# 81 Ritchey Restoration



## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

This bike was one sad puppy when I picked it up. Tired and worn out, it looked like it had logged many, many touring miles over its lifetime.

Cosmetically, the bike was a complete disaster. There were several areas where patches of the paint had been abraded away, leaving a lightly hammered surface. Probably from stuff rattling and vibrating against frame during transport.

The surface of the toptube had a pitted appearance. A previous owner had hastily applied two different colors of primer in an attempt to arrest whatever decay was going on.

Many of the components were missing or cannibalized. It took three days of soaking with Liquid Wrench before the stem broke loose of the steerer. And one of the machined shoulders in the bottom bracket that accepts the outer race of the press-in BB bearing was reamed oversize, probably from the bearing spinning loose in the shoulder over time.

But at least the original brazed bullmoose bars and biplane fork where intact. Here is what it looked like (more pics here).










Plan A was to just build up the bike as a solid rider despite the ratty appearance. As I was shooting the inside of the toptube with Frame Saver, I noticed it oozing out of a small hole in the tubing, right at the place where the toptube fillet starts feathering into the headtube. Bummer. I brought the frame in for a more thorough inspection to see if there was any more bad news.

The diagnosis was that the decay was caused by years of corrosive sweat dripping onto the frame and pooling on the underside of the toptube. And perhaps the tube had been undercut slightly when the fillet was filed smooth. But there was no additional decay around the bottom bracket area. At least the bike had been stored dry - there was only slight surface rust even in the areas where the paint had been abraded away.

So onto Plan B, fix the frame and refinish. Fortunately the toptube is one of the easier tubes to replace on a frame set. I took the frame over to Ed Litton to work his magic. Ed did an admirable job faithfully re-creating the large radius fillets that were characteristic of Ritchey's torch work:



















Ed painted this bike the same Bright Green metallic color as my '82 Ritchey McKinley. The two frames are quite similar. Judging from the serial numbers, one was built mid-1981 while the other was built early 1982. But there are several subtle differences:

The fillets are much more generous on the '81, especially around the rear dropouts and brake bosses.
The top plate of the biplane crown is finished flush with the fork blades. On most of the biplane forks, the upper plate has a slight overhang. Small difference, but the overhang style has a more retro look, while the other has a cleaner functional look.
I think the headtube angle is 68 deg on the '81, while it is 69 deg on the '82. The rest of the geometry seems identical.
This project was in many ways ideal for me, as I already had many of the missing components in my parts cabinet, stashed away as spares for the '82 Ritchey. Two wheelsets were built up for this bike. The first set has Cook Bros hubs laced to black Ukai Speedline rims. The second set has early Phil hubs laced to gold Araya rims. The bike had come with a minty 130mm bolt-on rear Phil hub, and I asked the good folks at Phil Wood & Co to convert a Phil front hub from QR to bolt-on, to match the rear.

More images can be found here. Enjoy!





































With the Plan B bike turning out so minty, I wanted to include something in the build dripping with patina, as a visual reminder that this bike has seen many miles. The first thought was using the original sculpted Magura grips. Virtually all the nubs were worn smooth, but the left side grip was badly cracked and deteriorated (image on left from the 1980 Koski Trailmaster catalog):









So whats the next best thing for introducing a touch of patina but a nice old Brooks saddle?


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## -Anomie- (Jan 16, 2005)

Excellent, another one to add to the record books as saved. I love that green too, almost wish I had painted mine that color. Two :thumbsup::thumbsup:. What is the serial number?


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

nice thread. 5 stars.


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## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

-Anomie- said:


> Excellent, another one to add to the record books as saved. I love that green too, almost wish I had painted mine that color. Two :thumbsup::thumbsup:. What is the serial number?












And this bike was the inspiration for the color (I think it resides on the other side of the pond now):


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

That's a serious beauty, nice work. 

Yes, the green one is in Europe now. I almost bought that locally (from a friend) but passed. It was a tough decision and still have some slight regrets.

Love the green with the gold rims. Nice photos, too.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Hey B!

