SAN CARLOS, Calif. - Meredith Miller with Ritchey Design-sponsored Team TIBCO captured the 2009 U.S. Elite National Road Championship title in Bend, Ore., July 30. This marks the second year in a row for Team TIBCO to wear the National Championship jersey following Brooke Miller’s win with Team TIBCO in 2008.

Miller was part of a five-rider break away that formed late on the last hilly lap of the four-lap circuit. She attacked the breakaway on the final kicker just 2 km from the finish line. This proved to be a stellar move as she gapped her breakmates and was able to solo in with style.

The U.S. National Road Championship course is a four-lap circuit totaling 72 miles and more than 1,000 vertical feet of climbing per lap.

Team TIBCO benefits from the lightweight, stiffness and quality of its Ritchey Design WCS components, including WCS 4-Axis Stems, WCS Logic II Bars and WCS 1-Bolt Seatposts.

The WCS Echelon Pedal, MSRP $189.95, has a body made of 6061 alloy and a cromoly spindle with (adjustable) retention claw made of carbon-resin composite. Weighing-in at 233 grams, the WCS Echelon has great strength and durability for its compact size. The distance between the axle and body platform is extremely low which creates a highly efficient pedaling arc, especially in the top of the pedal stroke - almost eliminating the traditional “dead zone.” The pedal’s light-weight cleat provides a wide platform for greater support and foot comfort. You can read about Ritchey Design’s other WCS products at www.ritcheylogic.com.

Available late September

Ritchey Design shares the bicycle industry’s concerns about UCI regulations that could limit future innovation in bicycle equipment design

SAN CARLOS, Calif. - Ritchey Design announced today that its time trial handlebars, the WCS Carbon Hammerhead and WCS Carbon Interval, comply with the International Cycling Union’s (UCI) “3:1″ bicycle design regulation that the governing body will begin enforcing on all competitive bicycle equipment starting July 1, 2009.

“Ritchey time trial handlebars were designed with the UCI three-to-one ratio in mind, as are all of our products. We have used this design guideline to make great time trial products that are verified by elite teams on both the USA and European circuits,” said Steve Parke, Ritchey Design general manager. “Still, Ritchey is concerned about the impact UCI’s design regulations will have on the future of bicycle design innovation, and we’re committed to working with UCI and manufactures to ensure that competitive cycling develops in a way that is positive for the sport and the industries that support it.” Cadel

The 3:1 rule, a series of UCI cycling regulations, stipulates that all bicycle parts and components must be built with measurements that do not exceed a three-to-one ratio. Created in 2000 but not actively enforced until the beginning of the 2009 season, bicycle teams, riders and manufacturers had widely interpreted the rule to apply only to bicycle frame tubes.

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Jesse from Ritchey Designs runs us through what’s new at Ritchey for 2009. Including a few new wheelsets, named Apex.

Cervelo Diet - Ultimate Mods for the Ultimate Bike, the Cervelo R3 - Part 6 - By Twain Mein
I replaced the headset with an FSA orbit (20 grams less) and Performance Lunar Light tubes (48 grams less), bringing it down to 6220 grams, or 13 pounds 11 ounces. Then came the tubulars…

Ritchey Superlogic Carbon-Boron 46 Tubulars

• Full Carbon and Boron rims made by Lew Racing
• 46mm tall for aerodynamics
• Ritchey hubs with premium bearings
• Cool quick releases
• Estimated total weight: 1200 grams; claimed 1171
• Front: 20 hole, 491 grams claimed. $1349.95 msrp
• Rear: 24 hole, 680 grams claimed. $1449.95 msrp
• Clinchers claimed weight of 1221 grams (516 front, 705 rear)
• Clinchers: $1495.95, $1539.95 MSRP, front and rear respectively

Steve Parke showed up with the a set of Ritchey Superlogic Carbon-Boron 46 Tubulars. They were pre-glued with Ritchey Slick WCS tubular tires that have a claimed weight of 250 grams each; I think they were closer to 280 grams each with glue, so this puts the real weight at 1200 grams for the wheelset (sans quick releases). The net actual loss was 182 grams, dropping the total bike weight to 6038 grams, or 13 lbs 5 ounces.

The full carbon rims are designed by Lew Racing (which is now merged with Reynolds). Lew also uses Boron, a material that is 4x stronger than Carbon and 10x the cost. By leveraging Boron, less material is needed to make the wheel, decreasing weight. There are also many other cool features.

The rear wheel has a crisscross, aka “Crowsfoot” pattern on the drive side; the cross bend has a straight pull for extra rigidity. The quick releases feature “smart” labeling; the rear skewer is meant to face forward. This is to prevent accidental opening if you make contact in a race. If the QR faces backward, it’s more prone to opening with someone coming up on you and brushing against it.

SAN CARLOS, Calif. – Ritchey Design recently launched “The Ritchey Diet,” a pair of specially priced SuperLogic and WCS Carbon retrofit kits, available for pre-order by authorized Ritchey dealers during the month of March. The promotion aims to drive more business to Ritchey dealers while saving end consumers between $280-$330 on lightweight bike components.

