Mountain Bike Frame

Tom Ritchey Ultra Frame & Forks. Extremely rare hand built Tom Ritchey mountain bike specific frame. Built in 1988 and was dressed in 1989 Shimano Deore XT. 17 inches from centre BB to top of seat tube, 21 inches top tube length and 1inch head tube. Prestige steel frame tubing and Shimano dropouts. Finished in the optional metallic silver Dupont paint work. Optional extras at the time include mudguard and rack mounts. Genuine frame stamp under BB shell, 15th Ultra made in 1988. Forks are Rockshox Quadra (1st Version) with 1 inch threaded steerer. Barn find and imported from the USA, hand built Tom Ritchey Ultra frame, with good overall condition for restoration. Previous owner sprayed green rattle can paint over the original Dupont high gloss silver finish, which flakes off very easily. Seems there was no preparation to the original colour before spraying, Some of the original Ritchey decals glue is also still visible. There is little in the way of corrosion, a credit to the quality of the build and original paintwork. Some very minor and tiny shallow dents to the side of the top tube and chain suck to rear stay. Tom Ritchey frames in the 1980′s only used Shimano dropouts as it was not until the early 1990′s that Ritchey produced their own. The Ritchey Ultra was the top of the range model of the 1980′s, made of Prestige tubing rather than the standard steel used in the Ascent models. Please check the image of the original 1988 Ritchey catalogue showing the full spec. This particular Tom Ritchey built frame had all option extra’s added for the customer at the frame building stage, including mudguard and rack mounts, plus the metallic silver paint finish. The standard Ultra frame had none of these options and only came in either black or white finish. This Ritchey Ultra frame is truly a unique frame. Completing the frameset this particular Tom Ritchey Ultra was fitted with the 1st version of the RockShox Quadra suspension forks. Surprisingly the forks work great but have also had black rattle can sprayed over the original gloss silver paintwork that can be seen in the images. There is still glue from the original RockShox Quadra decals showing through the black paint, which also flakes away easily from the stanchions. Therefore this hand built Tom Ritchey frame is a very rare find, with that in mind we welcome any sensible offers or part exchanges, please contact with details. Tom Ritchey frames in the 1980′s only used Shimano dropouts as it was not until the early 1990′s did Ritchey produce their own. Please check out our other listings of new, used, modern, vintage and retro bike components! Condition is used, for restoration. Wrapped in recycled packaging and placed. RAD Cycles offers a no quibble 30 day return guarantee.