1986 Charlie Cunningham Special #015
Around the same time that John Groo bought Cunningham Indian #43, he also appears to have had Charlie build him Cunningham "Special" #015. For a tall rider, the 22 inch toptube is rather short and might have been selected to be better suited to technical slick rock riding as shown in the historic photos below. In any case, the bike saw plenty of hard miles on Moab's terrain while John guided tours for Rim Cyclery. As was the case with the #43 bike, the brakes are Suntour rollercam arms modified by Charlie to take long linear springs for a lighter touch at the lever. The stem is similarly a quill design and one also not made by Charlie, perhaps to customize the fit after the bike was delivered. However, unlike John's other bike, the Special has the large seattube option so Charlie provided a Suntour XC front derailleur with a modified band. For a seatpost, a Dura Ace head was adapted to a 1-3/8 inch tube with a graceful transition. With heaps of tire traction available on slick rock, named in reference to shoed horses that struggled with the concrete-like surface, large Avocet FasGrip tires were the hot ticket at the time. The water bottle is a reminder that John would go on to start Rim Tours in conjunction with Rim Cyclery, the first guiding company to offer trips specifically for mountain bikes. The bike eventually passed into the hands of Todd Campbell, along with #43, and somewhere along the way lost some of the original parts including the rigid fork when it got replaced with a suspension fork. Todd continued to ride the bike hard for many years and used it to help write the classic book "Above and Beyond Slickrock" that guided riders for many years.
More information about Charlie Cunningham bicycles can be found on the Charlie Cunningham Photo Archive page.
More information about Charlie Cunningham bicycles can be found on the Charlie Cunningham Photo Archive page.
The Build
Year: 1986
S/N: #015 Frame: Cunningham "Special" Fork: Cunningham Type II Stem: Salsa Moto Headset: Edco Competition Bottom Bracket: Cartridge Bearing Grease Guard Handlebar: Tuf-Neck Aluminum Shifters: Suntour XC Power Thumbshifter Front Derailleur: Suntour XC Rear Derailleur: Suntour XC Brake Levers: Shimano Deore XT M700 Front Brake: Modified Suntour Rollercam Rear Brake: Modified Suntour Rollercam Crankset: Shimano 600 Chainrings: Specialized / Sugino 25-36-46 Pedals: Suntour XC Compe Hubs: Cunningham Modified Hi-E Rims: Specialized X28 Tires: Avocet FasGrip City 26 x 1.9 Wheel QR: Specialized Seatpost: Cunningham Modified Dura-Ace Saddle: San Marco Concor Seatpost QR: Cunningham Grips: Grab-On MTN-1 Chain: Sachs Cogs: Shimano 600 Freewheel Bottle Cage: Specialized |
                                                    |
