Help w/ID on ‘88 Ritchey.

Monsieur Paul

Dirt Disciple
Can anyone ID the model of this ‘88 Ritchey with u-brakes? TIG welded, non-catalogue color. No tubing or model badging. Primarily XT build (crankset may have been replaced- Now Sugino). Ritchey Force Stem and bars. Just picked it up on FB marketplace and trying to decide how much time & money to put into it. Have a Canadian edition Outback in 4130 from the same year for comparison, and this one has larger diameter tubeset and fork blades.

Serial # A7C01177 (built in ‘87?)

IMG_6041.jpeg IMG_6040.jpeg IMG_6047.jpeg IMG_6044.jpeg
 
TIG frame, Japanese serial number, rack mounts -- I'd say probably an Outback

Frames were manufactured in Japan, TR did the seat stays and attached whatever braze-on's he felt appropriate. I figure the "A" stands for Ascent (link to my '87 Ascent here, review here). Odds are pretty good we have the same frame, different braze-ons

ETA: '88 is a good bet, I've never been able to locate an '87 catalog so no idea if the Outback was a thing in '87. Main difference being I get to ride to this and you gotta try to get "Don't Worry Be Happy" outa your head, and good luck with that
 
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While its the wrong colourway, I'd guess its an Ultra. If you look at the vintate ritchey database here

https://ritchey.vintagebicycledatabase.com/listing.php

you will see a couple of Ultra owners posting bikes with similar serial numbers. Initially I was thinking it was an "A" frame (annapurna/competition), but those tend of have much shorter serial numbers if they have an A in them. All of the other ones with similar serial numbers in the data base with photos are white or black. Maybe yours was repainted at some point?
 
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