1975 ish Tom Ritchey Road Bike
04-22-15, 03:40 PM
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1975 ish Tom Ritchey Road Bike
CLIFF NOTES...long story below: Picked this up last week while out of town on business. A co-workers neighbor had it, I secured purchase and drove home with it!! I traveled by air to my assignment but ended up driving home because it was the only reasonable way to get the bike home. 6 1/2 drive door to door versus 5+ hours flying door to door.
If I get bored at work tomorrow I'l post up the long detailed story.... (BF timed me out and I lost 2,000+)
Thanks to KonaAaron (Aaron) and Leicalad (Owen) for giving sound advice.
Of note:
Year: Ricthey switched over to ovalized seat tubes at the BB in 1976. This frame has a round seat tube thus dating it to ~1975. The earliest of his frames have NO decals and NO serial number. This frame has NO serial number. Owen thinks this may have been built while Ritchey was still in high school.
Chain stay bridge: Rather than being in the middle/centerline it's brazed up high. Later Ritchey frames have a platform in this area.
Fork tangs: Very long... and plain.
Seat lug: Not the typical design, its almost half a lug with fast back seat stays.
Tubing: Probably Reynolds 531 but it takes a 27.2 seat post. Looking at the thinness of the seat tube up high it appears Tom really bored out the tube to fit the 27.2 post. More research is need to determine material type. I'll eventually pull the fork and look a 'Reynolds' stamp or the Columbus 'dove'
Lug points: Very long and tapered almost to the point of disappearing.
EDIT FOR FULL LENGTH STORY:
On occasion the company I work for needs temporary help at random location across the U.S. In the past I've spent a week in Scaramento covering ECMO and 5 weeks in San Jose setting up a new account. At hte nd of May I received an asking if I be willing to help with transitioning of a new account in Pensacola, FL. Pensacola is 3:30 door to door flying direct, 5 hours with one connector and 6:15 driving. Boss man said to fly so I caught one of the only flights left, a round trip connector through Atlanta.
I arrived on Sunday, settled in and met up with my co-worker on Monday. The following day we finaly had a chance to make small talk he brought up cycling and mentionied racing in the USCF and being a CAT rider back in the day. He also told a story of selling one of his favorite bikes, a Litespeed, and how he found it after a 2 years search and several owenrs. But it was missing it's head badge. I mentioned owning both a Litespeed Catalyst and Classic, pulling out my trusty smart phone I showed him a pic of the polished classics head tube area. My coworker was stunned and commented that it was the most beautifull bike he's ever seen. Very casualy he asks, "have you ever heard of a T. Ritchey?"
In my mind I instanly say to myself, "no, but I've heard of 'Tom Ritchey'. He telsl me his neighbor has an old T. Ritchey, some Campagnolo tools and a bunch of other 'stuff'. I simply said, "tell you neighbot I'll buy everything and I'll pay him a fair price." The next day I receive, via text, a few pics of the bike and tools. My keen eye tell me mostly what I need to know, post CPSC Nuovo Record, but there's not enough detail in the pics to tell me what I need to know about the frameset. So the search begins. I sent pictures to KonAaron (Aaron) as he knows a lot more than I do about smaller voume domestic builders and we've worked together in the past.
Aaron suggested contacting Leicalad (Owen) because he owns/owned a Ritchey. Aaron and Owne were bale to fill in the gaps for me and without naming a price gave recomendations as to what fair market vlaue may be. Research continued, I dug deep into the BF advanced search and read every Ritchey thread over and over again. Classic Rendezvouxin google groups was extensively searched as well. I was able to deterine the frame was probably built pre-'76. There aren'y many pictures of early Ritchey frames on the 'net but I found as many as possible and studied the details. I didn't come across any 2 frames that were built a like which makes ID a tick more difficult than if all were built the same. So now its time to see the bike in person.