“While many cyclists may have less discretionary income to invest in the latest top-of-the-line road bikes, 2009 is undoubtedly the year for component upgrades,” said Steve Parke, general manager and vice president of marketing for Ritchey. “If it will result in a faster time or better climb, cyclists are still very interested in making game changing upgrades to their bikes.”

In addition to reducing overall bike weight, each of the cockpit components included in the Super Logic and WCS Carbon retrofit kits are available in Ritchey Fit Logic sizes. The range of Ritchey Fit Logic sizes help dealers custom fit each rider to their bike (using handlebars, stems and seatposts) for a more efficient and comfortable ride.

“‘The Ritchey Diet’ is a great opportunity for dealers to fill the needs of the high-end, project bike and upgrade buyers who are looking to reduce overall bike weight but want to ensure component strength and high-quality engineering,” Parke said.

The SuperLogic Parts Kit includes:

• SuperLogic UD Carbon Evolution Handlebar
• WCS UD Carbon 4Axis Stem
• SuperLogic UD Carbon WCS 1Bolt Seatpost
• WCS UD Carbon Road Fork

Suggested MSRP: $999.95

The WCS Carbon Parts Kit includes:

• WCS Carbon Evolution Handlebar
• WCS Caron 4Axis Stem
• WCS Carbon 1Bolt Seatpost
• WCS UD Carbon Road Fork

Suggested MSRP: $939.95

“The Ritchey Diet” pricing promotion for retailers runs through the end of March. Consumers should head into local Ritchey retailers for additional information.

About Ritchey Design, Inc.
Northern California-based Ritchey Design was founded by road racer, mountain bike pioneer and product innovator Tom Ritchey in 1974. The company is well-known for its technical merits through attention to detail during the product design phase, resulting in high-quality, reasonably priced road and mountain bike components. Under its Fit Logic philosophy, Ritchey Design offers a wide range of “cockpit” components (handlebars, stems and seatposts) that help riders custom fit their bikes for a more efficient and comfortable. Ritchey Design also offers a complete line of innovative products ranging from headsets to tires for professional racers and the serious weekend rider, as well as its line of “Break-Away” travel bicycles for traveling cyclists. For more information about Ritchey Design, please visit www.ritcheylogic.com.

Part 4 - Ritchey Carbon Magic

I am extremely lucky to have Steve Parke as my neighbor. He’s the General Manager at Ritchey and he was very enthused about helping out with this project. Ritchey parts embody the spirit of this project: light but strong and extremely well engineered. So we took the lightest and newest carbon offerings to see what more could be done to lighten the bike further-while continuing to improve it’s overall performance. We upgraded the seatpost, handlebar, and fork.

Seatpost: Ritchey Superlogic Carbon One-bolt

• MSRP: $350
• Actual weight: 140 grams
• Sizes: 300/27.2 (tested), 300mm/31.6, 350/27.2, 400/30.9, 400/31.6
• Beautiful workmanship, intelligent single-bolt design
• Monocoque (one piece) construction with forged carbon head

It’s hard to find a seatpost that comes in at less than 150 grams. The Ritchey Superlogic Carbon is one of the few. It is also very strong. Ritchey has designed a post that is “3-D forged” from the shaft to the head mount. That means it’s heated and super-pressurized carbon to mold it into it’s shape.

Another nice feature is the simple one-bolt clamping mechanism that holds the cradle and end pieces together. Ritchey even makes clamps that come in different sizes to, for example, work with the carbon railed fizik Aliante which has a taller rail profile.

Installing the saddle takes a bit of time but once on, it’s easy to adjust fore/aft and the angle. The seatpost didn’t have any noticeable flex and complemented the already plush ride of the Cervelo.

Ritchey WCS cockpits also help secure second place,
overall team honors and 13 podium finishes

San Carlos, Calif.  - In his third overall stage race win within six weeks, Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis rider, Rory Sutherland rode a near perfect race to clinch the Nature Valley Grand Prix title while he and his teammates rode Ritchey WCS 4Axis stems, WCS carbon seat posts, WCS handlebars, the Hammerhead Carbon TT bar and the newest, carbon prototype drop style TT base bar.

Close behind were teammates John Murphy who finished second place and Kirk O’Bee who captured a number of podium finishes throughout the five day stage race.

Minnesota’s Nature Valley Grand Prix (June 11-15, 2008) route tests riders with its more than 200-mile, six stage course which includes technical criteriums, blazing time trials, grueling climbs and this year, strong winds and downpour. The very first stage was neutralized due to extreme weather conditions.

As a high level performance team, Health Net presented by Maxxis has been on Ritchey WCS cockpits for the past five years. Ritchey’s dependable and high-performance products allow Health Net presented by Maxxis to focus on racing and winning.

Ritchey WCS products have carried countless riders to Olympic, World Cup and World Championship victories. Utilizing the most innovative designs, materials and technologies, the WCS (World Championship Series) level product line has truly earned its strips.

Health Net presented by Maxxis will race next at the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix in Manhattan Beach, Calif., June 29, 2008.
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