The Story of Mountain Biking’s Most Interesting Man: Richard Cunningham - A Pinkbike Podcast Special, Part 2

 Great chat! Thanks for all the hard work and inspiration over the years @RichardCunningham. And what a lucky little padawan you are @mikelevy.

Been hooked on mtb and following RC since the mid 90s and happily still an addict. Cheers to another 25 years.

 These are amazing, RC is a legend.

 Can you guys talk about Mountain Biking community insecurities? you know what I am talking about

Going uphill = "Bad" … Going Downhill = "the best!"
Road biking = "Lame" …. Mountain bike = "Amazing".
Lycra = "for sissies" … baggy shorts = "good"

Cheers

 Love this, I have been a fan of RC since the Mantis days...was stoked when he took over for Zap at MBA...even though by that time I had started reading BIKE more. I respect RC's opinions even though I don't always agree....the dude is a legend. Thank you for this, you should do more Interview types...get some of the old guard in here, I love to hear about the early days of MTB. I had the privilege to interview Keith Bontrager for a website that I used to run and just loved it! These long form interviews let get all nerdy and deep dive with people, it's great! I would love to hear DW or other Keith Scott talk about suspension and industry talk...or Tinker/Tomac/Overend...ugh...I could go on and on! Ever need help putting these together I would love to be a part of it...lol.

 Loved the stories. So much I don't know about you.

 Nice work Levy and RC, that was a super good episode.

 Loving these recent episodes. So much nostalgia! Used to read MTBAction cover to cover.

My first "real" mtb was a Yo Eddy! (Fat Chance)
My first full suspension was a Pro Flex (Girvin)
Realized I went to high school and used to ride with @mikekazimer

MTB is such a small world. Thanks for all the memories @RichardCunningham

 @RichardCunningham I hope that you are wrong about emtb, though I long shared your concern. I grew up riding mountain bikes illegally on hiking trails in the '90's as there were no legal trails nearby. There was a little trail system near my house growing up (where bikes were banned) that I loved. Typical Midwest stuff, where you'd seek the steepest bit of something you could find and go up and down and left and right to try to maximize the use of the gradient. The cops would fell trees across our trails and chase us on mopeds to try to keep us kids out. Of course we'd pile up branches up to the logs to turn them all into jumps! Which the cops couldn't navigate on their mopeds. Having purpose-built trails and booming NICA leagues today feels like such a different world.

I do remember when the access argument for mountain bikes was that they were human powered, and emtb has only recently become allowed on our local trail systems. A lot of the early advocacy for emtb seemed to focus on adaptive accessibility for those with injuries or disabilities, which seemed persuasive to land managers around here. Of course as soon as they were allowed that argument disappeared. Our city government is currently very pro-outdoor anything, but that can always change.

 Hypothetical question for you... If you HAD to choose between riding a top of the range frame (including forks and shock) with entry level components or an entry level frame with top of the range components, which would you choose? (assume the same geometry.)

 I could listen to a 10 hour episode of this. Also I want to know more about the old telecaster, I’m definitely buying one as my next guitar. Great podcast guys.

 The polarizing views on e-bikes seem to leave a sour taste in both sides. I agree with RC. I respect his opinion because it seems that industry people from either news sites or sponsored riders are e-bike supporters and it is difficult to accept opinions from people supported by the movement. Levy you might be a honest journalist but your paycheck is still supported by advertising dollars and most of the bike companies view e-bikes as their next greatest profit margins.

 @mikelevy i loved the discussion about online media recieving immediate positive or negative feedback. Speaking of which, can you talk about the recent survey on your next podcast? It seems like many people (including myself) were upset with the questions being asked. I’m curious as to why you chose those questions and who the survey is really for?

 Great interview. Loved the nostalgia it brings to me.
I started riding MTB's in 1984 because I didn't want to put a kid seat on my road bike!
Bought a Kuwahara Cascade for $880 and after a month of kid service I put the seat on my road bike and took to the hills.
Well mostly fire roads and cow paths. I rode that bike for 12 years before life got in the way. It took years for the gravel to come out of my elbows and legs.
Fast forward to 2014 when I wandered into a LBS to look at road bikes thinking I would start road riding again and saw these beautiful full suspension MTB's. Walked out with a Giant Trance and was addicted again.
Being older and a lot less nimble progression has been slow but steady.
I share RC's caution about injuries but still continue to push to get better ( even after a dislocated knee and a torn meniscus) and am now looking to start doing drops and jumps ( small)
To go from no suspension pounding your kidneys out and leaving your arms dead for days to the new bikes was an astounding thing to me.
The simplicity of getting on your bike and riding up the trails and clearing your mind of clutter before crashing down is
a drug they should bottle.
Thanks for the ramble, I'm practicing for senility!
Thanks RC and little pink Mike

 I’m not sure which company pressured RC into getting fired at MBAction over their lack of professionalism, but If I ever do find out, I would never buy their product again.

