Ritchey Ultra Team Edition

As much as I love fast flowing XC bikes, I’ve always had a soft spot for the steel hardtail. In recent years they’ve made a comeback – with trail bikes easily exceeding 15kg, a slightly heavier hardtail is still lightweight and nimble by comparison.

When speaking to the Australian distributor for Ritchey last October he alluded that their might be a special edition of the Ultra coming. Despite him not giving away any concrete details, I knew I had to get one in – “special edition” surely meant it was going to be in the classic Ritchey team paint job – some variation of the blue/red/white fade seen on the classic P21 steel frame raced by Thomas Frischknecht and Ruthie Mathis back in the early 90s. Frame unseen, I began building a spec list in my head.

Of course this was taking place in the middle of a global pandemic. Supply chains were already severely strained so I needed to be a little creative, and at times, take what I could get.

There were however things I was sure of. As much as I love SRAM AXS, this was going to be a Grip Shift affair. Thankfully SRAM still make Grip Shift – at the XX1 level no less! Oury Grips, a favourite of mine from the 90s, are still also widely available.

I had hoped to run the 120mm Rock Shox SID – alas, with no stock in the country I was forced to look elsewhere. I settled on a Cane Creek Helm fork – whilst this might seem like a strange choice, Dia Compe USA (who later became Cane Creek) was the original manufacturer of the Rock Shox RS1. Ritchey also used to rebrand the Dia Compe 987 brakes for their own offerings, so there’s a connection there (a little tenuous I admit).

Cane Creek also took crank duties – the eeWings cranks are very light, super expensive, but they are simply exquisite. Of course Ritchey pedals would be used.

I had hoped to use more Ritchey components, but bars, stem and seat post were all unavailable at the time of build. Instead a combination of eThirteen and Industry Nine were used, both small US brands reminiscent of Ritchey itself.

This neo-retro homage may be nod to the past, but it definitely rides like a modern bike. The 1x drivetrain is simple and problem free, whilst the modern geometry of the frame – combined with wide bars, a short stem and dropper post – allows you to tackle the most technically-demanding trails.

This isn’t the fastest bike, but it wasn’t intended to be. However, it’s more comfortable than a lightweight carbon race hardtail, and it’s simplicity means it’s the first choice for a classic mountain bike ride.