Tom Ritchey, one of the most famous names in off-road bicycle design, made his first complete bike frame 50 years ago, in 1972, and this year is enjoying a year-long celebration of his 50th year in business.
A seven-time exhibitor at Philly Bike Expo, this year’s Ritchey booth featured a range of bikes sporting commemorative paint and logos with Palo Alto themes, part of limited-edition runs that will no doubt have collectors lining up.
Among the bikes in the Ritchey booth were this 50th Anniversary Outback with special limited edition paint. This is all-road model is currently Ritchey’s biggest selling bike.
Jeff Locke and Fergus Tanaka staffed the Ritchey booth, and told us to look out for a mixed-terrain handlebar, which will be available next year. Ritchey’s handlebars have proven popular in recent times. The Beacon and Venturemax gravel models in particular, which get wider at the drops. The Beacon XL, inspired by randonneur bikes, is 52cm wide with a very small 8cm drop and shorter-than-usual reach.
Also popular now in Ritchey’s line-up is the WCS Zeta GX gravel-specific wheel, which features a 25mm rim inner width, OCR offset, and beefed-up spokes. It is designed for center-lock rotors and is tubeless-ready. It comes in 700C and 650B sizes.