The Radavist thanks 1-Up USA for sponsoring our Sea Otter Classic 2024 coverage!
While on the road to Sea Otter, John swung through the Ritchey HQ in the South Bay and got to check out some new models that are coming out tomorrow. Check out a sneak peek of the all-new Montebello randonneuring bike, the redesigned Outback, and P29er, along with the Superlogic Butano Ridge integrated handlebars and some shop ephemera below!
Ritchey is a small team in the USA that works on sales and marketing while working on PR&D for components and frames. You’re lookin’ at the full-time staff in the US, and there are employees in other countries, along with designers and engineers. Fergus, center, in marketing, has been with the brand for nine years. Simon, right, in sales, for eight, and Baily, left, for a few months…
Ritchey Montebello Randonneuring Bike
Perhaps the most exciting bike in the new drop this spring is the Ritchey Montebello. It’s a lightweight randonneuring bike, with clearance for a 700 x 36 mm tire with fenders or 40 mm without. The frameset includes the all-new Brevet fork, that has internal dynamo routing, and 2-pack bottle bosses.
The bike falls within the Road Logic family, has a little more stack, and is a little longer than the Road Logic. It’s Di2 or cable compatible, has flat mount brakes with the new Ritchey truss dropout design (nothing is lighter than holes), uses Logic Tubing, and comes in Tapatio red.
Fergus rode this very bike in Paris Brest Paris this year, a true test of a randonneuring bike!
$1699 frameset.
Ritchey Outback
The Outback got a redesign this year and features the new flat mount disc brake dropouts, clears a 700 x 48 mm or 650b x 2.0″ wheel, is made with TIG-welding construction with proprietary triple-butted Ritchey Logic steel tubing, and has rack and fender mounts for the long haul.
Granite & Snow is the color for the flat-mount equipped Outback.
$1,599 frameset.
Ritchey P-29er XC MTB Frames
The P-series first hit the Ritchey lineup as a continuation of the SuperComp bikes, elevating Ritchey’s race frames into the professional circuit. Naturally, the modern P-29er model fits a 29er wheel, with clearance for up to a 2.4″ XC-tread tire (depending on knobs/tread/make), now with boost spacing, internal routing for a 27.2 mm dropper, 100 mm of suspension, and a tweaked XC/race geometry. As seen here, the P-29er is compatible with flat bars or drop bars and a rigid or suspension fork.
$999 for a frame.
Ritchey Superlogic Butano Ridge Integrated Handlebars
Integrated road and gravel bikes aren’t going anywhere, so Ritchey embraced the brand’s legacy of riding deep into the coastal mountains of Northern California with his mentor, Jobst Brandt, and other like-minded cyclists. This was the 1970s. There weren’t “gravel” bikes or even “mountain bikes” yet, but a 28 mm tire just got’er done.
The original Butano handlebar embraced the spirit of underbiking and the new Superlogic Butano bar ($599), takes it up a notch. Taking design notes from the Ritchey SoloStreem and MonoCurve handlebars, the SuperLogic Butano Ridge fills the demands of adventurous riders calling for a carbon fiber version of the Butano. Inspired by the original Bullmoose bars, the Superlogic Butano Ridge utilizes an integrated bar/stem combo that is lightweight, stealthy, and more than capable of handling the rough stuff when it turns into fast rough stuff.
This monocoque design offers complete internal cable/wire/hose routing for modern gravel and road bike frames. The underside of the bar features a removable cable cover offering easy access for cable routing and doubles its duty with the ability to receive an integrated accessory mount (sold separately).
Around the Ritchey HQ
So many stunning bikes were offered to me during my afternoon visit, but these three bikes stood out the most. The Swiss Cross is an iconic, rim brake, ‘cross racing machine. This one was painted by Rick at D&D, the same fella who painted the Ritchey Commandos, in “Urban Camo” and is part of the Ritchey archives.
Albert Eisentraut is the godfather of NorCal framebuilders, and this is one of the few mountain bike frames he built. According to the frame’s dropouts and component kit, Tom thinks it was built in the early 1990s. There’s a special story in the works for this one!
Fergus’ custom Bishop Bikes 700c Randonneur inspired the Montebello frameset, down to the color and geometry. Expect a Readers’ Rides from Fergus soon!
Well, what do you think? Which model are you most excited about?