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Official (Tom) Ritchey Picture Thread

378K views 2K replies 192 participants last post by  Ranger Mac 
#1 ·
Lots of Ritchey threads on this forum...but now's the time to show off your Ritchey!

Lets see pics of what you've got!
 
#1,211 ·
Well, I'm not being real fussy, but Tom didn't give any names to frames until late in 1981, when what was simply the custom bike was named Everest. I ordered my first bike from Tom (Charlie & Gary) in August of 81. When it arrived in Bangkok in March, the invoice named it as an Everest. That was the first I'd seen of any names on his bikes. The Timberwolf came as a B frame in 1984. All 81 & 82 made bikes had twin plate forks. Go to the oldmountainbike registry list to see the evolution.

Whatever. It IS a nice looking bike and I certainly hope you love riding it!

Congrats!
 
#1,212 ·
yes, I was surprised that Tom said it was a 81 as well. Alan {owner in pic] said everything is as he bought it from West Point Cycles in Vancouver in 81. Bit of a odd ser# it definitely reads 21SB1. It's got that Tange fork Tom said only was only produced once. It has a campy post, pannaracer tires, specialzed headset,hubs,blk araya rims, Suntour derailleurs and deerhead shifters. the bars are very wide with grab on grip type of rubber that go on for miles. It is definitely a B frame. I will post more pics later
 
#1,213 ·
Fascinating. Perhaps this was one of those early special batches that Tom did for sale in Canada. There are others here who know that window of history better. Perhaps when Charlie gets around to a response, he might shed more light.

Of course, Deerhead shifters weren't released until '84 either. . .

I do want to repeat/emphasize that I'm only curious to learn, not trying to be pedantic.

Great to learn more. And it is a great bike on top of all the conversations!
 
#1,216 ·
LL Deerhead= Spring 83 I believe. From my research; Not ready in time for the very first of the mass produced asian frames (Mountech beat Deerhead) but ready by the time the second batches were ready to be built up.

Just my little research, feel free to check my work before setting in stone.
 
#1,221 ·
Phil press fit. It is possible that the frame/fork/bars were shipped to Canada and built up later. Tom sent an actual voice recording to Alan saying it was a 81 Timberwolf?
In my experience talking to early builders, those guys' memories are not always right on the money. Especially when it comes down to pinpointing specific years. Sometimes with us being heavily immersed in all the minutiae, etc we might have something like the exact dates down a little more accurate than those guys that haven't given it a bit of thought for 30 years. Not saying Tom's off a bit, but just keep that in mind. The parts, including the bullmoose, all look like '83-'84.

I've got a couple of those recordings from Tom as well. :)
 
#1,224 ·
Ya well I broke down and bought reading glasses I didn't think my memory would go as well. Now the ser # that Tom say's the 1 stands for 1981. If it is I have some Phil hubs, and mafac brakes maybe I should put those on to make it more period correct. Although I would hate to change anything it is in such great condition. Alan said he only road it around the sea wall. What a thrill sorting a rare TR mountain bike that is in such great shape. As I was dismantling this bike I couldn't help but think that back in the day we used to tear our bikes down every month or so in the winter because we rode off road everyday in crazy conditions. Finding this bike {well Alan phoned me} gives me confidence that there are others out there collecting dust in some rich persons 5 car garage on the westside. Now my focus is on the holy grail of vintage.......a Trailmaster. I know that was the first bike Chaz carried when he opened Deep Cove bike shop. I know there is one out there with my name on it.....I can almost see it.........
 
#1,226 ·
Man...I wouldn`t change one thing on that bike.

No disrespect to Tom, but I thought that in these earlier Ritchey`s, the first number in the serial number was more typically the year of production. That would jive better with the build too. Maybe frame was produced in 82, but built up in 83...
 
#1,227 ·
well it measures 21" and Tom said the first 2 digits are the size. Dunno if Tom says its an 81 and its a timberwolf I would tend to take his word over you bunch of smucks. Just kidding....really. Taking it apart there is brass ended 6mm brake cable that looks like motorcycle stuff. And the rear QR axel was wrong. The spacing on the drops is 135 and the wheel had a 130 axel in it It does look like the deerhead brake boss bolts have a bit if wear on them so it is possible it is not the orig groupo. I would like to know for sure so any more information would be greatly appreciated
 

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#1,238 ·
well it measures 21" and Tom said the first 2 digits are the size. Dunno if Tom says its an 81 and its a timberwolf I would tend to take his word over you bunch of smucks.
First, Tom is not the go-to guy on dating his own early '80s products. His records and numbering systems were so casual that others have had to sort them out later, like geologists dating strata by comparing them to others of known ages.

As I'm sure others have pointed out, the Timberwolf model did not exist in 1981. The only model during my tenure that featured the faux lugs was the Annapurna, the most expensive one we sold. The look of the fork does not suggest that the bike was built after 1983, when forks switched to Unicrown.

The brake cable is interesting. We made our own brake cables in the shop. If it is hand made, I probably made it, because we had to adapt a Magura brake lever to a bicycle brake. That would place the manufacture before the arrival of the Shimano gruppo, which eliminated that problem.
 
#1,235 ·
Thanks for the offer on the pedals. I have XC2's and even a set of XC Comp's but the OCD in me is calling for MP1000's. I thought about blacking it out because I like black Anno parts, but trying to keep it classy. That and I have a Camo Mtn. Goat Deluxe from the same year that is currently getting the black anno treatment.
 
#1,236 ·
Ya that Anna sure looks good blk. My all time fav is the TR commando. That bike looked so good with black parts. Here in the land of Ritchey's {van} I only saw 1 commando in all those early years, One of the cove guys raced one and I remember seeing it and thinking **** that's a nice bike. Back to blk anno parts, I don't think many were made by shimano/suntour cuz I never saw many and trying to source that stuff now is next to impossible if you can find. Looking forward to both your projects. I know you are supposed to take your time but can you @#$%^%$ hurry up so we can see the pics!!!!
 
#1,239 ·
I was enlightened last night by Pippin who checked out both my early B frames. He commented that the seat collars tell a story that the bike with the ridge around the top is an earlier frame. He said Tom was working on not only a rubber boot but a hite rite type of design that incorporated the rubber boot. I wonder if there was any prototypes produced? Another Breezer design copy? At some point in 83? Tom dropped the ridged collar which would make the Tange fork 20'" bike a 1983 model which would make sense if the bike is indeed original
 

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#1,240 ·
The elusive boot. Nobody's seen one that I know of. Yeah, we (the Ritchey nuts) all hashed over all this over the last decade and a half and I think it was 1982 when that ring was showing up. To the best of my knowledge and memory, 1982 had the ring and the funky MountainBike/Ritchey downtube decals.
 
#1,243 ·
The boot never existed. I don't remember whether or not we ever even saw one. The problem was that we would have had to order a ton of them to justify the production run of a custom size.

I can't even remember whose idea it was. Gary and I didn't have much input to what Tom built, and sometimes we would be surprised by small changes in the latest batch. Tom built whatever he wanted to, because we could get rid of anything with the name on it.
 
#1,244 ·
Nice having first hand knowledge thanks for that. Pippin also mentioned he owned {until it got stolen} an early competition that had the scalped brazing on the head tube and top tube at seat but no point on seat collar it had the ridged flat seat collar. So lots of custom builds.
 
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