# 1980 Ritchey Chicken Coop



## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

Well, it's been 8 months since an old Ritchey frame showed up at my house. I was captivated by its history. It needed to built up to 1980-81 specs. The paint needed to stay as is. It has a cool patina that is part of it's history.

A few parts were elusive (tires and bars) and are a little newer than my goal, but everything else was painstakingly collected. Enjoy! I know I am!

P.s. In a separate post I will post a history which I've crafted from my research during this process.


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## Hurricane Jeff (Jan 1, 2006)

Thats pretty ba dass, great find?. I wish a bike like that would show up at my house, although I did find a 1982 Stumpjumper, about 5 miles from my house which I picked up for $10, all complete except tires and saddle.


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## Austin Dave (Jul 7, 2010)

Wow. Great bike! I look forward to the story! Thanks for posting. More pics please.


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## Rumpfy (Dec 21, 2003)

The VRC has needed a post like this for a while. So great!


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

Rumpfy said:


> The VRC has needed a post like this for a while. So great!


Yeah. Great pictures, wonderful bike. Can't wait for the story. Thanks for posting!


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## chefmiguel (Dec 22, 2007)

What a beautiful frame.


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Very cool!

I've never seen that front derailleur, with the color detailing, did I miss something somehow, or was that a detail you added for some reason?


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

Thanks. It is pre-Deerhead Deore. Shimano wanted in on the touring game and in 1980 they created an entire touring group. It never really took off, but when they saw the mountain bike stuff happening they realized their touring components could be the ticket for but a simple rebrand! The rest is, as the say, history!

More here: The Retrogrouch: Deore: The First Touring Gruppo

I've never seen that front derailleur, with the color detailing, did I miss something somehow, or was that a detail you added for some reason?[/QUOTE]


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Interesting, I knew about the group, guess I just never saw one up close. 

Thanks for the link, another blog for my collection


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

*The Chicken Coop Story*

As I mentioned in my first post, I was really intrigued by the story of John Finley Scott and his connection to both Ritchey and this frame. Much of the information on this relationship is spotty and mostly anecdotes here and there-some of it conflicting.

So I took it upon myself to collect as many of these musings as possible and connect the dots. Below is my brief summary of the narrative. My sources include: John Finley Scott (in Klunkerz), Frank Berto (Birth of Dirt), Jeff Archer (First Flight Bikes), Vance Sprock, and of course the many contributors in the VRC forum (CK!).

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John Finley Scott, professor of Sociology at UC Davis and erstwhile owner of Cupertino Bike Shop (1980-89) was an early voice and advocate for the offroad bicycle. An avid tourer and gravel road adventurer, Finley built his own "Woodsie" machine in 1953. A Schwinn frame outﬁtted with balloon tires and multiple gears, the bike proved capable of going places the common bike could not.

The Woodsie, though heavy and prone to breakage, served it's purpose as the embodiment of an idea. Unfortunately he was unable to ignite any enthusiasm and eventually the bike and what it represented faded away. Or did it?

Finley was merely ahead of the curve. In the late seventies, applying the technical advancements of the Cupertino and Marin klunker-racers, the "mountainbike" was born to a couple of enterprising Marin hippies. Offroad cycling was catching on strong with demand sucking up every bike available. The average mountain bike was fetching $1300, cash on the barrel head. Perhaps, thought Finley, with a nudge of his own capital and parts, he could help sustain the industry and sell some bikes at his newly purchased Cupertino shop? A potential win/win.

Meanwhile, local Peninsula frame-builder Tom Ritchey was building and selling MTB frames at a prolific pace. To keep up with the ferocious demand, Tom needed to further streamline his fabrication process-requiring capital. Finley was keenly interested in helping. Sometime in 1980-81 Ritchey agreed to supply Finley with 110 frames for the price of $190 each (no fork, no paint and no braze-ons). Finley's Cupertino shop would finish and sell them as mountain bikes.

Well, win and not-so-win! In the end Ritchey got his capital and Finley his frames. But due to logistics of finishing the frames and locating and fitting the mishmash of parts, most of these frames were not sold and eventually hung to rust in Finley's chicken coop out-building in Davis. The frame you see here is one of the few which were sold, built and ridden-supposedly by an employee of the shop. The frame features the same details as Ritchey's 1979-80 frames excepting the braze-ons and the fork, which were outsourced.


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

*More Pics.*

As requested, more pics. :thumbsup:


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## colker1 (Jan 6, 2004)

The seatstay, seat tube, toptube junction is as sweet as it gets.


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

Fantastic!


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## sbsbiker (Dec 1, 2007)

Where did the rest of the chicken coop frames go?


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## Austin Dave (Jul 7, 2010)

tclar4 said:


> As requested, more pics. :thumbsup:


Thanks so much. That is a really great bike. Thanks a lot for sharing the story and the pics. Just awesome stuff.

Much rep for you!


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

Good question! Hopefully not rusting away.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

sbsbiker said:


> Where did the rest of the chicken coop frames go?


http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-classic/old-ritchey-what-do-282014.html

http://forums.mtbr.com/vintage-retro-classic/ritchey-content-what-vintage-885944.html

Well. Reading through I originally linked these threads from a quick google search but that second link goes to an interesting thread which links to other interesting threads but not a chicken coop Ritchey but one of the original 9 sent to GF.

And it's of course mentioned a few times in the official ritchey thread.


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## hollister (Sep 16, 2005)

They went back to Cupertino bikes and were mostly finished off and sold on eBay. The last few unfinished frames disappeared in the recent move

One day I'll do something with it


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## jeff (Jan 13, 2004)

A bit OT but here's the matching rear.


MendonCycleSmith said:


> Very cool!
> 
> I've never seen that front derailleur, with the color detailing, did I miss something somehow, or was that a detail you added for some reason?


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

Thanks girlonbike for the consolidation.

From the first link, the frame First Flight references ("We also recently got a frame from an individual who had worked in the area and gotten 2 of the unfinished frames for himself and his brother. They finished the frames, painted them, built them up and rode them.") is the frame I bought from Jeff 8 months ago. Full circle.

Also, I happened upon another thread:

http://forums.mtbr.com/ritchey-design/blue-collar-ritchey-birthday-present-681205.html

This also has Finley Frame content and has photos of my frame if you scroll down to the bottom.


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## tclar4 (Apr 9, 2007)

i'd say that is a pretty ba dass find too!! Thanks.


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## smithjss (Apr 3, 2010)

Late to the party on this thread but great story and wonderful find! Thanks for sharing.


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## Scoutergtg (Feb 20, 2014)

Pretty incredible!


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## backpedal (May 22, 2004)

*The rest of the frames?*



sbsbiker said:


> Where did the rest of the chicken coop frames go?


Seems I have one here. I bought it from Vance at Cupertino Cyclery perhaps ten years ago. I recall he sold one or more others like it that day, during the annual ROMP swap meet. I found this article while trying to find more of the story on my frame.


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