The Substack Vintage Bikes shared an interview they dug up from an old copy of the Rivendell Reader. In it, Grant Peterson interviewed Charlie Cunningham, and it’s a great read. Here’s the intro by Grant:
“Charlie Cunningham is the guy who would have invented the bicycle if it hadn’t been invented already; and if somebody else invented the bicycle frame, Charlie would have been the guy who invented components. It was just a matter of bad timing that it didn’t work out like that, so he has been relegated to the job of making bikes better. He is an inventor, innovator, designer, thinker, perfectionist, and most remarkable of all is that he’s not a cranky, antisocial genius.
When it comes to anything having to do with bikes, he’s thought about it, studied it, tested it, used it on a bike, and formed an opinion about it.
Usually when somebody knows this much, he’ll exude the kind of confidence that comes off as arrogance, but Charlie is almost eerily serene. I’m not sure that came out right. He’s easy to talk to and hang out with, and a pleasure to ride with—he’s not like one of those monks who makes you feel uncomfortable. His only fault, so far as I can tell, is that he’s not as nuts about lugs as I am. That, combined with the fact that he’s smarter than I am, is cause for concern.”
Read the full interview at Vintage Bikes. Thanks to Shawn Wilkerson for sharing!