Glad you approve 😉

Heavy sigh…

Awesome bikes.. Sadly 7 months down the line and now with two rugrats it’s looking less likely of me ever getting round to buying one

Just out of interest where are you all buying from ? And is it still avail in the sexy grey ?

Glad you approve

Well, it wasn’t aimed at you…..but smae applies 😉

But your stem is too short aswell……

And I was being facetious. I couldn’t give a toss whether you approve or not. 😆

brack – mine was second hand (actually third hand – I believe it originally belonged to Denis99 off here before the lad I bought it off). When I was looking though Acycles were the cheapest for the new frameset at just over £700. I think hora got his from there without any issues.

imo the 57cm looks proportionally ‘right’.

I agree. I think skinnier steel frames look better in the larger sizes, new fangled carbon frames better in medium.

Same goes for wheels; skinny steel, skinny rims, save the deep sections rims for carbon racers.

I couldn’t give a toss whether you approve or not.

You should take my comments on board; you’ll end up with a prettier bike for it

I bought mine from acycles. I think it was circa £600 then. Speedy delivery. I’ve just bought a Mavic Elippse rear wheel(sp?) too from them too.

Tbh build it how you want. Not what some bloke says you should do with your wages (sorry but true).

I had 2014 Ulegtra groupset, really didn’t like it, much prefer my current Tiagra to Ultegra. More a solid feel. Fair to say?

looks pretty good; could do with less spacers, a -8 or 10 degree stem to match the top tube angle, short cage rear mech, a nicer chainset like a Rival 10 speed with different rings.

Herein lies the dilemma I faced… Buy the 53 (as I did) and run 30mm of headset spacers, or buy the 55 and only require 10mm of spacers but the ETT is too long for me. I could of course have gone for the 55 and fitted a 90mm stem, but felt that would dull the handling a little and make it look like I’d bought a bike that was too big for me. I’m only 5ft10 but have relatively long legs and a short torso for my height, so my saddle to bar drop is never very impressive I’m afraid. Tape measure suggests that all the contact points on the Ritchey are near as makes no difference in the same place as they were on the 55cm KTM Revelator I was running for the last 2 1/2 years that donated the parts, and it’s near enough the same as my Large (Italians are tiny it would seem) Wilier Zero7.

Debated building it up with 10spd Rival I have lying about, but was getting silly low offers for the 10spd Red stuff so decided just to keep it and use it. I prefer the Chainset anyway…

White bar tape and saddle eh, who’s idea was that?

I went through hundreds of images on Google, and on the whole, the Ritchey’s look better with white saddle and tape IMO. As a rule, I hate white bar tape as its a total faff, but I had some lying around that cost me nothing (customer wanted some new black tape on their new bike and paid for it) so tried it out. Already had the White saddle (have the same in black on other bikes) too so didn’t cost a penny to experiment at least.

mboy, that’d look great with some 40mm rims, slammed, and black saddle and bar tape

Got a near enough stealth bomber carbon bike already, a Wilier Zero7 in Matt black, SRAM Red eTap, 42mm Carbon Reynolds Assaults, though again not slammed as I’m not flexible enough… The Wilier is very much a sunny Sunday best bike, the Ritchey is supposed to be something I can just jump on any time and get some miles in (albeit on something that’s still pretty exciting to ride and light enough that it won’t hold me back), so ally rims are the order of the day I’m afraid.

So… Everyone running 25’s or is anyone taking advantage of the tyre clearance and running 27/28mm tyres on theirs?

I considered some 28’s but read that the Vittoria G+ come up slightly big and there’s some stuff (possibly on mtbr but I can’t remember) about it being a very tight fit on a lot of 28’s.

On a different note, I think I’ve found my N+1

I’m going to buy that…

Excellent. Can I have dibs?

So… Everyone running 25’s or is anyone taking advantage of the tyre clearance and running 27/28mm tyres on theirs?

I considered some 28’s but read that the Vittoria G+ come up slightly big and there’s some stuff (possibly on mtbr but I can’t remember) about it being a very tight fit on a lot of 28’s.

Schwalbe Pro One 28’s fitted fine at the rear… sadly not at the fork. Sent them back and got a refund.

Ritchey do state that the frameset has ‘room for many 700x28c tires’… I’d be interested in knowing which tubeless ones will fit as my new wheelset is tubeless.

I bet Mavic 28’s fit as the 25’same are tiny compared to Vittoria & Conti

I bet Mavic 28’s fit as the 25’same are tiny compared to Vittoria & Conti

Just a shame that they don’t do a tubeless tyre at 28.

That new Richey looks brilliant in that colour. Is it just the Swiss Cross with a different name and colour though? They look very similar.

Absolutely blimmin great ride in this morning on mine, love that bike.

