Sometimes bikes are indeed “forever bikes,” and as Ben outlines in this week’s Readers’ Rides, his Ritchey is one of them!
At the end of my teenage years, I was bike shopping with my dad. It was the late nineties. I lived in the San Lorenzo Valley, about five miles upriver from Santa Cruz, my hometown. Dad and I had been visiting bike shops, and I’d taken a few new bikes for test rides—clunky things with aluminum frames and front suspension.
We met for brunch in Midtown Santa Cruz and stepped into a used bike shop while we waited for a table. As I recall, the shop owner was drinking a beer with his arm in a sling, watching the Tour de France on a small TV. We told him what we were looking for, and he pointed out the Ritchey in the corner. After a short test ride, I was hooked. I later found out this Ritchey had been his personal bike. It was set up beautifully for light mountain use.
The bike crossed my path at exactly the right moment in my life to rekindle my childhood passion for bicycling. We spent most of the next decade together, pinballing around Santa Cruz and beyond. I eventually settled in Vancouver, Washington. Mountain biking took a backseat to road rides on road bikes, and the Ritchey mostly idled in my musty basement.
But the plan was always to restore it. As I built and rode other bikes, I thought about the rides I’d like to take on this bike, I scoured the internet for ideas and parts, and the details of my Ritchsto-mod fell into place. This build combines my favorite bits of old school mountain bikes with a selection of new school parts I’m pretty excited about.
I sent the frame and various components to Rick Stefani in the Bay Area for paint. Rick coordinated with Ed Litton to add braze-ons for the rack. I’m a hack mechanic; fortunately, a local non-profit (Bike Clark County) operates a bike shop right down the street from my house. Their work is flawless.
As much as I loved the previous featherweight version of this bike, with composite fork blades, Ritchey Vantage Comp wheels, and one pair of brake levers only, I’m now rounding 45 years old and If I’m going to be gone in the woods on a bike all day this is how I want to go about it.
Build Spec:
- Frame: Mid to late Eighties Ritchey fillet brazed C 21″
- Fork: Bontrager crown with Tange switchblade blades
- Handlebar: Nitto / Rivendell Chocomoose, trimmed, with Ritchey Gazos bar tape
- Front Rack: Arkel AC Lowrider
- Panniers: Arkel Orca 12.5L
- Frame Bag: Jandd Sling and Pack
- Wheelset: Velocity Mountain Standard Rim Brake 36 Spoke
- Crankset: Velo Orange Gran Cru Fluted Triple with IRD bottom bracket
- Headset: IRD Double Roller Drive
- Brakeset: Dia Compe 987
- Derailleurs: Suntour XC Pro
- Shifters: Rivendell Silver2, bracket drilled for brake cable routing
- Cassette: IRD 7 speed
- Saddle: ISM PM2.0
- Brake Levers: Dia Compe DC-189 reverse levers with Tektro RL 720 cross levers
- Pedals: MKS Grip Monarch
- Dropper: Breeze and Angell Hite-Rite
- Seatpost: Ritchey Comp 2 bolt
- Tires: WTB Velociraptor 2.1″
We’d like to thank all of you who submitted Readers Rides builds to be shared here at The Radavist. The response has been incredible and we have so many to share over the next few months. Feel free to submit your bike, listing details, components, and other information. You can also include a portrait of yourself with your bike and your Instagram account! Please, shoot landscape-orientation photos, not portrait. Thanks!