 Thanks for these. It’s crazy how fast And how far our sport has come. So many things he mentions, it’s like “oh yeah, I remember that, it was the coolest damn thing ever when it came out “

 Would really like to hear RC's take on PB getting eaten by Outside.

 @mikelevy Question for future podcast: Why are handlebars advertised with back and upsweep? Shouldn't they just measure the actual angle when 'flat' so that it's consistent? If it's a "12 degree bar", you could then roll it forward to have 10 degree backsweep and 1.9-something degree upsweep. Advertising both back + upsweep seems to be actually misleading unless it's one of those integrated bar/stem combos.

 Question - Maybe I've missed this somewhere along the way with the rise of e-bikes, but do e-bikes use more heavy duty bearings? I feel like I've been crushing bearings lately on my normal bike and wouldn't mind the weight penalty for bearings that I knew would last longer because they are more heavy duty.

 I started listening to part 1 at work and couldn't finish it because it was too interesting to let me do my work. I'm saving that and now this for a really boring mundane day!

 RC is fascinating to listen to. Worked at a bike shop during high school around the time those first full suspension bikes were showing up. I remember getting busted by the GM riding one around the basement warehouse just to see what it felt like. Lifetime ago. Anyway, other sports intervened and I ended up taking a 25 year hiatus from mountain bikes. The covid work-from-home surf crowds finally got me back into MTB and holy shit… it’s a completely different sport. The bikes are heavy but they’re absolutely unbelievable. I’m about 2yrs and four bikes down my post-hiatus rabbit hole now. Pushing hard to make up for both lost time and to race the sun setting on my own worn out rig (too hard probably… currently nursing a broken collarbone and a concussion). Jumps sure are fun, but I sure hear RC now on gambling away a year of your life away when you don’t have that many left(!). I wonder about his last words (in the podcast) though - the idea that stealing something mechanical to you body giving you superpowers. It’s hard to argue that ebikes don’t do exactly that(?). While I wait for my broken parts to mend I’ve sold my analog bikes to fund an ebike - I went for one of the “half-powered” ones cause I still want to work (new KSL). It’s hard to say no to a few extra laps in my daily ride window, especially seeing so many competent riders going in that direction. I guess I struggle with the same land access issues and “purity” issues that RC mentions but I think ebikes are an absolute inevitability, so better to join the party now before someone calls the cops and gets it shut down. Nobody’s going to give out an award for the last stubborn hold out… can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. We’ll see… maybe the ebike will be a massive turn off and I’ll end up back under my own power in a week. Thanks for a great interview RC and Levy

 Just when I didn’t think i could like RC any more, he shared his opinion on E-bikes. What a legend!

 Maybe I should be happy my resume never got any response.. That final interview might have killed me... But, I might be able to convince Tippie to take a easy on me.

 I liked hearing about your glowing reviews of terrible bikes to further sales but, what caused my mid 90's dislike of RC was the ask RC answers. Luckily I was more into BMX back then

 Great interview. Most of all I was glad to hear that “black diamond” bike was not actually RC’s idea. I found the term and the effort by MBA back in the day to establish that term to be a real turnoff.

 Brilliant stuff. Really a great listen. It sparks so many great memories as my early years match up so closely. Cheers and thanks for sharing the stories. -Kid

 ...or Dos Equis?

 Hey, RC! I met you mid-'90s on the Mt Lowe Railway one day. You gave my dumb-ass buddy all your water! You're a scientist-saint, if there ever was one!!! Cheers!

 Honestly @mikelevy I hope you are writing this all down and are planning to help write RC’s autobiography. It is culturally important and I would totally buy a copy.

 Hey Pinkbike, question for the podcast. What method do you prefer to clean your drivetrains? What kind of products are your favorite to use?

 Question: Let's hear RCs take on how the future of e bikes will play out. Dying to hear more from this legend. Thank you for all the lessons from your experience!

 Tear my f*cking heart & brains out: no podcast this week. Is it because I dumped on the UFO thing? FINE give me UFO's. No podcast week is The Suck. Really hurts...

 So great to hear this stuff! In 50 years this will be valuable content for some MTB historian. Keep it up!!

 Love listening to these. A very interesting chap.

 No Podcast this week??? 7/15/21

 Well this podcast is not going to age well..

 Where is episode 72?!?!? No more podcasts under the rein of outside?

 Levy and RC, thank you so much for this! This is great work guys!

 Does RC drink Corona?

 I didn't realize how inspirational that would be. Thank you.