Some updates: I ended up buying the Ritchey Ascent Comp!
The holiday break gave me plenty of time to work on it. The biggest task was cleaning the frame and fork. The previous owner had it stored next to his workbench, where he worked a lot with resin and silicone. What looked like dirt was actually a kind of dust that took a lot of scrubbing to remove. But it was worth the effort : the vibrant red and orange paint job is still in good condition overall!
The frame itself is also solid, with almost no rust or significant damage. The only downside is the two small dings on the top tube. I might have them repaired at some point, but for now, I plan to ride it as is and keep the original paint. The next dent(s) won’t hurt as much, should I crash.
It was equipped with a complete, but worn-out Deore DX groupset. I rebuilt the bike with Deore XT parts instead. Since I plan to ride it a lot next summer, I used modern contact points and tires.
I did some research in the Ritchey Project website that was shared in the other thread. The 1989 Ascent Comp had Ritchey 4130 tubing and a complete Deore XT groupset, while the 1990 catalog doesn't mention this model at all. My Ascent Comp has a Ritchey Logic fork and tubing and used to be equipped with Deore DX parts, as mentionned above. Maybe it is a late 1989, or very early 1990 model?
The serial number doesn't help much (3 digits only, "004"). Does that mean that it was welded in the USA or imported?
I can't wait to try it on the trails. It is snowing right now and it most likely will for the next 3 months, so it will have to wait... unfortunately.
Original thread
Some pictures :
The holiday break gave me plenty of time to work on it. The biggest task was cleaning the frame and fork. The previous owner had it stored next to his workbench, where he worked a lot with resin and silicone. What looked like dirt was actually a kind of dust that took a lot of scrubbing to remove. But it was worth the effort : the vibrant red and orange paint job is still in good condition overall!
The frame itself is also solid, with almost no rust or significant damage. The only downside is the two small dings on the top tube. I might have them repaired at some point, but for now, I plan to ride it as is and keep the original paint. The next dent(s) won’t hurt as much, should I crash.
It was equipped with a complete, but worn-out Deore DX groupset. I rebuilt the bike with Deore XT parts instead. Since I plan to ride it a lot next summer, I used modern contact points and tires.
I did some research in the Ritchey Project website that was shared in the other thread. The 1989 Ascent Comp had Ritchey 4130 tubing and a complete Deore XT groupset, while the 1990 catalog doesn't mention this model at all. My Ascent Comp has a Ritchey Logic fork and tubing and used to be equipped with Deore DX parts, as mentionned above. Maybe it is a late 1989, or very early 1990 model?
The serial number doesn't help much (3 digits only, "004"). Does that mean that it was welded in the USA or imported?
I can't wait to try it on the trails. It is snowing right now and it most likely will for the next 3 months, so it will have to wait... unfortunately.
Original thread
Some pictures :
