the backstory. I am part of a generation of frame builders who started in the '70's. There are not many of us left-seems like building bicycle frames does not make for a long life-most of my similar aged builder brethren are gone , most due to heart failure. I have a theory why this happens but I won't tell it to you because I'm not a doctor and I could totally be wrong. Regardless, I have been to several shop/estate sales because of a builder either quitting or dying. I wind up with a lot of materials-some of it easily identifiable, some of it a total mystery.....but steel is steel, right ? Maybe in most cases but not this week. 

In the '80's a company named 'Excell' started making and marketing what they said was the lightest and strongest steel tubes on the planet. I don't remember what all their engineering data was but what I do remember were all the horror stories from builders I knew who tried using it. Word was that it was nearly impossible to cut and that once you built your frame, good luck aligning it- the tubes would not yield, not even a little bit. The steel was so hard  that it was brittle. I stayed the hell away from Excell tubing for decades- that is until yesterday.

What you see in the photos is a lugged frame I built. I just pulled random tubing out of unmarked boxes and chose the tubes based on the wall thickness and length. I knew that the main tubes were Tange prestige and Columbus but I didn't know what the seat and chain stays were-all I knew was they were very light. The stays had the right specs for the build so I used them. They seemed a bit hard to cut but I was able to do it with little trouble. I finished the frame and was only left with the alignment as the last task. I noticed that the rear stays were out much more than any frame I had built in many years. What I didn't know was that the socket for the seat tube on the BB shell was off-center. Maybe this is why this particular  BB shell had not been used but the hands it had passed through in the last 40-50 years of its existence. So, not knowing this I merrily set about banging on the rear end of the bike with the rubber mallet- standard procedure , at least in my shop. No matter how many times I hit the stays, they would not move. I was dumbfounded-I had never run across this kind of stiffness in a steel tube ever. I decided that I had to swing the mallet harder- and harder....still, the stays would not budge. Finally I gave it a really hard whack and hear a pop'. I knew that something had cracked-it was the seat stay. The chain stay on the same side had a buckle in it as well-I was clueless why this frame was acting in a way I had never encountered. 

Very annoyed, I left the shop and went home for lunch, then I went for a short ride. I really thought that fixing this frame was too much work to be worth the effort-I would have to replace the whole rear triangle. I was not up for that-I returned to the shop later but did no further work on the frame and just hung it up. That night I went to sleep not quite knowing what to do- it was the weekend when I typically avoid going to the shop. I woke up the next morning and decided that It was best to fix this frame and take a good look at the tubing that I was replacing. After a good look I figured out that the stays were Excell- the super-hard, super-stiff , brittle as hell tubing that came and went years ago. I though to myself "Why the hell would anyone keep this crap around when they know how unusable it was ? And the off-center BB shell-why would anyone keep a piece of crap like that around ? Is it the curse of the trade that frame builders can't seem to throw anything away, even if it is totally useless ? 

I know one thing for sure-I'm going to look through the boxes of tubing I have and some of the boxes of BB shells and toss all of it that hints of Excell or out-of-spec. What if this was not a little year end project but a customer's frame ? What if the front tubes were Excell and broke because of their brittle nature and the rider got hurt or worse ? Stuff that is made and marketed that is absolutely no good and a product of bullshit engineering and untruthful marketing pisses me off in a very big way-this weekend was a mess because of some stuff in my shop that other builders had -but didn't use- and they were not around to tell me why they didn't use it. They also were not around to tell me why they had not disposed of it. Well, they might not have disposed of it but you know sure as hell that I will -with pleasure.

 

 

State of the sport

Here it is, mid December and cyclocross time for some of us but not many of us. I can gauge the health of the sport by coming to the nationals each year and seeing who shows up and who doesn't. This year's edition is in Fayetteville, Arkansas where the Walton family has spent much money creating a bike mecca. 
 The result of all this money is Centennial Park with its MTB trails but more notably a permanent cyclocross course that a few years ago hosted the worlds- yes, the worlds- only the second time it has been held in the USA. 

