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.
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.