That's awesome! Your dedication to the project really came through. Amazing restoration job. So great that you have that other wheelset. I was looking for those hubs for awhile. They don't come up very often in good condition! Yay for you and that bike.

How did you deal with the bb?

wow, great job! You got yourself some amazing bikes.


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## Veloculture (Dec 18, 2005)

That bike found the right owner.


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## crconsulting (Apr 11, 2004)

What a great restoration. Looks like ed did a great job. Nice choice of color too.

I like the mix of components.


Very very nice bike!

Enjoy.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

yeah, thats a great color.

is that a decal on the front hub?


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## rydbyk (Oct 13, 2009)

Whoa! Nice work. Love the paint!!


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## MERK26 (Aug 31, 2009)

Beautiful. The colour combo is perfect...really nice job.


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## Guest (May 31, 2011)

Brian, beautiful restoration,your patience truly paid off. Now it's ready for another 30 years of riding. Good job :thumbsup:


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## hegstad1 (Sep 16, 2010)

Broken record. Good call on the restoration. One of those bikes that is truly worthy of the time, effort and money.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

The dedication to your restorations is amazing B. 

You can bring this one out to the next NorCal vintage ride!


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Colors are fantastic. That is an excellent restoration, congratulations!


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## yo-Nate-y (Mar 5, 2009)

amazing work!


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## bmxcollector (Nov 21, 2006)

What a great machine! Nice job going the extra mile bringing it back.


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## kb11 (Mar 29, 2004)

Your resto turned out excellent :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:


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## Fillet-brazed (Jan 13, 2004)

Oh, and that "flush crown" bi-plane fork is apparently pretty rare. It's been discussed at one point, and I think only 3 or 4 known examples are accounted for (in our little interweb world)...

I think one is in Europe (Cycleshark IIRC), my 81/82 Everest has one, and now yours. 

Now I've got a little more motivation to finish up one of my long running Ritchey projects.


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## Veloh (May 21, 2011)

Stunning.


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## Z-Man (Apr 25, 2005)

This deserves an upping of your rep power.


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## ong (Jun 26, 2006)

Wow, that is really lovely. One of the few colors that really looks nice with gold anno!


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## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

Wow, I certainly appreciate all the enthusiasm the bike has stirred up.



girlonbike said:


> How did you deal with the bb?


I hate to admit how much time I spent screwing around with the BB. At first I thought I could re-use the 130mm spindle pulled out of my '82 Ritchey (it was too short for that bike). I had some grooves machined into the spindle to accept circlips like this diagram from the 81 Ritchey catalog. But at the end of the day, I realized I needed a few mm of side-to-side offset, but the grooves were machined centered. Even if I had the offset, the clearance from the chainstays to the crankarms would be too small.

So I chucked the whole thing, and got hold of a new 135mm Phil spindle. It is held in place laterally by two 17mm shaft collars from Action-Tec. The oversize shoulder was dealt with by a shim.











hollister said:


> yeah, thats a great color.
> 
> is that a decal on the front hub?


Sharp eye, it is a decal. The silkscreen logo was very fragile on this hub and would not stand up to polishing out the shell with Carnauba wax. I asked Phil Wood & Co if they could re-apply the silkscreen when I sent the hub in for conversion, but it has been years since they have done this and no longer had the capability. So a decal it is. The rear hub silkscreened logo was much more robust and has stood up to polishing out the shell.











Z-Man said:


> This deserves an upping of your rep power.


What the heck is rep power ??? 

Thanks again everyone for your kind words and positive feedback.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

ong said:


> Wow, that is really lovely. One of the few colors that really looks nice with gold anno!


You're right. I don't think I noticed that very much except when it doesn't look too great but the green looks good with the gold.

B,

thanks for the explanation. I often run into strange issues with my bikes from some previous owners' diy jobbies.


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## tductape (Mar 31, 2008)

I l really dig the passion and topic in this project. Certainly VRC's thread of the month.


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## sandmangts (Feb 16, 2004)

Z-Man said:


> This deserves an upping of your rep power.


