Yeah boy, a 65 x 58 custom. Oh man.... Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
-----Original Message----- From: William <tapebu...@gmail.com> Sender: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:20:48 To: RBW Owners Bunch<rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> Reply-To: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com Subject: [RBW] Re: Tom Ritchey, in His Own Words "If we ever do a tandem, we'll likely do the same. " I'd love to see it. I'd hope to be able to consider buying one. On Jan 11, 9:48 pm, grant <grant...@gmail.com> wrote: > This is rather long, sorry. > > I've owned a buncha Ritcheys. > • lugged road frame from '76 > • custom fillet frame from '81 > • custom tandem fillet from '81 > • non-custom road from '89 > • custom mtn bike from '87 > > And my then girlfriend/now wife had a road frame, too. > > The first year of Rivendell, I had to sell EVERYTHING to pay bills. A > disaster, but I had great replacements. Here are some observations on > his frames---not presented as facts, just obbies: > > 1. The lugged one was one he made for the Palo Alto Bike Shop, then a > hotshotshop (may still be, I dunno). They were Reynolds, lugged, and > undecaled, but I got the decals and put them on. I hear Jobst Brandt > had a hand in designing the decals. > > 2. Before I got that frame, the fastest local guy in our club, Rick > Baldwin, had three, with the fillet stem and all. One was a criterium > bike, with fork crown points on the outside that extended halfway down > the forkblades, all the better to stiffen the forks more, to resist > high g-forces in criteriums. Mostly it was Tom showing off, and he had > a right to, and did it well. This bike was a 5-speed, and I saw Rick > outsprint Greg Lemond to win the Berkeley Criterium in '77 or '78. > Greg then was riding Junior gears, and Rick probably had a 53 x 13, > but even so, it was impressive, and the last time I saw Lemond race > and not win, and I saw tons of wins. > > 3. My custom was made of Columbus SP tubing and had a fillet stem. The > frame was purplish and the stem was green. I stretched my budget by > ordering that and the tandem at the same time, in '80. I made time > payments on them both and paid them off in '81. The single cost me > $500, and the tandem was $1200, and had the most extensive lateral and > cross bracing you could ever imagine. It was as though he was looking > for ways to increase his work, but it was a beautiful frame. The > tubing was straight gauge unbranded CrMo with the same 1.25 downtube > and 1.125 top tube and 1 headset that used to be considered oversize, > and that Riv still uses today. There was no noticeable wiggle in the > frame, even though these dimensions would be considered way too skinny > these days (by anybody except JHeine). If we ever do a tandem, we'll > likely do the same. > > 3. When I was ordering my custom, I asked Tom, "Should I get short > reach or standard?" Short was the rage and I didn't want to be left > behind. Tom said, "Get regular, it's more useful. More clearance. > Short is for specialty bikes." Now "short" is "normal", but it's still > as limiting as it was then. > > 4. I could fit 32mm tires, easily. > > 5. On the tandem, Tom tried to talk me into sidepulls, but I held out > for cantilevers. Tom probably didn't brake as much as I did. > > 6. I put a TA triple on the tandem, 54 x 49 x 32, and used an outer > ring f or the middle. If you did this you could bolt the middle and > outer ring together, stiffening the rings. It was one of those insider > tricks of the day. > > 7. I ordered my custom mtn frame way too small, but what did I know? I > got a 49. Low bb, steeper angles than normal (73 seat 72 head), and > with 126mm spacing instead of the std (of the day) 130. He built it at > 130. I called him about it, and expected he'd spread it, but he said, > "I'll have another one to you in a week," and he did. > > 8. There wasn't QUITE enough tire clearance, and Tom said, "Bring it > by and I'll fix it." I brought it by, he put the chainstays down on a > wooden bench, on the inside of the chainstay he placed a mallet of > some kind probably shaped to do this, and whacked it super hard three > times with a big hammer, as I watch and listened afraid of the damage > and afraid to look. Then he repeated it on the other side. It made a > good case for steel tubes. > > 9. The custom mtn frame I returned with the 130 was used to win one > Nat'l Championship, and then another guy rode it to many top finishes. > I saw it in the race photos. It was cream frame, blue seat tube panel. > > Tom was by a few months ago and rode a 62 Hunqapillar with Alba bars > in the local hills. > > He was a strong influence for many years. I don't mean to say I'm > beyond that now, because there isn't any "beyond" Tom Ritchey when it > comes to bikes. He and his company are on a different path than we > are, but I've always liked Tom and I always look forward to seeing him > when he stops by, a couple of times a year by surprise. > > G -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