"Build it and they will come?" - maybe not this time. Fields are pretty slim by pre-covid standards but the sport has been shrinking for years- less races and as a result less racers. This is not the fault of the Walton family-they are more than doing their part to keep the sport going but they face some headwinds. CX had a golden age about 15-20 years ago-tons of races , armies of participants and a bike industry that was happy to throw money and product to the sport. What happened ? Hard to pin it on any one factor. USA cycling has gotten stricter about regulations and rankings to the point that riders who live in areas where races are not part of the USAC system might as well not exist. No points and you start in the back of the field - regardless of your record in non-USAC events. Also, the entry fees to the nationals have more than doubled since the golden age of CX. To enter the nationals I think it was $ 110 for early reg. Late reg. was $ 200- that would be four entry fees in local races. Add to that travel costs and lodging and you have a sport that is no longer affordable for many racers. 

As for me, I'm lucky-I have a little disposable - and I do mean disposable in this case- income and a team that has some funding so that the members of the team don't have to redline their credit cards to get to the nationals. Without these two factors I would not be here in Arkansas and I am very thankful to the sponsors for the opportunity, not so much to race but to support my team and have the experience. We , along with all the other teams and racers are helping keep the sport alive but we are facing headwinds- gravel cycling has lured a lot of industry and riders away from cyclocross. I'm happy that gravel has come into its own but not happy that so many people have bailed on the sport that I feel has more history, more excitement and a much more cohesive community-it is such and inclusive sport historically. Gravel has a set of requirements - you need to have the $200 for entry , really helps to have a big sprinter van or some sort of camper to spend the weekend in - all for an event that is more like an all day ride in the wilderness and not a short intense race with spectators , beer handups and people cheering for you regardless of how miserable your race was going. Gravel has none of this , yet people are coming to gravel races in increasing numbers. Why is this the case ? For most people doing gravel it appears to be much less about competition and more about the ride. I'm fine with this but it means that for probably the bulk of the riders it is just a ride and a post-ride meal with a whole bunch of people who also have all the same vehicles and gear that you have-kind of a parade of product and in some cases privilage. CX racers will show up to a race in any kind of beat up old car that will get them there. Gravel racers spend some times six figures to create their 'home on the road' to take them to the events. It really is two different worlds- and they are in many cases competing for the same people and the same dollars. 

As a bike frame builder I win either way- I build what people ask for and I get paid. Gravel bike ? -Sure !  CX bike ? No problem. But where is my heart ? That would be in Cyclocross hands down. I can say that my ability to be a sustainable business was because of cyclocross back in the '90's and early 2000's. Maybe Gravel has been keeping me busy as of late so I can't say that it has not helped but the fact that the sport that made me seems to be getting crushed has me pretty conflicted, especially now that I am at yet another nationals that is showing signs of a sport that is not doing well. I understand it and at the same time I don't. People do gravitate to the new but I would think that if the 'new' turns out to not be as fun as the old that people would come back. So far, this has not happened. 

What if nobody cares anymore ?

 I'm not talking about custom bikes-although nobody caring about them would leave me with a shop full of useless tools and metal. I'm talking about the sport that really put me on the map as a frame building operation in the sustainable sense. Through luck and hard work I established a style and brand that has stayed popular for over 20 years. Since 2003 I have never been short on work , and most of the time pretty much oversold.  In the sport of cyclocross I found a community that was very receptive to how I build bikes and my willingness to learn from the people that race- they gave me the suggestions that shaped the bikes over all these years. Some comments were glowing, some were harsh but I learned a bit from all of them, especially the criticism. For the last two decades and more I have ridden the wave of cyclocross and it has been-to use a phrase I really hate- a great ride. 

Now it is 2025 and for the last half-dozen years the sport of gravel racing has been getting very popular. In some regions like where I live, it is crushing cyclocross and taking away much of the people that loved cyclocross the same way I did. People now seem fine getting a huge sprinter van , paying $ 200 + entry fees and going to events where the riding will take up most of the day. It is not an intense sport like cyclocross, even if it is very competitive for the few folks that will be at the front of the race. Most people at the event don't seem to race at all- they are there for the riding, the camping and being with all the other folks in their sprinter vans with outdoor showers, micro-brews and folding chairs. It's a hang way more than a race and I am seeing that it is a real thing now. Usually everyone converges at some big campground and there's a big feed and maybe a live band at night. I have been to a few of these and they are well put together for the most part- but it still ain't 'cross. 