Thats funny, he has just over 70 posts and his rep power is 5 already. I guess its quality not quantity. Killer job on the bike. I would be interested in seeing how the top tube was replaced.


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## Repack Rider (Oct 22, 2005)

To see a bike that I personally helped build 30 years ago being treasured like this is an emotional experience for me of a sort that hardly anyone ever gets to have. 

Thank you so much for bringing it back to life, and thanks to MTBR for providing a place for me to find out about it.

I probably knew the owner. Whose was it?


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## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

Repack Rider said:


> To see a bike that I personally helped build 30 years ago being treasured like this is an emotional experience for me of a sort that hardly anyone ever gets to have.
> 
> Thank you so much for bringing it back to life, and thanks to MTBR for providing a place for me to find out about it.
> 
> I probably knew the owner. Whose was it?


Hi Seekay-

I don't know who the original owner was. I got the bike from Ed Litton who had gotten it from a friend who himself was not the original owner...

The bike apparently sold out of Cove Bike shop.


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## LeicaLad (Jun 5, 2010)

Wow! sigh . . . Wow!

I've been tied up (hunting employment, shelter for family and other such mundane things) and limiting myself to only a couple threads on bike-related forums. I depend on pings into my inbox to bring me back. The main Ritchey thread made me think to do a search. Wish I'd found this thread when it went up.

Wonderful restoration. Great color choice. A work of staggeringly heartbreaking beauty. But I digress.

Anyway, it seems you've done wonders. (I'll spare the repeat of my other posts crying over my stolen '81, frame #133, that was also in a fabulous bright Emerald green. Available for those interested.)

The point: You've apparently solved your bottom bracket issue, but I actually have a NOS spare spindle that came with my bike when I had it shipped directly to me in Thailand in early 1982. I'd overpaid by a token amount, and this was tossed in, so to speak.










What are the odds we'll find another late 1981 frame in need of a fresh bottom bracket? BUT, that said, you've certainly widened my horizons!

Again, my thanks for posting such fabulous images of your results.

Cheers,

Owen


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

Beautiful job Brian. That bike is just gorgeous.

The '85 Commando next? Or is it done and I missed it?


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## Devilock (Feb 28, 2011)

Looks great. I love my '83 Commando.


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## nightshade_rider (Apr 18, 2007)

LeicaLad said:


> I've been tied up (hunting employment, shelter for family and other such mundane things) and limiting myself to only a couple threads on bike-related forums. I depend on pings into my inbox to bring me back. The main Ritchey thread made me think to do a search. Wish I'd found this thread when it went up.


Hi Owen-
If you have been off the forum for awhile, you might have missed this thread also. Anomie's sweet re-creation of CK's old bike:
https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=705184&highlight=tribute+ritchey

And, yes, that spindle is certainly a bittersweet momento of your old bike. I'm sure alot of folks here would like to see you get hooked up with another early Ritchey. I will certainly keep an eye out for a 21-22" frame your size.



mechagouki said:


> The '85 Commando next? Or is it done and I missed it?


I am still of two minds on that one. Left brain sez refinish it, right brain sez leave it alone as beat up as it is. That bike lived in coastal Bolinas its whole life and the frame is in pretty rough shape. It's kinda nice having a beater bike to take out on those really sloppy winter days sloshing through the mud. I'd like to see how well oxalic acid can clean up the worst of the frame rust before I decide to repaint it.

And BTW, those are your Magura perches on the '81 but I switched out the levers.


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## LeicaLad (Jun 5, 2010)

nightshade_rider said:


> Hi Owen-
> If you have been off the forum for awhile, you might have missed this thread also. Anomie's sweet re-creation of CK's old bike:
> http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=705184&highlight=tribute+ritchey
> 
> And, yes, that spindle is certainly a bittersweet momento of your old bike. I'm sure alot of folks here would like to see you get hooked up with another early Ritchey. I will certainly keep an eye out for a 21-22" frame your size.


Thanks, Brian. I appreciate the thoughts. Found both these threads together. Wonderful bikes all.

Cheers!


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## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

Awesome effort on the OPs part.


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