Mercian Rider

Chuck Harris passed away yesterday. He was best known for his hand made rear view mirrors, which he made entirely from recycled materials, but he was also a pioneer and innovator. He was making his own bicycle components in the 50s when good stuff wasn't readily available in the US. I knew him and saw him at least once every year at TOSRV, but not this year because he had a stroke before the event.

Here's an ugly-looking link to an Adventure Cycling article about him:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...WRNq4-89dG5LKQ

There's also in article about him in the Rivendell Reader, but I lost that issue.

RIP Chuck.

puchfinnland

too bad,
RIP

I would have liked to have one of those mirrors...

Chris_in_Miami

Sad news indeed. I've never met him, but I read a couple of articles about him and his mirrors in the past, and he sounded like a phenomenal guy.

Calverticus

At the annual Freemont, Ohio Bike swap meets he had a pedal grinder set up outside his van
(or was it a VW Microbus) to demo the process.

The vehicle was completely packed w/ bikes to where there was little room left for him & his wife.
I already had a mirror i'd made so didn't buy one of his but I did enjoy talking to him.

One thing sticks in my mind is the extra long cage derailleur he had on his bike.
As I recall he told me he'd made it.

The other thing that comes to mind is seeing him mentioned in the Whole Earth Catalog.
I'm not sure if that's a fact but for some reason I have that page image in my head.
Feel free to correct my recollections.

Calvert

Mercian Rider

Here's an article about Chuck from today's local paper. I had been misinformed--he passed last Saturday.

https://www.dispatch.com/content/stor...iast-dies.html

Here's a shot of me using one of his mirrors on a bike camping trip a couple of weeks ago.

rootboy 

A true original.

MKahrl

In 1971 when the bike boom hit all of us teenagers with new ten speeds looked around for a little guidance on all things bicycle and there weren't any adults around who knew much of anything. But in Knox County Ohio we had Chuck Harris. We asked him him to start a bike club and he did. It would be Chuck Harris, a few adults and about 40 teenagers following him up and down all the best bicycling roads that he already knew. He had a bike shop you could drop by and hang out and talk with him. A refreshing change from some bike shops in those days.

In the 80's a Chuck Harris mirror was recognized by other riders I encountered all up and down the East Coast. For a while he was the only one who made them.

How he got mentioned in Playboy magazine is a story for another day.