Good-bye Wicked. Well, hello Commando!

[GoldenEraMTB]

Really nice Rob, something very special. Have to say I'd find it hard to move on the Fat though.

Out of interest have you done some photoshop work on the last two pics? Or did I have one pint of mild too many over lunch?

Thanks, John. It was difficult to move the Wicked, and it survived the cut a few years.
It is not your alcohol intake; I photochopped my wife's purple water bottle out of the picture- couldn't find mine, (my daughter likes to hide things now), and I had to get out to ride.

Careful where you park it when you're in the woods. You might lose it.

true. I took another pic that came out blurry, and all that could be made out, were wheels and a crank.

nice ride Rob, i have no input other than that.

Put simpley, Tom Ritchey built the best riding MTB frames known to man.

Stop thinking and start riding!!

al.

Thanks guys. I'm beginning to think that :idea:
I did start riding; this is my post ride meditation

 

[utahdog2003]

It is not your alcohol intake; I photochopped my wife's purple water bottle out of the picture- couldn't find mine, (my daughter likes to hide things now), and I had to get out to ride.

Embrace the Purple.

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

It is not your alcohol intake; I photochopped my wife's purple water bottle out of the picture- couldn't find mine, (my daughter likes to hide things now), and I had to get out to ride.

Embrace the Purple.

Just say no to purple :evil:

unless it's on a Yo Eddy

 

[andrewl]

Good points again, Andrew. Guess we should've discussed this over PM

Yes we could have discussed via PM, but I like to think of the forums more as a post ride coffee shop or beer garden (which ever you prefer), and thus its an open discussion on the merits of one ride over another with whoever is at the table at the time.

At the end of the day every rider is different (style, size, shape), we all ride in different places and conditions and thus what is the perfect ride is always going to be subjective as well as a good conversation topic.

Or put more simply: Some girls are bigger than others

 

[andrewl]

And I should add that discovering that your new ride is better than the old is a far better outcome than it being worse and wishing you'd kept the old

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

And I should add that discovering that your new ride is better than the old is a far better outcome than it being worse and wishing you'd kept the old

indeed!

 

[shogun700]

Rob, awesome bike! Glad you finally are out and about on it. When are you coming north?

Regarding the ride/feel-I never had a chance to get out on my Fat before I sold it, so I can't make a direct comparison either. I will say my Timber Comp transfers power stunningly well... I pedal, it goes-right now! I've taken a spin on lots of bikes this year, from a lot of different eras, and none have such a direct feel as the Ritchey. I'm hoping my Santana will deliver the same grin factor and power delivery!

 

[GoldenEraMTB]

Rob, awesome bike! Glad you finally are out and about on it. When are you coming north?

Regarding the ride/feel-I never had a chance to get out on my Fat before I sold it, so I can't make a direct comparison either. I will say my Timber Comp transfers power stunningly well... I pedal, it goes-right now! I've taken a spin on lots of bikes this year, from a lot of different eras, and none have such a direct feel as the Ritchey. I'm hoping my Santana will deliver the same grin factor and power delivery!

Thanks, Will!
It's been a long three, nearly four, years of injuries, back to back to back. I'm ecstatic to be hitting trails and ridding in earnest again, though the thought getting injured again lingers- guess it's psychological.

I find my pedal stroke is poor, and my legs much weaker than I remember them; one probably affects the other, so the verdict is still out on power delivery. I find myself clanking the square taper cranks a bit through certain sections.
(Would it be blasphemous to install an octalink crankset on this Ritchey- I kid I kid; perish the thought)
Definitely understand that "direct feel", guess that's what I would call it as well. I can use all the confidence building my bike is capable of giving me, while still dusting off my skills (er, I hesitate to call them skills haha). One thing is for sure, I don't want to be doing this on a modern dual susser. It's just not the same feeling.

But I digress. It's interesting, in this thing we do, collecting old mountain bikes, it's a bit of a gamble, as we rarely have a chance to try the bikes out first; we don't have them made to order, according to our dimensions- there are people who will not buy a bike without getting fitted. I tend to agree that fitment is one of, if not the most, important issue when it comes to finding the right ride.

Yea man, I'd like to get up there to ride with you. Maybe sometime this summer.

Andrew, forgot to mention, I agree- I prefer to talk like this out in the open, where anyone can chime in

 

[shogun700]

It's been a long three, nearly four, years of injuries, back to back to back. I'm ecstatic to be hitting trails and ridding in earnest again, though the thought getting injured again lingers- guess it's psychological.

I find my pedal stroke is poor, and my legs much weaker than I remember them; one probably affects the other, so the verdict is still out on power delivery. I find myself clanking the square taper cranks a bit through certain sections.

I'm laughing here, because I don't even know the difference between a poor pedal stroke and a good one. My first ride with people who know what they are doing is going to be an eye-opener! Regarding injury-I'm timid, no health insurance means lasting consequences for any mistake. I'm dumb enough to try things I shouldn't, right up until I consider the bill for something as simple as a sprain. At that point the brakes hit the rims.

Finding the right fit is probably the most difficult piece of the puzzle-I hate the idea of changing anything on my TC, but it really is too small. I'd try to trade or replace it with something similar but a size larger, but then it's not the bike that got me started on all this VRC stuff. Of course it would be just as good, but the sentimental value isn't there.

Where do you find the grass and trees in NYC?

 

[utahdog2003]

It is not your alcohol intake; I photochopped my wife's purple water bottle out of the picture- couldn't find mine, (my daughter likes to hide things now), and I had to get out to ride.

Embrace the Purple.

Just say no to purple :evil:

unless it's on a Yo Eddy

Did you actually make that with construction paper, or did you shamelessly gank the handiwork of some poor 5 year old sap?