I have had one since 2005 and it's been a love hate relationship. I finally figured out why 6 months ago when I took all the parts off and got ready to sell the frame but somehow couldn't. The vast majority of issues I had were with the build kit. When I took my Campy Record/FSA carbon crank off of my Dean and installed them on the Ritchey frame the bike was literally transformed. My takeaway is this - buy just the frame and suitcase and then buy a build kit that is really good. I have had too many problems with Ritchey parts, including a broken stem, bent cranks, and a sloppy freehub, to recommend anything but their frame and fork.

I have their steel one by the way. The Ti one is ridiculously expensive and has a dated carbon rear stay design. The top tube is longer than my Litespeed Xicon and Dean El Diente, so a shorter stem helped. I have gone through 3 couplers and their latest design coupler is better with a small rubber o ring. You need to buy the Ritchey dedicated torque wrench as well that I think is set at 4 nm. Not the one set at 5 nm, that's for stems.

I have won races on this bike and have flown maybe 15 times with it and never been charged. I've raced it in Brazil and Mexico but it is not a racing frame - it is perfect for fast day rides and is a bit more laid back I think.

If you have to travel with a bike you need to take a hard look at the economics of it. If you build it right it may cost $2000 or so. Compare that to simply throwing your current ride in a Trico box or even, if within the US, simply using Fedex ground to send it to your ride site. Or borrowing or renting a ride.

I think it is best for people who would have it as a second bike and are passionate about the sport.