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Submitted by
Loyd
a Cross Country Rider
from Pacifica, CA
Date Reviewed: August 16, 2003 | | Duration Product Used: | 2 Years | | Strengths: | Nimble, responsive, comfortable, steel | | Weaknesses: | Haven't found any yet | | Similar Products Used: | Ritchey Comp frame owned previously | | Bike Setup: | Ritchey cranks, pedals, wheels, post, bars, headset, stem, tires, Shimano drivetrain, brakes, WTB saddle, Salsa skewers, Avid levers, Gripshift shifters, Judy SL fork | | Bottom Line: | After breaking a rear dropout on my previous Ritchey the company offered me a great deal on a new NiTi frame. After waiting a few weeks for it to be painted the color of my choice (Burple!), I built up the bike with a mix of old, but mostly new parts. This is a bike that reacts to the most subtle of inputs from the rider. I feel at one with the bike and never feel like I'm fighting with it. Steel makes for a supple, comfortable ride that can be ridden all day without beating me up. Put slicks on it and it makes for a great urban commuting bike, with the feel of a road bike. Can't think of a bike I'd like better. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
seamus
a Racer
from NorCal
Date Reviewed: April 17, 2002 | | Favorite Trail: | Tahoe Rim trail or Soquel Demo | | Duration Product Used: | 6 months | | Strengths: | Exquisite craftsmanship, superbe handling and overall ride quality. | | Weaknesses: | No disc brake mount | | Similar Products Used: | Literally everything you could name as of 2001. | | Bike Setup: | Ritchey WCS everything, Time pedals and SID SL fork | | Bottom Line: | This is *still* one of the best frames you can buy. Handling on fast, technical singletrack is nimble and intuitive...you never have to fight the bike. It's light (around 22lbs with reasonable parts) and plenty stiff, and more durable than many Ti frames costing twice as much. And the craftsmanship is amazing! Even though Tom only does the final inspection and some of the braze-on's, the framebuilders he contracts for his bikes are excellent---welds are as tight and clean as they are on my immaculate Independent Fabrication hardtail. Even the BB threads and facing job is better than 90% of the small builder bikes out there.
AND in refrence to the post below, 8 weeks is not an excessive wait for a small framebuilder bike like this, especially if you're talking custom paint. I went with custom paint on mine too, and it was worth the wait. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Brian
a Weekend Warrior
from Boulder, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: December 7, 2001 | | Favorite Trail: | any technical singletrack | | Duration Product Used: | Tested or demo'ed only | | Strengths: | Beautiful steel hardtail | | Weaknesses: | Ritchey as a company has zero concern for customer service | | Similar Products Used: | Bontrager -- My fave, but it's aging a bit... | | Bottom Line: | I tried to buy this bike, but apparently Ritchey is not in the business of selling bikes. This is the exact bike I was looking for -- Steel hardtail, fit me perfectly, choice of paintjob (since the only frame in my size wasn't painted yet), and from a company that has a great reputation for quality.
Ritchey originally quoted a 4 week delivery time for the bike. The bike shop I was working with padded the time to 4-6 weeks when they quoted me -- Sounded reasonable, considering it wasn't painted yet. After 6 weeks, I was told that Ritchey was running a little behind. After 8 weeks I started to get pissed that it hadn't arrived yet. Especially since winter had started in Boulder, and the season was coming to an end. On the Tuesday of the 9th week, Ritchey said "It's painted, we're just waiting on the stickers. It'll be shipped on Thursday." The dialogue from here gets comical. On Thursday I got a call from Ritchey directly saying "Umm, we couldn't find that paint color you wanted...".
Me: "Funny, I thought you said it was painted on Tuesday?"
Ritchey: "Yeah, well, if you can find the color number we'll get it out to you right away."
Me: "You do realize that it is now ski season in Colorado, right? I fail to understand how it can take you almost 9 weeks to determine that you don't know what paint color I want, then lie to me about the status of my bike."
Ritchey: "We'll I hope we can just move on from here..."
Yeah, right. Ritchey offered me a T-shirt and socks for my trouble if I continued with the purchase. Why the hell would I want to advertise a company that spent 2 months yanking my chain? Gee guys, how about throwing in a used pair of undies and a few blown tubes?
Bottom line -- I cancelled my order. I don't care how good a bike Ritchey makes, I'll never purchase another one of their products again. I'm not willing to support a company that does not act in good faith towards their customers.
Just a warning -- If you REALLY want a Ritchey, plan WAY ahead and expect to deal with a lot of BS from their sales reps. Good luck. | Value Rating: Overall Rating: |
Submitted by
Peter
a Cross Country Rider
from San Fran
Date Reviewed: June 12, 2001 | | Duration Product Used: | 1 Year | | Purchased At: | Excel Sports Boulder | | Strengths: | Ride Quality, Geometry, Welds, Paint, Weight | | Weaknesses: | Disc Brake Mounts | | Similar Products Used: | Titus RacerX, Cannondale F1000 | | Bike Setup: | Zoke XFly80 fork, CrossMax UST wheelset, XT cranks and brakes, RockShock SP, Ritchey WCS Bar/Stem & Headset, Koobi Xenon seat. | | Bottom Line: | ONE WORD: SWEET. This bike is the best hardtail I've ever ridden hands down. Just light enough to aid climbing, but not stupid-light, aiding control on descents. Tom Ritchey has stuck to what he knows has worked in the past and will survive all the trends going forward - a classic small diameter tube, steel hardtail. The balance of rigidity and compliance of the tubes, coupled with a raceworthy geometry makes for a fun, all-day bike for almost any terrain. Due to the geometry, I have more control on this bike than my full-suspension Titus Racer X. Plus, the welds, the paint, the clean lines, and noone else will have one (because it's low production, handmade by the master himself). Hard to find and usually not built up. Check out Excel Sports on the web. | | Value Rating:Overall Rating: |
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