Meeting up with the owner took 4 days. Getting on in years the owner was looking to downsize and doesnt ride like he use to so it was time to part with the bike. He leads me into the garage and there it is. A T. Ritchey road bike. Closely inspecting it I quickly come to the conclusion that it's a real T. Ritchey. Everything fits. Patina? Check. Lugwork? Check. Everything checked out so i got right down to buisness and asked, "how much do you want for it?" the owner contemplated for a few minutes, rambled a bit and said, "I'd like to get $WXYZ for it." I didn't ever think about and replied, "I think that's a fair price, is it a deal at $WXYZ?" and we shoke hands. Done. Over. Mine pending exchange of cash. I had no cash on me and banks were closed for the day so we settled on payment for Monday. As I was leaving he said, "now, if you to pay $WXYZ X 2 I have some other things." Show me hwat you have!! we go inside and he pulls out Campagnolo catalog no.17, framed promotional signage, a cork screw, nutcracker, some tools and other misc odds and ends. I left telling him I'd think about all the extras and would go over it with Im on Monday.
The following day, Saturday, my coworker hosted dinner at his house, there were 7 of us. Two cardiovaculsr perfusonists, a pharmacist, specop guys and his wife, retired spook*, and a horticulturist. Somewhere during the ightI heard, "so tell us about htis bike you bought." I looked around the table and said, "I'm not sure if I should, we haven't exchanged funds yet!" The owne looks sqaure at me and says, "I know the story, its your bike." and I proceeed to the tell the Tom Ritchey story.
Monday finaly arrived and I went to pick up the bike. The owner and I looked over the extras, I was only interested in the catalog, cork screw and nutcracker...we settled on a price for those items that was 50% of what I paid for the bike. While loading up the rental car he said, "here, take the sign and I found this" and pulled out a Campy belt buckle. Sweet!!! Two bonus items. Now I'm faced with the dilema of how to get the bike and extras from Pensacola to Tampa.
There's no was it going a plane and I had no other way, aside from an LBS, to get it boxed and sent to Tampa. So I decided to drive the rental car one way. No big deal, it's only an extra 1:30 door to door and I'll just have to pay for a little gas and drop off fee for the rental car in Tampa versus Pensacola. Nope. Un-named rental car company wanted $1,200 extra to drop the car off in Tampa versus Pensacola where I rented it. That was insane, I only paid $550, all in, for 14 days of rental!! I got some nonsense about having to convert the rental over to 14 one way trips from Pensacola to Tampa. Ridiculous. So I asked about returning the car one day early and re-renting one way to Tampa. $156. No joke. Same car, same drop off point. The counter person said if I made reservations on-line I may be able to get a better rate. Umm OK. So I did...$56, one way from Pensacola to Tampa plus 15 gallons of gas. Food was expensed.
At the end of the day my company saved one day of rental car fees and I did what I've always done....buy bike first, make arrangements to get it home second.
PHOTOBUCKET
PHOTOBUCKET SLIDESHOW
If I get bored at work tomorrow I'l post up the long detailed story.... (BF timed me out and I lost 2,000+)
Thanks to KonaAaron (Aaron) and Leicalad (Owen) for giving sound advice.
Of note:
Year: Ricthey switched over to ovalized seat tubes at the BB in 1976. This frame has a round seat tube thus dating it to ~1975. The earliest of his frames have NO decals and NO serial number. This frame has NO serial number. Owen thinks this may have been built while Ritchey was still in high school.
Chain stay bridge: Rather than being in the middle/centerline it's brazed up high. Later Ritchey frames have a platform in this area.
Fork tangs: Very long... and plain.
Seat lug: Not the typical design, its almost half a lug with fast back seat stays.
Tubing: Probably Reynolds 531 but it takes a 27.2 seat post. Looking at the thinness of the seat tube up high it appears Tom really bored out the tube to fit the 27.2 post. More research is need to determine material type. I'll eventually pull the fork and look a 'Reynolds' stamp or the Columbus 'dove'
Lug points: Very long and tapered almost to the point of disappearing.
EDIT FOR FULL LENGTH STORY:
On occasion the company I work for needs temporary help at random location across the U.S. In the past I've spent a week in Scaramento covering ECMO and 5 weeks in San Jose setting up a new account. At hte nd of May I received an asking if I be willing to help with transitioning of a new account in Pensacola, FL. Pensacola is 3:30 door to door flying direct, 5 hours with one connector and 6:15 driving. Boss man said to fly so I caught one of the only flights left, a round trip connector through Atlanta.
