Help w/ID on ‘88 Ritchey.

[Monsieur Paul]

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?)

 

[vtwinvince]

Looks a bit earlier to me.

 

[Monsieur Paul]

Looks a bit earlier to me.

Could definitely be an ‘87. I think those were the only 2 years with U-Brakes?

 

[DrDaveTampa]

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

 

[Monsieur Paul]

I think the outback had different forks (smaller diameter blades), with a mid-fork rack braze-on? Otherwise very similar.

 

[Monsieur Paul]

Here’s my other outback for comparison

 

[dirttorpedo]

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?

 

[Lhatch4]

That would be a rattle-can-blue 1987 Ultra. Definitely worth restoring back to original. Great bike.

 

[dirttorpedo]

That would be a rattle-can-blue 1987 Ultra. Definitely worth restoring back to original. Great bike.

I did a bit more looking and saw that that serial number pattern was also found on bikes in the Ascent / Ascent Comp / Aspen and Outback model section. Ascent / Ascent Comp bikes seem to be two colour (contrasting fork), so maybe that is a Aspen or an Outback? I couldn't find a blue one in the submissions with photos.

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[enigma]

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?)

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I dont know any details , I just know this looks fab, nothing this nice comes up on marketplace in my neck of the woods!
Looks like a great usable workhorse.