(if someone can tell me an easy way of linking to photos on Google Drive, I’ll post it up)

When/if Ritchey do something a bit more Vaya-esque (i.e. slightly more relaxed, rack/guard mounts, disks), I think my N+1 days will be done.

Herein lies the dilemma I faced… Buy the 53 (as I did) and run 30mm of headset spacers, or buy the 55 and only require 10mm of spacers but the ETT is too long for me. I could of course have gone for the 55 and fitted a 90mm stem, but felt that would dull the handling a little and make it look like I’d bought a bike that was too big for me.

This confuses me a little as the 55cm Ritchey is merely 2mm shorter on ETT, same head tube length, 3mm more stack and 1mm less reach compared to the 55cm Revelator, so the 53cm Ritchey is substantially smaller; 23mm shorter ETT, 20mm shorter head tube (hence all the spacers) 19mm less stack and 14mm less reach. To me riding a 55cm Revelator would put me bang on the 55cm Ritchey, but your saddle does look a long way forward on the rails, even on the small bike.

On a positive note, nice bike and a possible 40th for me present I reckon.

Don’t know where you got your geometry from Steve… But 55 Ritchey is 10mm longer ETT than 55 KTM, though head tubes are the same size. 55 KTM was perfect fit for me, wouldn’t want to go any longer ETT though, hence went for the 53 with 5mm shorter ETT but 20mm shorter head tube.

The all important tape measure “saddle to bar” measurement is within 2mm of the KTM right now, and the saddle to bar drop is bang on the same. I could have achieved the same position on the 55, but not without going to a shorter stem.

Quite like the look of the Road Logic because it is does have that decent long and low race geometry. Not looked at the geo charts but it does look like the Outback would be quite good for someone who wants something a bit shorter.

The all important tape measure “saddle to bar” measurement

It’s not really as you could have saddle to bar measure right, but then it be totally wrong relative to your BB (the fixed point). Saddle to bar is just a consequence of having the right hight and setback of saddle from BB, and having the right reach and stack from BB.

ETT is only a rough guide to fit too. Just need to know if you can get your saddle in the right position and that stack and reach can be made to work with a change of stem and spacers.

mboy – Member
Don’t know where you got your geometry from Steve… But 55 Ritchey is 10mm longer ETT than 55 KTM, though head tubes are the same size. 55 KTM was perfect fit for me, wouldn’t want to go any longer ETT though, hence went for the 53 with 5mm shorter ETT but 20mm shorter head tube

My bad got ETT, mixed up with actual TT, but the reach & Stack measure up very similar on the 55’s

Just slam it; everyone rides round with their bars too high.

Inflexible chap slams his stem; ends up in a better position……

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7q-um6nHw[/video]

Does the chap in that video have some affliction that prevents him from bending his arms at the elbows?

Does the chap in that video have some affliction that prevents him from bending his arms at the elbows?

Heh, it’d probably help. Looks like he needs a bit more saddle setback, but it should give the OP the general idea.

😯 Matt Bottrill’s grown his hair…….

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=803798FtUhI[/video]

davidtaylforth – Member
Just slam it; everyone rides round with their bars too high.

Inflexible chap slams his stem; ends up in a better position……

That’s actually quite interesting, I can get my hands flat on the floor when ‘touching my toes’, but in the other direction have very short hip-flexors.

I’m finding that moving my saddle forward and raising it slightly (i.e. the opposite of the relaxed/comfortable geometry of a sportive bike) is actually giving me more comfort because I can now bend my arms (the equivalent of dropping the bars I guess but I like to use the drops so keep them with about 20mm of spacers).

Only thing I’m not sure of is whether it’s my hamstrings that are long, or my lower back that’s flexible. My assumption was always that the pelvis should be relatively flat (short hamstrings) and the lower back curved to get into a flatter position, as rotating the pelvis forward on long hamstrings and an inflexible back would transfer too much pressure from sit bones to notcher.

Most likely you’re rotating your pelvis.

Most likely you’re rotating your pelvis.

It’s probably true having watched the second (triathlon) video where he rotates the saddle back quite a way. I dropped the nose on mine until I no longer rubbed my notcher into it (about 2-3deg, just visible if you look at the bike side on) after reading that article on Team Sky and getting the UCI rules changed to allow greater saddle angles, which is probably addressing the symptom rather than the cause.

Might stick it on the turbo and have another go from scratch starting at the 109% of inside leg, knee over pedal, saddle horizontal as I could well just be forcing myself into that position and trying to make it work.

Just slam it; everyone rides round with their bars too high.