I arrived on Sunday, settled in and met up with my co-worker on Monday. The following day we finaly had a chance to make small talk he brought up cycling and mentionied racing in the USCF and being a CAT rider back in the day. He also told a story of selling one of his favorite bikes, a Litespeed, and how he found it after a 2 years search and several owenrs. But it was missing it's head badge. I mentioned owning both a Litespeed Catalyst and Classic, pulling out my trusty smart phone I showed him a pic of the polished classics head tube area. My coworker was stunned and commented that it was the most beautifull bike he's ever seen. Very casualy he asks, "have you ever heard of a T. Ritchey?"
In my mind I instanly say to myself, "no, but I've heard of 'Tom Ritchey'. He telsl me his neighbor has an old T. Ritchey, some Campagnolo tools and a bunch of other 'stuff'. I simply said, "tell you neighbot I'll buy everything and I'll pay him a fair price." The next day I receive, via text, a few pics of the bike and tools. My keen eye tell me mostly what I need to know, post CPSC Nuovo Record, but there's not enough detail in the pics to tell me what I need to know about the frameset. So the search begins. I sent pictures to KonAaron (Aaron) as he knows a lot more than I do about smaller voume domestic builders and we've worked together in the past.
Aaron suggested contacting Leicalad (Owen) because he owns/owned a Ritchey. Aaron and Owne were bale to fill in the gaps for me and without naming a price gave recomendations as to what fair market vlaue may be. Research continued, I dug deep into the BF advanced search and read every Ritchey thread over and over again. Classic Rendezvouxin google groups was extensively searched as well. I was able to deterine the frame was probably built pre-'76. There aren'y many pictures of early Ritchey frames on the 'net but I found as many as possible and studied the details. I didn't come across any 2 frames that were built a like which makes ID a tick more difficult than if all were built the same. So now its time to see the bike in person.
Meeting up with the owner took 4 days. Getting on in years the owner was looking to downsize and doesnt ride like he use to so it was time to part with the bike. He leads me into the garage and there it is. A T. Ritchey road bike. Closely inspecting it I quickly come to the conclusion that it's a real T. Ritchey. Everything fits. Patina? Check. Lugwork? Check. Everything checked out so i got right down to buisness and asked, "how much do you want for it?" the owner contemplated for a few minutes, rambled a bit and said, "I'd like to get $WXYZ for it." I didn't ever think about and replied, "I think that's a fair price, is it a deal at $WXYZ?" and we shoke hands. Done. Over. Mine pending exchange of cash. I had no cash on me and banks were closed for the day so we settled on payment for Monday. As I was leaving he said, "now, if you to pay $WXYZ X 2 I have some other things." Show me hwat you have!! we go inside and he pulls out Campagnolo catalog no.17, framed promotional signage, a cork screw, nutcracker, some tools and other misc odds and ends. I left telling him I'd think about all the extras and would go over it with Im on Monday.
The following day, Saturday, my coworker hosted dinner at his house, there were 7 of us. Two cardiovaculsr perfusonists, a pharmacist, specop guys and his wife, retired spook*, and a horticulturist. Somewhere during the ightI heard, "so tell us about htis bike you bought." I looked around the table and said, "I'm not sure if I should, we haven't exchanged funds yet!" The owne looks sqaure at me and says, "I know the story, its your bike." and I proceeed to the tell the Tom Ritchey story.
Monday finaly arrived and I went to pick up the bike. The owner and I looked over the extras, I was only interested in the catalog, cork screw and nutcracker...we settled on a price for those items that was 50% of what I paid for the bike. While loading up the rental car he said, "here, take the sign and I found this" and pulled out a Campy belt buckle. Sweet!!! Two bonus items. Now I'm faced with the dilema of how to get the bike and extras from Pensacola to Tampa.
There's no was it going a plane and I had no other way, aside from an LBS, to get it boxed and sent to Tampa. So I decided to drive the rental car one way. No big deal, it's only an extra 1:30 door to door and I'll just have to pay for a little gas and drop off fee for the rental car in Tampa versus Pensacola. Nope. Un-named rental car company wanted $1,200 extra to drop the car off in Tampa versus Pensacola where I rented it. That was insane, I only paid $550, all in, for 14 days of rental!! I got some nonsense about having to convert the rental over to 14 one way trips from Pensacola to Tampa. Ridiculous. So I asked about returning the car one day early and re-renting one way to Tampa. $156. No joke. Same car, same drop off point. The counter person said if I made reservations on-line I may be able to get a better rate. Umm OK. So I did...$56, one way from Pensacola to Tampa plus 15 gallons of gas. Food was expensed.
