Does anyone know what the build is? Why is kitted out like and thoughts on how it ride?

It’s crazy looking, but it counts

From the article

Our North American Special Agent, Marc B got busy on the off-road Ritchey with its unconventional drop bar guise – “Broke in the Ritchey P-29er as it was breaking me on a 60mi mixed-media loop: deserted Superbowl Sunday roads, singletrack along the Rio Grande and against the mountains, and urban arroyo trails. Everyone rode from their houses and, afterward, limped home alone. Used the whole of the 10-44t cassette and finally found a decent use for Stan’s Raven tires. Inspired by Chipps and Wil, I have been been sneaking furtive glances at the Shand paint color gallery.

My drop bar 29er makes a lot of sense to me for light off road and mixed riding.

Yeah looks like a 29er mtb frame, salsa firestarter forks and cowchippers. Bit like a fargo really without the long headtube 😀

Why that gearing?

Used the whole of the 10-44t cassette

Hope cassette?

That’s nice! Wonder what the shifting set up is on that, road leavers and MTB mechs? Didn’t think that would work……no reason for this though at all mind!! 😆

Are they road levers (STI’s)? You can certainly use Hylex hydro brakes with Gevenalle shifters – works well.

Bit like this although brakes are mechanical.

Love the way my drop bar 29er rides – fast, comfortable.

I wonder if I could fit my paul’s components thumbies on the top of drops…

He might have fitted the Woltfooth mtb-road tanpan somewhere.

Yeah, I’ve got hope hydros on my CX, but it would be nice fit a MTB cassette to get a wider range for going up as I’m not racing!

Here’s my cx in monster mode, 1.75 tyres and 36t nw by 11-40 with a xt clutch mech shifting off ultegra sti units via Woolf tooth tanpan.

He might have fitted the Woltfooth mtb-road tanpan somewhere.

If Marc B is who I think he is, he almost certainly fitted one of those.

Hey Shandcycles and Tang!

Sorry to be late to the party. It is my bike and as I own Lindarets and work for Wolf Tooth it’s got a lot of our bits on it. I wanted a gravelmonster that would allow some gravel touring on 29x2ish tyres and maybe a suspension fork. Here we go:

The high points (weird stuff):
[*]Ritchey P-29er frame (medium to get top tube length right while playing with the idea)
[/*][*]Niner RDO fork with all of the spacers
[/*][*]Shimano Ultegra-level STIs
[/*][*]Shimano SLX calipers for the adjustable hose banjo (road are fixed-exit and don’t play well with the seatstay routing)
[/*][*]Wolf Tooth Tanpan to allow shifting with a mountain derailleur
[/*][*]M8000 XT rear derailleur with…
[/*][*]Wolf Tooth WolfCage to shifts better and improve chain wrap on 10- and 11-46 cassettes if fitted (and it was already on the derailleur)
[/*][*]Generic carbon rims on XD-driver DT Swiss 1501 hubs
[/*][*]SRAM XX1 cassette with Wolf Tooth GCX44 for a bit more range
[/*][*]Clearance Rotor Rex 110bcd mountain crankset because it was a great deal and pairs perfectly with the…
[/*][*]Wolf Tooth 110bcd x 40t oval chainring[/*]

Other:
[*]Giant carbon post because it was long and flexy enough
[/*][*]Ancient Elite Ciussi(?) cages because they’re black
[/*][*]GT Grade OEM flare bars because they were in the workshop (and feel really good)
[/*][*]Stan’s Raven tires because they’re terrifying for proper mountain biking
[/*][*]Prototype Bedrock Bags seat pack
[/*][*]Exposure flare rear daytime running light[/*]

I’m really happy with the ride overall. Would like a more function-specific frame but has been a great way to get my feet wet. I don’t care much for the rigid fork on technical terrain, but on smoother singletrack or long mixed-terrain rides it’s a blast. Better for loose gravel than my “allroad” bike but unsurprisingly slower on tarmac.

Vondally,
The gearing is just about right- the 4:1 high gear and tall tires put it in the neighborhood of a a 46:11 with a 23c tire and (spinning at 90rpm) is good for 7-31mph. Would probably go lower for touring but it’s only seeing day use now.

As far as colo(u)r charts go, I’m in love with the Prussian Blue…

Marc

Hi Marc, thanks, off to the shed to consider what form my Ritchey P 29 should take next…… Shed parts will dictate to some extent but some serious inspiration here from your bike and Tangs both are wonderful.

Cheers

I’ve been thinking about a p29er monster mash for a while, so cool to see one made real. Kicking myself for not buying the red/white/blue SS sliding drop-out one when Halfords cleared them out for c.£400 a few years ago.

What fork is that? I see it’s a Niner but is it a discontinued model?

@Crimson,
That’s a current (as far as I know) Niner RDO thru-axle/tapered 29er fork. I had a bolt-thru RockShox axle so threw that on in place of the stock (and strip-prone) Maxle Lite that came with the fork. There’s some self-amalgamating tape at the crown to hold the brake hose on the disc side and to cover the red logo (which really stuck out) on the drive side.

Bit smaller than I had hoped for 😕