Originally Posted by
Rocket-Sauce
Very cool. What is the "Logic" (heh heh heh "Ritchey Logic"...) behind the placement of the chainstay bridge? It sure looks cool, but does it add anything structural?
Ritchet appears to have been experimenting with stiffenig up the BB area, other frames have a much more unquie centered bridge, in '76 he swithced over to ovalized seat ubes and later frames had full platform verus a bridge.
Originally Posted by
The Golden Boy
Just out of curiosity, how do you *know* it's a Ritchey?
It says 'T. Ritchey' in big yellow font on the down tube. But, we all know how that goes so I relied on extensive research as well as knowledge gained from Owen, Aaron and the BF and CR archives. I went into this not knowing much and came out of it knowing a lot. Everything matches up, particularly the seat lug area which is very unique to Tom Ritchey. Decal? check. Original paint? check. Fillet lugs? check. Proper seat lug? check. No serial number? check.
I did my due diligence and spent days going over history and pictures. The guy I bought it from was not the original owner, he bought it sometime in the early 80s' ('82 I think), he didnt say how he acquired it and I didnt ask but I'm fairly certain he acquired it at an estate auction in Houston al ong with the other items. (There's an auction house label on the backside of the dealer signage. Back then the owner was also a Vespa dealer nad may have acquired it through his Vespa dealings.
It was part 'Antiques Roadshow' and part 'Pawn Stars' that convinced me of its originality.