While cyclocross might be withering and dying here, there are places where it is thriving but they are pretty far away. I used to be able to get to any number of races within 1-1/2 hours of where I live. Now most of them are at least a 3 hour drive or in another state altogether. I don't like burning up that much gasoline to go racing. And the grave events ? They are usually far away , too- but people will drive all day to get to them. Maybe I'm just old and not moving along with the times.....every sport in cycling has it's heyday and it's decline years. Right now we are in the decline years for cyclocross and I am having a very hard time accepting it-where have all the good times gone ? They have gone away and changed into something else. Peoples tastes have changed and land access for races has gotten difficult around here in the Bay area. It's a collision of factors that nobody seems to control and what I know as cyclocross in Nor-Cal might be on its last legs. 

So what am I doing about it ? Starting in 2015 my team has been putting on an annual race . Starting about 6 years ago, the team took charge of Surf City cyclocross, the longest running CX race series in the country -it was going to die if we didn't take it over and merge it with our race. The only CX races in the county are ones that we put on. The sad thing is that we as a team are starting , after 21 years to lose people to retirement and other sports. We are getting some great juniors but they have hardly any races around here and it takes a lot of time and money to do a full season now. People are getting priced out of participating like they used to about a decade ago. It's a shame, really- such a great community grew up around CX and it is now getting scattered to the winds. There's only so much a handful of people can do to try to keep a sport going if the public at large is apathetic about its survival. For me, the specter of losing CX is sad but since I am nearly 70, it isn't critical for me. If I were 15 and wanting to get into the sport I would have a hard road unless my parents were super fans and willing to drive me all over the state in search of races. Most parents can't do that. I tip my hat to the ones that do- they are raising the next generation of talent that could wind up on the world stage- it has happened, even out of our little team.

So, I have to say that this decline in the sport of CX is depressing for me and regardless of how it effects my business , I don't want it to die. I do get orders for all sorts of non-CX frames so I think I'll do just fine but I would and will sacrifice a lot to try to keep the local sport alive. Wish me luck.......

Sorry, son.....

My annual visit to the Sea Otter classic just happened and I had the usual experience of sensory overload mixed with running into folks who I did not expect to see- always a pleasant surprise. I went with the mission of trying to see how the tariff situation was being dealt with by all of my suppliers. I had a list of nearly 20 companies to visit-I wound up visiting only 6. What I did instead was just wander around and randomly bump into a few folks who really made my trip there worthwhile. 

So what is the state of the bike industry as of 2025 ? Looks like a lot going on- not much has changed on the surface. There's new people coming up- old folks that either have been relegated to 'brand representative' or maybe they are just somewhere else living out their years in peace - away from the grinding world of bicycle commerce. What is my place in all this ? I'm just passing through , taking time away from what I have been doing for decades- building the bikes. I'm trying to think of anyone else -a frame builder of course- who has had a sustainable shop as long as I have-can't think of anyone who was at the Sea Otter. Sure, there's a few scattered across the country but at this circus , nope. All the old frame builders have quit, died or been co-opted to appear in ads or at events like this - no longer building bikes.....they are building marketing instead. It's a good gig if you can get it. 

This brings me to my experience-one that will stick with me , along with all the great chance meetings with old friends. I was introduced to a young man who, upon hearing that I was indeed that aged frame builder from Santa Cruz invited me to come to the booth where he was working - the Marin Bicycle history museum and MTB hall of fame. I have never been to the museum and have been well outside of the crew of folks who are honored there-I just wasn't there when it all began on Mt. Tam....at the time I was a minimum wage bicycle mechanic and hobby frame builder. I got to ride a very early mountain bike and decided that it was not my thing.......guess I was not very open minded at the time. So...when this young nice man said that I should check out the collection at the booth I told him that I had the first MTB (1984) I had ever built and asked if the museum would like to have it for display . The young man was super receptive to the idea and told me that I should talk to the head man ( Really famous guy in MTB history ) and ask him. 