At the end of the day my company saved one day of rental car fees and I did what I've always done....buy bike first, make arrangements to get it home second.
PHOTOBUCKET
PHOTOBUCKET SLIDESHOW
Last edited by miamijim; 04-23-15 at 04:32 PM.
04-22-15, 04:20 PM
#5
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Wow...that's impressive. I really don't think many other US builders have had as much influence on cycling, and a Ritchey with this level of workmanship is just awesome. I love the seat cluster.
04-22-15, 04:34 PM
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This is sweet.
04-22-15, 04:41 PM
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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?
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04-22-15, 05:01 PM
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Lucky dog!
04-22-15, 05:14 PM
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That is cool. I'd imagine there's people that would slice off an appendage or two, or maybe donate someone else's body parts for something as significant as that.
Just out of curiosity, how do you *know* it's a Ritchey?
Just out of curiosity, how do you *know* it's a Ritchey?
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Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
Commence to jigglin’ huh?!?!
"But hey, always love to hear from opinionated amateurs." -says some guy to Mr. Marshall.
04-22-15, 05:27 PM
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I picked up these items for 50% of what I paid for the bike..
Catalog no.17, cork screw, but *******, belt buckle, signage..
Catalog no.17, cork screw, but *******, belt buckle, signage..
04-22-15, 05:40 PM
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That is gorgeous! My first "real" road bike was a mid/late 70's Ritchey I bought used in 1980. Sold long ago......
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
04-22-15, 07:45 PM
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Crazy to think something like that coming from a high school student. Kids nowadays...
The thinning of those lugs are incredible and the seat tube on the very top looks tin foil thin. Lol.
The thinning of those lugs are incredible and the seat tube on the very top looks tin foil thin. Lol.
04-22-15, 07:46 PM
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That is gorgeous! My first "real" road bike was a mid/late 70's Ritchey I bought used in 1980. Sold long ago......
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
And this one looks my size too...
Lots of arguments about chainstay bridge placement and utility.
I like the increased contact area, I wout
i'd have been tempted to place it from below.
04-22-15, 08:10 PM
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That is gorgeous! My first "real" road bike was a mid/late 70's Ritchey I bought used in 1980. Sold long ago......
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
The style worked out by him and Peter Johnson from that period with heavy fillets and wafer thin filing is one of my favorites. My soon to be finished Chris Bishop was commissioned to be done along those lines.
https://instagram.com/p/0eSuLfxyLA/?...by=bishopbikes
I'll watch for "finished" pics on his flickr.
Right up there with Dinucci. imho
Last edited by gomango; 04-22-15 at 08:27 PM.
04-22-15, 08:19 PM
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My goodness. Absolutely beautiful - the seat cluster is very interesting. Congrats.
Great Bishop, too.
Great Bishop, too.
04-22-15, 10:57 PM
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04-22-15, 11:27 PM
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You can see in all those details, the seat cluster especially, that he was playing with ideas and testing limits. The whole thing is just unreal.
A craftsman (artist?), early in his career.
A craftsman (artist?), early in his career.
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
04-22-15, 11:57 PM
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I know what the corkscrew and nutcracker go for....I'd say you did well in the Ritchey. Thanks for not rubbing it in! Congrats on a stellar find.
04-23-15, 12:26 AM
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Yeah, those lugs are just nuts. A little piece of history.
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● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
● 1971 Grandis SL ● 1972 Lambert Grand Prix frankenbike ● 1972 Raleigh Super Course fixie ● 1973 Nishiki Semi-Pro ● 1979 Motobecane Grand Jubile ●1980 Apollo "Legnano" ● 1984 Peugeot Vagabond ● 1985 Shogun Prairie Breaker ● 1986 Merckx Super Corsa ● 1987 Schwinn Tempo ● 1988 Schwinn Voyageur ● 1989 Bottechia Team ADR replica ● 1990 Cannondale ST600 ● 1993 Technium RT600 ● 1996 Kona Lava Dome ●
04-23-15, 09:30 AM
#25
Senior Member
miamijim-
Wow! You have history in steel. It was easily worth the 6 1/2 hour drive.
Wow! You have history in steel. It was easily worth the 6 1/2 hour drive.
