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Ritchey Ultra mountain bike returns retro red, white & blue Team fade for 50th Anniversary

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade
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Ritchey’s next bike to get a limited 50th Anniversary edition is the Ultra hardtail mountain bike, bringing back that iconic red, white & blue Team fade with some new flourishes. It’s the last of Ritchey’s steel bikes to get an anniversary make-over, and returns to the classic Team paint job that was ridden to many early mountain biking championships and Olympic medals.

Ritchey Ultra mountain bike in 50th Anniversary red, white & blue

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, downtube
c. Ritchey

The red, white, and blue panel fade paintjob itself isn’t entirely new, but it’s always been pretty hard to come by. Starting out as a team-only look in the 1990s, a number were made back in 2020 for the Ultra hardtail. But those disappeared quickly.

So, “doubling down on the homage paid to Ritchey’s incredible heritage” for their half-century anniversary, “the Ultra 50th Edition frame also features special logos that reference the company’s history and the influence Palo Alto, California had on Tom Ritchey.

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, special edition logos

That means retro red-outlined headtube and downtube logos, shouting out Palo Alto.

Tech details

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, BB

Under that iconic retro paint scheme, the Ritchey Ultra is a thoroughly modern steel trail hardtail. Built to accommodate either 29er or 27.5+ wheels – up to 29×2.4″ or 27.5×2.8″ – the Ultra is designed for a 120mm suspension fork with versatile modern, but not overly slack geometry.

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, detail

The heat-treated, triple-butted Ritchey Logic WCS steel frame is TIG welded with a lightweight forged & machined head tube that drops in tapered 1.5″ headset, a classic 73mm BSA threaded bottom bracket, and a 30.9mm seatpost with stealth dropper routing & separate seat collar.

The Boost-spaced frame can still be run with 1x or 2x drivetrains (max 38T single, 26/36T double), gets external cable routing, a replaceable stainless-steel rear derailleur hanger, post mount 160mm disc brake, and 12mm thru-axle. It comes in four stock sizes (S-XL) with a claimed frame weight of 2570g (size L 19″).

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary – Pricing & availability

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, frame-only

The 50th Anniversary red, white & blue Ritchey Ultra mountain bike is available as a frame only (including headset, rear thru-axle & seat collar) for $1200 / 1200€. It’s up to you to figure out the best matching fork – maybe the SID Ultimate’s blue is a bit off? And the proper kit to build it up – hard to argue with the blue ano of that Hope crankset & brakes. The sky (and your wallet) are the only limits!

Ritchey Ultra 50th Anniversary limited edition steel mountain bike hardtail in red, white & blue retro Team fade, angled

Get it now through Certified Ritchey Assemblers in Europe, though regular bike shops & online retailers worldwide, or direct from Ritchey.

RitcheyLogic.com

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Tom Wenzel
Tom Wenzel
1 year ago

Weird showing this All-American bike with British cranks. Was Paul Components out to lunch?

Kalle
Kalle
1 year ago
Reply to  Tom Wenzel

Brakes are Hope as well

Eggs Benedict
Eggs Benedict
1 year ago

Something is off with the geometry chart you show. I think the rows for effective and actual top tube length, are flipped. Nice looking frame.

Stepan Skopovy
Stepan Skopovy
3 months ago

Hi, could someone please give me a hint where I can get the dropper post internal cable port that is in the picture above? It seems to sit very nicely in the frame.

Warren
Warren
25 days ago

Cory, my wife and I both have an Ultra and as well we’ve ridden in Prague with Filippo Mari, who you may well know.

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