Ritchey launched their first 29in mountain bike tyre last year and now they've followed it up, not with more 29er tyres or rims but with a whole 29in-wheeled bike.
We first saw the P-29er this time last year at the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. The production version of the frame is now ready to hit the shops, with a pricetag of £800 in the UK, where it's available via Paligap (€899.50/US$999).
It's made from heat-treated, triple-butted Ritchey Logic steel tubing, with a three-colour fade paintjob that pays tribute to the classic Ritchey P- series race bikes of the 1990s. Features include sliding dropouts for singlespeed or geared use, a curved down tube, and a slender head tube that's 1in wide in the middle but is flared at the ends to take standard 1-1/8in headset cups.
The frame has been developed by Tom Ritchey himself (he was responsible for the fillet brazing on the prototype, which has been replaced by TIG welding on the production model) with input from test riders including World Cup cross-country legend Thomas Frischknecht. Available in four sizes (S, M, L, XL), it's designed to be used with a 100mm-travel suspension fork. It's been designed to combine race-winning stiffness with long-ride comfort.
