Wheels

Charlie introduced 135mm rear dropout spacing for mountain bike frames in order to create a dishless rear wheel, far more bombproof than the unequally tensioned, narrowly spaced 125mm hubs. Threaded small axles with cup & cones were the old technology; Charlie introduced a bigger diameter thinwall axle with unthreaded cartridge bearings (low-maintenance) Until the early eighties the standard was 126mm and was gradually replaced with 131mm and finally with 135mm which has become the modern standard.

Charlie made the first cartridge bearing hubs designed specifically for mountain bikes starting in 1979. He made them from HiE hub parts that were modified for wider dropout spacing, optimal freewheel location and zero wheel dish.

Charlie designed the first mountain bike rims with a central beam for the best possible strength-to-weight ratio, now used in the WTB PowerBeam and LaserBeam.

Charlie identified tire tread design principles that were used to design the Ground Control tire. The Ground Control represented a huge improvement in traction and controllability for mountain bike tires of its time. When WTB set out to design its own line of tires, many of Charlie’s ideas were applied to create WTB’s first tire, the Velociraptor. As one WTB’s primary tire designers, Charie’s tread design ideas were used in WTB’s mountain bike tires while he was an owner in the company.