Ritchey at 50 - A Timeline

1970s

• Tom Ritchey builds his first bicycle frame - at age 15

• Tom began building frames for other people under “T. Ritchey” moniker with the first customer being childhood friend, Donny McBride

• Tom begins building frames for Palo Alto Bikes - up to 150 bikes per year
• Tom develops and utilizes twin-plated crown forks

• Tom builds his first mountain bike

• Ritchey MountainBikes formed as an informal partnership between Ritchey, Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly
• MountainBikes becomes the first business to sell mountain bikes exclusively

1980s

• Tom creates 130mm mountain bike specific rear hub
• Tom develops 120mm bottom bracket spindle to account for wider chainstays that accommodate a wider rear tire Tom invents the Bullmoose integrated mountain bike specific handlebar and stem

• First Ritchey employee hired
• 400+ frames built

• Built 700 frames
• Road & Track automobile magazine names MountainBike the Best off-road vehicle

• Ritchey MountainBikes dissolves
• Team Ritchey MTB established
• Ritchey begins using standard unicrown tapered fork

• Logic butted tubing is invented for usage with TIG and fillet brazed frames
• Developed new MTB-specific tread design with IRC-Japan that applied road tire technology to MTB tires - introducing a folding bead and 120tpi
• Tom partners with Palo Alto Bikes to fulfill orders for his bicycles
• Ritchey USA is incorporated

• The first welded mountain bike specific rim, the Ritchey Vantage, is produced by Ukai - a wider, 25mm rim developed to better accommodate a wider knobby tire

• Ritchey introduces Vector Force Analysis (VFA) tread designs for mountain bike tires featuring front- and rear-specific and rotation direction treads
• Tom Ritchey is inducted into the inaugural class of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame
• The tig-welded Ritchey Ultra mountain bike makes its debut

• Logic Condensed double-butted spokes produced by DT Swiss
• Don Myrah wins Amateur MTB World Championship in Mammoth

1990s

• Team Ritchey professional MTB team forms, signing a young Thomas Frischknecht as a member
• Ritchey opens an office in Italy, its first expansion outside the United States

• Ruthie Matthes wins MTB World Championships in Ciocco, riding for Team Ritchey
• WCS component level introduced, featuring handlebars
• Road Logic road bike released
• Tom designed the first Z-Max VFA tire

• Off Center Rim Technology (OCR) made possible a balanced spoke tension in rear wheels and off-center disc-specific front and rear wheels
• Riding for Team Ritchey, Henrik Djernis wins MTB World Championships in Bromont
• Matthes and Frischknecht, of Team Ritchey, crowned World Cup champions

• Frischknecht is again World Cup champion

• Ritchey unveils the SwissCross, named in honor of Thomas Frischknecht
• Ritchey International is officially incorporated in Switzerland to support and expand Ritchey’s growing global business

• Ritchey creates its first clipless MTB pedal

• Thomas Frischknecht wins the Silver Medal for mountain biking, atop a Ritchey P20, at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta
• The innovative SpeedMax tire tread is introduced for, and raced at, the Olympics

• Vector Wing saddle technology introduced, which increases comfort by dissipating pres­sure
• Ritchey offers 2x9 speed drivetrain for mountain bikes as faster alternative to triple chain­rings in racing

• Ritchey Asia is established in Taiwan to embolden growth in the Asian market and sup­port product development operations
• Ritchey creates the first disc-only OCR rim
• Ritchey develops alloy 3D Net-Shape forging for stems that led way to a new generation of lighter, stiffer and stronger stems without welding
• Ritchey creates its iconic flip-flop logo

2000s

• Tom creates the unique Break-Away system that allows a full-size bicycle frame to be split apart to fit into its own special travel case

• After years of taking a scientific approach to design and carefully researching material stress points to ensure maximum durability, safety and performance, Ritchey releases its first carbon fiber component - the WCS Carbon Road Bar

• Tom visits Rwanda and soon designs the Coffee Bike to help Rwandan coffee farmers transport their crops more efficiently to washing stations

• The WCS 4-Axis stem is released - designed specifically for lightweight carbon and alloy bars

• Ritchey creates the 1-Bolt seatpost clamp for quick, secure adjustment and reducing stress on lightweight saddle rails

• Ritchey launches the SuperLogic line, a collection of the highest-end carbon fiber components engineered from the most modern, cutting-edge materials
• Nino Schurter wins his first of several UCI XCO Championships, riding a Ritchey cockpit

2010s

• Tom is inducted to the United States Bicycle Hall of Fame in Davis, California
• “Tom Ritchey’s 40-Year Ride” documentary film is released, chronicling and celebrating Tom’s first 40 years of innovation in the bike industry
• Ritchey releases the revolutionary and patented C260 stem, which more evenly distributes clamping stress through the handlebar, faceplate, hardware and stem body

• Phantom Flange hubs are introduced to adopt the efficiency and aesthetics of straight-pull spokes with the use of strong and reliable j-bend spokes

• The C220 stem is introduced, wrapping 220-degrees around the handlebar and allowing for a lighter faceplate and stem body with no sacrifice in strength or stiffness

• The Ritchey WCS VentureMax handlebar is unveiled, offering riders a wide 24-degree drop flare, perfect for the emerging gravel market
• Riding Ritchey WCS bars, stem, post and pedals, Jenny Rissveds and Nino Schurter both win gold medals in mountain biking at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro

2020s

• Building upon the success of the VentureMax gravel bar, Ritchey doubles down on the flare with the WCS Beacon handlebar, featuring a 36-degree drop flare
• Ritchey is first company to offer compression caps with its legendary stems

• Ritchey celebrates 50th anniversary of Tom welding his first bicycle frame and starting a cycling revolution