1983 Mantis Sherpa

The Sherpa was an early model Mantis built by Richard Cunningham using fillet-brazing and 4130 steel tubes. The finishing on Mantis bikes of this era is a bit unusual because all of the fillets have a webbed shape, with a raised ridge that runs along the center-line of the bike. This particular Mantis uses a Henry James cast fork crown rather than the more common bi-plane forks found on other Mantis bikes of the era (few survived off-road use). With three water bottle bosses and a portage pad, this bike was intended to go anywhere.