7Speed’s 1993 Ritchey P-21 (TIG Welded Frame)
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7Speed
Retro Guru
Re-Spray or Not?
A look at the frame showed a lot of paint chips and scratches. The colours were still bright but had seen better days. Intimidated by some of the builds on RetroBike I reached out to Rick Stefani who Tom Ritchey worked with back in the day for all his frame painting. Rick still works today and gave me a very reasonable quote for a red-white and blue fade, but with shipping etc it was well over a thousand dollars...
Based on some feedback within the Forum I decided to stay with a bit of "patina", especially as this was going to be a rider.
A look at the frame showed a lot of paint chips and scratches. The colours were still bright but had seen better days. Intimidated by some of the builds on RetroBike I reached out to Rick Stefani who Tom Ritchey worked with back in the day for all his frame painting. Rick still works today and gave me a very reasonable quote for a red-white and blue fade, but with shipping etc it was well over a thousand dollars...
Based on some feedback within the Forum I decided to stay with a bit of "patina", especially as this was going to be a rider.
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7Speed
Retro Guru
Original Specification P-21 - 1992/1993
Ritchey was a relatively small volume outfit in the early 90's when it came to full bikes and specifications didn't change much year to year. I understand the first P-21s became commercially available in 1992/93. The 1992 catalogue has the full specification list and the P-21 WCS was my target build.
Ritchey was a relatively small volume outfit in the early 90's when it came to full bikes and specifications didn't change much year to year. I understand the first P-21s became commercially available in 1992/93. The 1992 catalogue has the full specification list and the P-21 WCS was my target build.
7Speed
Retro Guru
The bike had the really hard to find / very expensive WCS finishing kit already: the Logic WCS brakes (same as the normal ones with a champaign anodized finish) and headset (needle bearings!), Force Directional Pro WCS Seatpost with Ti bolt, Pro WCS bottom bracket. There were still some pieces missing though; some of them very rare:
1. 1st Edition Lightening Rod Ti QRs
2. ProLite WCS handlbar and Force Comp Stem (vs the very lovely but more relaxed bullmoose bars the bike had fitted).
3. Logic Pro WCS Ti Saddle
4. ZMAX WCS 1.9" Tyres
5. ProElite Ritchey Wheelset made in collaboration with Wheelsmith USA.
Of all of these the wheels were going to be the toughest to find. The ProElite wheels were around 1600g, rare even back in '92/'93 and built for racing so likely to have seen a lot of (ab)use. Finding the components or a set of wheels was going to be tough.
1. 1st Edition Lightening Rod Ti QRs
2. ProLite WCS handlbar and Force Comp Stem (vs the very lovely but more relaxed bullmoose bars the bike had fitted).
3. Logic Pro WCS Ti Saddle
4. ZMAX WCS 1.9" Tyres
5. ProElite Ritchey Wheelset made in collaboration with Wheelsmith USA.
Of all of these the wheels were going to be the toughest to find. The ProElite wheels were around 1600g, rare even back in '92/'93 and built for racing so likely to have seen a lot of (ab)use. Finding the components or a set of wheels was going to be tough.
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7Speed
Retro Guru
Over the next few months, I managed to find and justify some expensive purchases and gathered together many of the parts I needed. The only parts that were eluding were the Ritchey Vantage Pro Rims - 28h for the front and 32h for the rear. I have a couple of catalogue pics of what I was after during this time...including the ProElite wheels which were made a for a season or two in the Vantage Pro, Ultegra 600 front hub, XT M732 Rear configeration.
7Speed
Retro Guru
Some people to thank - sourcing parts
While pulling together the build many of the RetroBike community helped me out. I know I will miss someone but thank you to: @synlos (thanks for getting back to me even if you wouldn't part with the Vantage Pro Rims), @M-Power for the XT M732 hubs, @carlhcyc for the XT M735 short cage rear mech, @KitMoorkit , @ibbz & @Bergy for the WCS tyres, @markoc for the WCS bars and @JRGSXR and @drechsler57 for the Vantage Pro Rims...
A special thank you to @Minifreak who dug me out an HG90 12t cassette lockring after I found a cheeky eBay seller had chucked an old split one into my NOS 12-18 cassette..
While pulling together the build many of the RetroBike community helped me out. I know I will miss someone but thank you to: @synlos (thanks for getting back to me even if you wouldn't part with the Vantage Pro Rims), @M-Power for the XT M732 hubs, @carlhcyc for the XT M735 short cage rear mech, @KitMoorkit , @ibbz & @Bergy for the WCS tyres, @markoc for the WCS bars and @JRGSXR and @drechsler57 for the Vantage Pro Rims...
A special thank you to @Minifreak who dug me out an HG90 12t cassette lockring after I found a cheeky eBay seller had chucked an old split one into my NOS 12-18 cassette..
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7Speed
Retro Guru
The Build - Part1
With a bit of spare time in the summer of 2023 I got to work stripping down the frame and pulling together the first pieces of the puzzle. The Boston sun really brough out the shine on the frame - I am really pleased I didn't get it re-painted. The bike had a few of the normal scars, but nothing frightening. Frame was dead centre for alignment.
With a bit of spare time in the summer of 2023 I got to work stripping down the frame and pulling together the first pieces of the puzzle. The Boston sun really brough out the shine on the frame - I am really pleased I didn't get it re-painted. The bike had a few of the normal scars, but nothing frightening. Frame was dead centre for alignment.
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