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1980 Ritchey Mountain Bikes

After the initial dozen or so bikes built by Tom Ritchey were sold through Mountain Bikes, the San Anselmo shop started by Charles Kelly and Gary Fisher, the demand for these new "balloon" tire bikes started to take off.  While Tom was a prolific builder, he did not enjoy making the labor-intensive forks required to clear the larger tires.  At some point, Tom was charging as much for a fork as an entire frame, so Charles and Gary started looking to other builders around the Bay Area to make the forks.  John Padgett of Sacramento made an initial batch of 10 forks with Reynolds fork blades supplied by Gary; however, the blades were intended for 700c tandem bikes and Gary did not specify an axle to crown measurement.  As a result John made the forks full-length, which was 1.5 inches longer than was typical for a 26-inch wheel bike.  To use these extra tall forks while maintaining top tubes that were horizontal and not sloping backward, Tom had to make a special batch of frames to compensate.  However, the only change made was leveling the toptube, with all other dimensions in the frame fixture held at measurements typical of Ritchey-built frames at the time.  As a result, the cranksets ended up 3/4 inch higher off the ground, or one-half of the extra fork length, and the head angles were about 3 degrees slacker.  While bikes were going toward more nimble 69 and 70 degree head tube angles, this bike had an "enduro" style 66 degree angle.

When Mike Sinyard of Specialized came to Mountain Bikes looking to buy a couple of frames that he would eventually have replicated in Japan and marketed as the Stumpjumper, he was sold two of these special frames with the long forks and slack front ends.  While the first run of Stumpjumpers didn't ended up with extra tall forks, they did have very slack geometry, which has often been panned in mountain bike history.  

This example from the batch of ten bikes was brought out to Crested Butte, CO in the Fall of 1980 for Fat Tire Week and the Pearl Pass Tour.  As shown below, Wende Cragg took a photo of this bike with Mount Crested Butte in the background.  The bike was later sold back at the San Anselmo shop and ridden all over Marin, including Mt. Tamalpias.  The bike has been preserved in pristine condition over the years.

The Build

Year: 1980
S/N: N/A
Frame: Ritchey Mountain Bikes
Fork: John Padgett Bi-plane
Stem: Ritchey Bullmoose
Headset: Shimano 600EX Arabesque
Bottom Bracket: Cartridge Bearing
Handlebar: Ritchey Bullmoose
Shifters: Suntour Mighty Click
Front Derailleur: Suntour Compe V
Rear Derailleur: Huret Duopar
Brake Levers: Magura Motorcycle
Front Brake: Mafac Tandem
Rear Brake: Mafac Tandem
Crankset: T.A. Specialties
Chainrings: T. A. Specialties 28-38-48
Pedals: Suntour BMX MP-1000
Hubs: Dura Ace 7100 / Bullseye Sealed Bearing
Rims: Ukai 26 x 1.75
Tires: Cycle Pro Snakebelly 26 x 2.125
Wheel QR: Dura Ace / Phil Wood Bolt-on
Seatpost: SR Laprade
Seatpost QR: Campagnolo Nuovo Record
Saddle: Avocet Touring II
Grips: Flanders Jackhammer
Cogs: Suntour Winner Freewheel
Chain: Dura Ace UG with quick link

"Enduro" Ritchey Geometry:

Headtube Angle: 66 degrees
Seattube Angle: 69 degrees
Bottom Bracket Height: 12.25 inches
Fork Axle to Crown: 16.5 inches (419 mm)
Fork Offset: 60 mm

Chainstays: ~18.5 inches
Seat Tube: 23 inches
Top Tube: 23.75 inches


"Normal" Ritchey Geometry:
Headtube Angle: 69 degrees
Seattube Angle: 71 degrees
Bottom Bracket Height: 11.5 inches
Fork Axle to Crown: 15 inches (381 mm)
Fork Offset: 50 mm
Chainstays: ~18.5 inches
Seat Tube: 20 inches
Top Tube: 23.25 inches
Picture
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