Whilst I’d agree with you when you see some of my customer’s bikes (not bought from me I might add) coming in with bars higher than the saddle, position on a bike is a wholly personal thing. You have to appreciate that some of us just aren’t as flexible as others too… I for one make the Fizik Bull look like an olympic gymnast! I’ve got a very inflexible spine, coupled with Michael Johnson’s Hamstrings (shame I can’t run like him though!) which stops me from going much lower at the front anyway. Couple this with a physical NEED to actually see where the **** I am actually going (rather than doing a Chris Froome looking at stems impression).

Besides, being ultra aero is all well and good if all you’re doing is riding up and down flat stretches of your local dual carriageway for 10 miles at a time, but if you like riding up and (more importantly) down hills then a bit of front end height for control is not necessarily a bad thing. That said, I have experienced first hand the pain of riding a bike with a head tube that was too tall for me to get the bars low enough, 15 miles into a ride I had an excrutiating pain inbetween my shoulder blades that would not go away, and all because the bars were 20mm higher than I would normally run!

#aeroisnteverythingdespitewhatdavidtaylforthsays 😉

#aeroisnteverythingdespitewhatdavidtaylforthsays

All the same, I’m amazed quite how flat that girl in the video gets and still manages to pedal. be interested to see if it affected her power output.

My knees hit my ribs long before that, which is what started me down the process of shifting the saddle forwards and up to open the angle between my torso and legs.

All the same, I’m amazed quite how flat that girl in the video gets and still manages to pedal. be interested to see if it affected her power output.

I’d be interested to see what else she could do if she’s that flexible, but that’s a different story! Anyway…

Like I said… If all you’re after is ultimate aero then of course you can slam the bars as low as possible and ride it on the flat, but that’s not what cycling is is it. It’s a compromise.

Back on topic… Not ridden it yet still, still deliberating about wheels to be fair. May yet upgrade them before I even ride it as I know the RS61’s really are pretty uninspiring.

I’ve got RS61’s as my winter wheels, no complaints really. They’re not the lightest, but like most shimano wheels it’s all in the hubs so on the road they feel lighter. My summer wheels are <1300g and TBH I can’t feel much difference with the same tyres and tubes on them, the winter tyres make more of a difference.

Running 28mm gator skins here. Fine on the back but tight enough on the front that I have installed helitape to protect the tip of the arch. Whenever I try and slam the stem I end up with a bad neck and stiff shoulders. Hints please.

Hints please

Add a spacer 😀

HTH

…Or try a slightly shorter stem. Lowering the bars also moves them away from you. You need a shorter stem to bring them back, The difference will be about 0.5-0.75 cm.

So… Finally just christened mine tonight! Swapped the wheels out for some 4ZA Cirrus Pro I had spare that are both lighter and stiffer than the RS61’s, as well as a tiny bit more aero and they have bearings that roll for ages! Oh yeah and swapped the tyres for some new 25c Vee Tyre Rain Runner’s which I’d heard good things about.

Only a 50k ride, but immediately impressed right off the bat. Ok so mines built light at 8.2kg inc pedals, cages, Garmin mount etc but performance wise it’s giving nothing away to any similar weight carbon bikes. Comfort wise, well… How can a bike be stiff, responsive, incredibly engaging to ride yet super smooth and comfortable as well? Oh yeah, it’s made of some rather nice steel tubes designed by a man who knows what he’s doing. I’m really rather impressed, immediate thoughts are that its nicer to ride than my super bike build Wilier Zero 7! It’s a bike you could happily ride all day on and be looking forward to riding the next day, rather than wincing about getting back in the saddle. And it’s a very confidence inspiring descender, hit about 45mph on it straight off on one hill, didn’t shake or show any signs it was anything less than rock steady.

Me likey! Just got to stop myself from creeping all the super bling bits off my Wilier onto it as that’s not the point! It’s supposed to be a bike for just riding whatever the conditions…

I’ve got a hankering for one of these bikes!

I’m considering using my Kinesis 4S Disc for year-round commuting duties, in place of my rather porky Surly Ogre. I’d then have room in my life for a full-on roadie.

I’m looking at Ritchey’s own build, which is based around Ultegra, a decent-looking pair of Ritchey Vega wheels and Ritchey finishing kit for £2.3k.

Feel free to validate or quash these thoughts!

I’m looking at Ritchey’s own build, which is based around Ultegra, a decent-looking pair of Ritchey Vega wheels and Ritchey finishing kit for £2.3k.

Feel free to validate or quash these thoughts!

I have one with an Ultegra build with Fulcrum 3 wheels. It’s ace. However, deep rim wheels like the Vega on a classy steel frame, IMHO, look gash. Consider yourself both validated and quashed.

destickered Ultegra wheels would look great. Or H+ Son TB14, depending on the rest of the bike.

My best mate has just bought one of these frames. Looks stunning in the metal, even better than I was expecting. Having to wait for his wheels before he can build it though

Whoops – they’re actually Zeta 2’s on the Ritchey factory build; so no aero looks after all. 😉