After walking around for another hour I had forgotten about the whole exchange and was trying to find the exit from the expo so that I could beat traffic home. One friend of mine showed up and said "Hey-have you been to the MTB hall of fame booth yet ?" I had not so we made our way over. At the booth we found a number of folks crowded around a small tent filled with the most primitive and historically significant MTB's in the whole Sea Otter. The curator, actually someone I had met a few years earlier -a meeting that he did not remember- was ushered over to talk to me about MTB # 1. The curator held out his hand to shake mine as if we were meeting for the first time- I guess that is indicator # 1 of my lack of historical significance . Indicator # 2 was when the curator kindly said to me that there was no room at the museum for my MTB # 1 . To me it was just another case of not being one of the cool kids- "Sorry, son. There isn't room for you ......and who did you say you were , anyway ?"  Yes- of course I'm taking this like I normally do- much to personally- but it does feel personal. While these folks who are celebrated in the museum may be historically significant-and they really are- I think that the great bulk of them did their main work many years ago for a short time frame. I'm not asking for an award for my lengthy participation in this line of work but a small nod to my existence for all these decades might be nice. I did start building at a time that few if any were doing it. And those few have not kept at it - I guess I get a bit upset thinking that I have repaired and fixed a lot of these famous people's boo-boos over the decades and that all that I have done is nothing compared to the legacy of a bunch of folks honored at the museum. 

Don't get me wrong-I'm not asking for n award-I don't have any illusion about being in any MTB hall of fame-I never belonged there and I know that. But I think that my first mountain bike does belong in the museum as it is one of the very first from Santa Cruz and represents the start of the second wave of MTB design- the period when cross country racing was really getting going and bikes had to steer and be light and lively and not just a copy of a late '40's Schwinn. Call me crazy but Salsa , Bontrager , Hoover and myself were building MTB's that were in our opinion much better suited to the singletrack of our forests than anything coming out of Marin.....just sayin'. Maybe our bikes would be shit on MT. Tam.....didn't matter-we were not riding there. 

So....I guess my bike will not be in the museum. Am I writing way too much about this ? Yes....after the exchange at the Marin bike history tent I left the Sea Otter in a pretty bad mood-I had forgotten all of the great meetings I had with old friends and had also stopped being happy about how lucky I was to be in such a great community of people who dedicate their lives to bikes and making people happy with them. I own this weakness and inability not to take offense when I seemingly get dismissed by someone of elevated fame status in the bike world. This is me keeping me down - not able to see things for what they really are. None of this matters and it should not matter to me. What does matter is that I'm doing my job to the best of my ability and that the people who keep me working are happy with what I do. There's no museum for that and there can't be- the display is the world at large. The exhibit is a road, a path, a velodrome.....anywhere the wheels touch the ground. That's the big display where all the hand built bikes reside- and it isn't static-it is in constant motion- as it should be. The bikes keep rolling.......and so should we all. 

In closing I really need to urge all to check out the museum-there truly are some great things there and really great stories. The young folks that are helping keep the place alive are motivated and very positive. Without the public's interest something like this collection will wind up going away -it's a slice of bicycle history crowded into a small building that is like no other. Am I bummed not to have my first bike there ? Sure, but it's just one bike out of so many that shaped the sport as it is today. You never know.....I might even go up there to check it out- but not if the trip gets in the way of a good bike ride........

 

One minute you're here- the next minute you're gone..

It's late and I can't stay up all night and write so I'll keep this pretty short. What you see in the photo is a nicely organized set of frame building bits that no doubt were assembled and maintained to be at the ready for a journeyman frame builder. There are lots of pieces that come in handy - not hoarder  quantities but a fairly good supply. The builder who owned this stock was certain that he would be using these bits and was careful to keep sufficient numbers of each part. What he didn't have was sufficient years to use them- this builder died from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident a few months ago. I have written about him- his name is Ed Litton. 

So now I am the caretaker of these bits from Ed and other departed builders who were people I knew and admired. Most of these guys died at the age I am currently or thereabouts. I am nearing my 70th so my decades ahead might be few if any. I have had to sort through the shops of several builders in just the last few years. This makes me keenly aware of my own mortality and also a bit worried about the mess I will leave behind when I go. Will there be someone to sort through all the stuff I leave behind - find places and people who will make use of all the bits- bits that I will not live to use up ? Am I one of the last of my generation who actually gives a crap about this stuff and has the knowhow to make use of it ? These are questions that I can't answer, just as I have no answer for people who ask me how soon I am going to quit or 'retire' .........I once told the departed Bruce Gordon when he asked me what my retirement plan was.I said the following: " Bruce, it's the same as yours- "Found dead in shop" - but he was found dead in his house as he did actually find a way to retire. 

So- tune in next week, next month or next year- I hope to still be here, and maybe if I can empty out these drawers of bits and finish some of the projects left behind..... before all of my unfinished projects are left behind. I'm sure there will be a hell of a garage sale.