1997 Ritchey Swiss Cross
Part Diary, Part Technical Manual, Part Tips & Tricks

I've been looking for a steel cyclocross bike for a long time. I was focusing my search on a Lemond Poprad, since that was a more common bike, but they were either too small, too large, too expensive, or too rough. I started to lose faith in my search, so I was actually very serious about buying another Bianchi Axis. But then I came across this Ritchey, a really rare bike with Prestige tubing and an ornate bi-plane fork. So I drove up to San Rafael to check out the bike. The frameset was in pretty good shape with a funky mix of components, but overall I could see this bike being setup really nice. So on November 22, 2015, I finally found a steel cyclocross bike.

12/13/2015 - The frameset is pretty nice, but the bike was assembled in a total mess. So without putting too much money yet, I tried to setup the bike closer to the way I would want it, then take it on a few rides before I decide what my plans are for this bike. I had to install new Kool Stop brake pads and totally readjust the cantilever brakes. I then swapped out the stem and handlebar to something closer to my style. I was hoping to use a substantial amount of parts that came with the bike, but the closer I look, the more likely this will be a complete rebuilt with all new components. I tired to put on some 700x35c CX tires, but they would rub the inside of the chain stays, so this is a pure CX race bike that'll take a 700x32c max tire.

12/19/2015 - Nearly a month after buying the bike, I finally got to take it out for a ride. On a mix of paved, dirt, and gravel, the bike was very light and comfortable. The 110mm stem was a tad long, but otherwise the frameset geometry fit me very well. The original gearing was way too low for road riding, I had to stay in the large chainring nearly the entire ride. I'm thinking a full SRAM WiFLi group with a Cinelli Sesamo stem would be perfect. A 100mm Sesamo would bring the reach back a bit, with a 90 degree angle the bar would be a tad higher. It is also a 1" threadless design and features a pass through for the cantilever brake cable.

3/6/2016 - Over this weekend, I finally cleaned and waxed the frameset. There are some small scratches and chips, but overall it cleaned up well and looks nice and shiny.

8/13/2016 - This feels like its been one of my slowest builds. I was debating whether to keep the frameset or sell it off. Once again, it was the components that came with the bike that was so frustrating; I wanted to use the Ritchey crankset, but it was a MTB version so I couldn't get the right chainring sizes for it. It was at the end of July that I finally decided to build up the bike with SRAM components, using the Rival crankset that I already had from the Mavic bike. After ordering a bunch of stuff online, I started assembling everything over the past few days. I forgot to order a couple things along the way, such as a front derailer adapter, a cassette, and a chain, so that delaying things a bit. I didn't use the XTR brakes because the Kool Stop pads were too deep and would over scrub the rim, so I ended up pulling the Avid brakes of the MT2000 to make it work. So after a few glitches along the way, I finished the bike today. It was cool that I had the geometry all dialed in while building it, so when I took it out for its maiden ride, the bike fit me perfectly.

5/13/2016 - Sold it to the nicest bike messenger in SF I've ever met.

Here are the specs:

Frame: 1997 Ritchey Swiss Cross, 56 cm. Serial Number: SC 0119. Ritchey Super Logic tubing (Tange Prestige) with Ritchey dropouts, 130mm spacing. ISO bottom bracket threading. Red and white fade.
Fork: 1997 Ritchey Swiss Cross, 1" threadless. Lugged bi-plane crown. Red.
Wheelset: Cane Creek Aerohead with titanium spokes, clinchers, black.
Tires: Ritchey Speedmax Pro, 700 x 32c, folding bead.
Cassette: SRAM PG-1070, 10spd, 11-32T. Date code: 2015 WK20
Cranks: SRAM Rival, 50x34, 172.5mm, 110 BCD. MY2008
Bottom Bracket: SRAM GXP Team BB. ISO threaded. Date code: 2016 WK14
Front Derailer: SRAM Rival, braze-on with Origin8 28.6 clamp-on adapter. Date code: 2016 WK14
Rear Derailer: SRAM Rival, medium cage. Date code: 2016 WK18
Shifters: SRAM Rival DoubleTap, 10spd. Date code: 2015 WK43
Headset: Ritchey 1" threadless.
Chain: SRAM PC-1051, 10spd.
Stem: ITM 1" threadless, aluminum, 110mm, 25.4mm clamp with Bianchi logo.
Handlebar: Deda Elementi Piega, 26.0mm, 42cm wide, double-butted 6061-T6 aluminum, black.
Brakes: Avid Shorty 6 cantilever, black.
Pedal: Dimension SPD, red, from the 512.
Seatpost: Ritchey Comp, 27.0mm, black.
Saddle: San Marco Regal, black with copper rivets from the Cougar.

The original bike weighed 21 lbs 11 oz, the bike currently weighs 20 lbs 4 oz as shown.

The following are the parts that I am currently not using:

Wheelset: Ritchey Aero Road, 32h. Rear wheel features Off Center Rim Technology (OCR).
Tires: Kenda Small Block Eight, 700 x 32c, folding bead.
Cassette: Shimano XTR CS-M953, 9spd, 12-34T.
Cranks: Ritchey WCS, 44x32x22, 172.5mm, 104mm and 64mm BCD. Serial Number: J0202.
Bottom Bracket: Shimano Octalink, 113mm spindle.
Front Derailer: Shimano Deore XT FD-M735, 28.6mm clamp-on.
Rear Derailer: Shimano Deore XT RD-M750.
Shifters: Shimano Ultegra Flight Deck.
Handlebar: Specialized BB-1, 25.4mm diameter now on Alpine Sport.
Brakes: Shimano XTR BR-M900 cantilever now on the MT2000.