Originally Posted by
Jarrett2
@
dr_lha, can you give some thoughts on your Ritchey v. BMC framesets?
Hmm... this is a difficult one to answer, because the frames are different and for different jobs, given that my BMC frameset is a Monster Cross and not a road bike frame.
I think I've been pretty vocal about the fact that I think that the Road Logic is a really excellent production steel frame. It ticks the boxes for me for a road bike, light (<5lbs with fork), comfortable but stiff against my weight. On the downside it lacks utility, the frame and fork have difficulties with some 700x28 tires, let alone bigger (I run 700x23 on it), and there's no rack mounts or anything like that. It's a road bike through and through.
My monster cross frame is pretty much the opposite, room for 700x45 tires, front and back rack mount points, mounts for a 3rd bottle cage, pump peg. The Steel fork is heavy (2.0lbs) vs the CF fork on the Ritchey (~0.7lbs). The frame itself is a pound heavier. Riding on roads the front end feels flexier than the Ritchey, I noticed some feeling of "bounciness" in the front end when pushing the bike hard, presumably the big differentiator being the curved steel fork vs carbon fiber fork (I was running 700x25 tires, so it's not just running bigger tires). On gravel it feels fantastic, on the road the ride is good too, but not a positive feeling as the Ritchey I'd say. But honestly that's what I'd expect, and why I bought it. For the purpose it's a great frame and I love riding it so far.
Any comments on the BMC road frame would be pure speculation. I know that it's a lighter frame (still heavier than the Ritchey though IIRC), lacks rack mounts, fits 700x33 tires (requiring long reach brakes), the steel fork obviously is going to be heavier than the CF of the Ritchey. I will say I was really impressed by the quality of the build of the BMC frame. The welds are beautiful. They look much nicer than those on the Ritchey. Of course "beautiful" isn't really an objective measure of quality. It may also be that a thicker application of paint makes them look better.
Equally the paint work is great on the BMC frame. That said, the Ritchey is no slouch here. Even if you don't like the grey color scheme, the quality of the paint job is excellent and it appears to be hard wearing after a year of riding, I've found no damage.
Not sure if this helps. I would say that after a year of riding the Ritchey, it's a bike I really love. I haven't ridden the BMC enough yet to come to a solid conclusion, but my initial feelings were very positive.