My 1981 Ritchey Everest

This 1981 Ritchey Everest would have been sold through MountainBikes which was the company formed by Charlie Kelly & Gary Fisher to sell the frames that Tom Ritchey produced. At the time it would have been assembled into a complete bike using a hodge podge of parts designed for touring bicycles, BMX bikes, and motorcycles as MTB parts did not yet exist. For this build, I have built it up mostly with parts from 1983 as that was the year of the first dedicated MTB group, to which I am partial.

Build
Frameset: 1981 Ritchey with biplane fork
Bars: Ritchey Bullmoose built in 2024 by Tom. 30" Width
Wheels: 2nd Generation Phil Wood Hubs to NOS Araya RM-20 Rims that were anodized gold by our friends at Velocity
Drivetrain - Shimano XTM700 aka Deerhead: Cranks, Derailleurs, Shifters, Brakes, Brake Levers
Pedals: Suntour XCII
Tires: House of Looptail Competition Deuce 26x2.1
Headset: Campagnolo Record
Seatpost: Laprade
Saddle: Brooks B17
Grips: ODI Mushroom
Skewers: Campagonolo
Seat Binder QR: Campagnolo

The Story
This one has been a long time coming, it took me several years to locate a bi-plane fork Ritchey in my size and several more to bring it to the state that you now see it. It's "done," meaning just the way I envisioned, and ready for off-road adventures and the next forty years of it's existence.

This frame was procured from my friend and fellow collector Rob, and it came to me as a frame, fork, and seat post. It had been repaired and repainted by an earlier owner who had sold it to him. After taking it in, I quickly assembled it with parts that I had on hand and it looked like this...

July, 2023

After posting it to my Instagram I was contacted by that previous owner and treated to a detailed history. (thanks Patrick!) The story goes that it was sold to his childhood bike shop by a traveling carny who needed some cash. After languishing in pieces in a barn for thirty years it was given to him with the expectation that he get it back on the road and do it justice.

If you want to read their story of the bike, here's a link

As found by earlier caretaker, prior to restoration

Their build after brake stud repair and paint

While I enjoyed the bike there were two nagging regrets. I desperately wanted a fillet brazed bull moose bar to complete the look, and I didn't love that it wore the wrong decals for its build date.

So I started hassling a friend who worked at Ritchey about the possibility of having some bull moose bars made and as it turns out, I wasn't the only one. In the Summer of 2024 Tom officially announced he would be making a few sets of bars and forks to service the burgeoning vintage mountain bike hobby, so I jumped on it. With the new bars came an excuse to repaint, and since I am never planning on selling this bike I decided to go all in.

I chose the Imron paint color "Olive Gold Metallic" as I thought it was just lovely, and Rick at D&D happened to have one set left of the proper "Palo Alto" decals. Palo Alto was the location of Ritchey's shop in 1981. Rick is the choice when it comes to Ritchey repaints as he was the one who painted most of them to begin with. Not only that but Rick has done absolutely exceptional work for my bike company Wilde, painting many of our show bikes, so I knew the caliber of work that he delivers.

The correct "Palo Alto" Ritchey decals. A long out of print item, that Rick at D&D just happened to still have

It's now exactly as I envisioned and ready to be thoroughly enjoyed. The big plan for it is to take part in the 50th Annual Pearl Pass Tour in Crested Butte, CO in the Fall of 2026. This is going to be a big one, a pilgrimage for vintage MTB enthusiasts to ride, camp, and party with the pioneers and legends as we ride from Crested Butte over the pass to Aspen. Can't wait.

The Ritchey bi-plane fork crown. Cast fork crowns wide enough didn't exist yet, so this needed to be built from two plates.

Flutes of seat post painted to match

New House of Looptail Competion Deuce tires. Faithful reproductions of the legendary Competition II tire. You can ride old bikes, but you can't ride old tires, so these are a much needed addition to the options for hobbyists.

My bull moose bars are wider than normal at 30". I had to send Tom tubing to make this happen, it took two tries to get it right. A hassle but absolutely worth it in the end.