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Ritchey Heritage Paint Program dries up in 2017, KITE WCS Dropper Post now in stock

Written by Zach Overholt
15 Comments
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They say all good things come to an end. In this case, that means the Ritchey Heritage paint program will soon be coming to a close. Offered on current Ritchey mountain, cross, and road frames, US customers could have Rick Stefani of D&D Cycles paint their frame in one of four Heritage themes. The custom paint option was provided at a charge of $450, but the program will cease to exist in 2018.

That means if you are dying to own a Ritchey in Heritage colors you have two options. Either buy a bike before the end of 2017 and select the custom paint through the site, or go directly to Rick Stefani in the new year to repaint your ride (Ritchey will no longer be processing Heritage Paint orders).

In other Ritchey related news, their KITE WCS dropper post has finally landed. Priced at $349.95, the dropper post is designed to be easily serviceable with cir-clip pliers, a 5mm allen, and 7mm open ended wrench, and should be able to be torn down and reassembled in less than 15 minutes according to Ritchey. The post is also light for the price, coming in under 500g including the remote and the housing. Available in 125mm and 90mm drops, the travel adjusts in three increments with stops at 0, 35, and 125mm. Posts come in 30.9 or 31.6mm diameters with stealth cable routing and a number of brake lever/bar mount options for the thumb lever style remote.

RitcheyLogic.com
Zach Overholt
5,726 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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Bayard
Bayard
6 years ago

The painter man looks grumpy about losing his job

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Jeff
Jeff
6 years ago

The first line of the video implys that Tom is still welding all of their frames.

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Frippolini
Frippolini
6 years ago

$450 to paint a frame and a fork… no wonder they have to close down their paint program.

Seriously, perhaps their cost motivate their high price; but there has to be better ways (less expensive) to paint a frame? What they show in the video seem to be highly labour intensive, lots of waste of paint, and the color mixing and quality check seems to take up a significant amount of time. Not mentioning the environmental aspect of their painting… why is the guy dressed as if he is a part of a nuclear cleanup program? What sort of paint are they using???

There has to be better ways (safer, faster, environmental friendly, less labour intensive, leaner) of doing this?

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boom
boom
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

You’ve clearly never even seen a bicycle, motorcycle, or car get painted professionally in your life. This isn’t just some dude with a can of Krylon.

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Frippolini
Frippolini
6 years ago
Reply to  boom

I’m not saying that its a dude with a can of Krylon. Please take the time to read what I wrote before instinctively (knee-jerk) reacting to what you believe I said.

What I’m trying to say (ask) is: there has to be a better way of doing this?

I’m sure that you can agree with me that the process does seem to have certain “opportunities” of improvements in terms of costs, labour, waste, etc.?

Does the video show the ultimate, best and most efficient way of painting a frame?
Can there not be a better way of doing this?

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Eggs Benedict a.k.a Darth Baller
Eggs Benedict a.k.a Darth Baller
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

Probably not.

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SAWTOOTH
SAWTOOTH
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

The reaction because you have posed a question that clearly shows that you have very little knowledge of painting process or the product that is being offered. $450 isn’t for a single color paint job.

The cost IS the labour. The paint cost is small and most paint is fairly inexpensive. Paints with effects are the ones that are more expensive.

There are certainly more efficient and less expensive ways to simply apply paint. It’s not going to come out in with three distinctly different colors blended in specific places, or in a camouflage scheme. It won’t come out free of flaws like orange peel.

Your post also shows that you’re ignorant of the product being offered, why it was offered or the value of the offering. You also don’t seem to know the difference in paint quality and finishing work, or how mass produced frames are painted.

If it were possible to use mass production painting methods to apply a heritage camouflage scheme, this process wouldn’t be used.

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Jackson Potlluck
Jackson Potlluck
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

Having worked in a paint booth spraying lacquer on high end custom furniture, I can say from personal experience that spraying anything with small tubes or intricate junctions (like a bicycle frame) is incredibly difficult, and takes years of training and experience to avoid drips and an uneven finish.

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FFM
FFM
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

I don’t think there’s any paint on the planet you want to aerosolize then breathe so… that explains the suit. If you’re looking for a single color with no decals, yea you can get it for way less than $450. If you want something completely custom like this guy offers then it will be labor intensive, waste a little paint, and he had better do QC on it.

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JNH
JNH
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

That’s called the ‘ I don’t want to go home covered in paint every day,’ outfit. As for the mask, when working with any kind of fine airborne substance it’s always good practice to wear filters, those big full head ones are much more comfortable to wear all day compared to face masks. Even when working with benign materials like flower for long periods it’s a good idea to wear a mask, COPD (Emphysema) is known as Baker’s lung for a reason.

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JNH
JNH
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

To reply to the other half of your question. For ‘painting’ bike frames powder coating and anodising both result in a lot less waste than wet painting. As long as the plastic powder is controlled well it’s relatively clean too, the amount of waste is tiny and can be vacuumed up and recycled with other plastics. Anodising needs a lot of toxic chemicals, but they are contained in a tank and barring spillage they can be stored and disposed of safely.
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However, neither system is as good for complex paintwork as properly masked wet paint. Obviously the colours in the Ritchey paint jobs are not possible with anodising, which is usually one colour per part. It can be done with multiple colours but that’s very slow and costly as it requires the part to be masked and run through multiple anodising baths or polished back to raw between each bath. Powder coat can be done in the colours and finish, but again would be extremely slow and require careful control of the curing temperatures as the frame would have to be coated, masked and re-coated multiple times.
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Wet painting is still relatively common in mass produced frames in Taiwan because it’s the best way to create complex paint jobs, if not the most efficient in terms of solvent and paint waste. It’s also the best way to paint carbon frames. However the majority of metal bikes are powder coated or anodised and then have transfers and/or clear coat applied over the top.

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Frippolini
Frippolini
6 years ago
Reply to  JNH

Thank you!

I’m certainly “new” to the bike painting world and I’m old and wise enough to not be afraid of asking and looking like an idiot. I very much appreciate how you answered my question with an educated and honest answer. Respect. 🙂

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Pedro B
Pedro B
6 years ago
Reply to  Frippolini

I have a custom painted frame much more elaborated than that and I paid less money…

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TruckNutZ
TruckNutZ
6 years ago
Reply to  Pedro B

I’m sure you have a point…just not sure what it is…

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Dave Mohr
Dave Mohr
6 years ago

Have a look at a company called Paint My Bike… that will explain it to all of you

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