CHARLIE

The Charlie project takes shape from the desire to emulate the bikes of Charlie Cunningham, a precursor, already in the 80s, of MTB with handlebars. What we could define as the forerunner of current gravels. So, starting from the frame that you can see at the bottom of the page, a Cannondale SM600 from 1989, I gave away the restoration, stripping and glazing. I applied the faithful reproduction of the original decals and passed the clearcoat. The fork, also Cannondale, model "Pepperoni" is also in aluminum. I joined it to the frame with a Cane Creek SS-2 headset and a tube that converts the stem from 1" threaded to 1" and 1/8 aheadset. So I mounted an ultra-light aluminum stem and handlebar. The seat post is a Syncros, The saddle, as well as the handlebar tape are Brooks in brown leather, and they match perfectly with the color of the Schwalbe Fat Frank tires and brake pads. The rear brakes are U-Brake Dia-Compe FS-990, the front ones reflect the style of the more famous Graftons and both are operated by Diatech Gold Finger levers. The transmission is driven by a Middleburn triple chainring crankset and the derailleurs are XTR SM900 clutch operated by bar end levers, the cassette is 9 speed. The wheels are two jewels made up of Mavic 217 rims, with Chris King front hub and White Industries rear hub. The result is a bike that does not go unnoticed.