Tom Ritchey
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Tom Ritchey (b. 1956) is a master bicycle frame builder, designer, welder and founder of Ritchey Design. Like many of mountain biking's founding fathers, he is also an accomplished road and mountain bicycle racer in his own right.
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[edit] Early pioneering years
Tom was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988. Tom has been producing bikes for his own company, Ritchey Design Inc., and for other bicycle companies since the late 1970’s. The majority of the bikes were mountain bikes; however, he has produced many road and cyclo-cross bicycle frames. The majority of his frames have been constructed from high quality steel alloy tubing; however, he has produced frames made using tubing of aluminum and titanium alloys and frames made using both carbon tubes and titanium tubes. .
Tom began his notoriety in the bicycle world welding frames for Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelley's MountainBikes company. After that concern went its separate way, he created his own frame and bike component company: Ritchey. Ritchey bike frames have always been known for their ultra-light weight and aggressive racing-oriented designs. Tom is also known as an early innovator of designs: for example he was making threadless headsets years before other companies patented the design and began manufacturing such designs.
[edit] Current production
Tom Ritchey no longer makes a full line of frames, but he continues to be a leading innovator in bicycle design and engineering. One of his most notable recent designs is the Bike, a line of racing-quality road and cyclocross bikes that separate into two halves so that they can be packed in a standard suitcase for ease of travel. Since most airlines charge almost $100 each way to take a bike on a plane, this is a very enticing feature to those who travel often!
Tom is known for his trademark 'handlebar' mustache, his close relationships with racers who've represented his company (particularly Thomas Frischknecht, 2005 marathon world champion, who's ridden for TR for decades) and his friendly demeanor.
[edit] Project Rwanda
In December 2005, Tom and his friend Gary Boulanger were invited to tour Rwanda by bicycle. They were asked if they were interested in developing a grass-roots racing team, opening a bicycle assembly factory, designing a transportation/cargo-hauling bicycle, and establishing a mountain bike safari touring company. Three months later, Tom sent his friend Jared Miller to Rwanda to explore these possibilities, and Project Rwandawas born.
http://www.projectrwanda.org/images/WBC-logo.gif
On September 16, 2006, the first annual Rwandan Wooden Bike Classic was held in the village of Karongi. More than 3,000 Rwandans filled the Karongi Stadium and lined the streets to watch the country's first mountain bike race. North American Tour de France pioneers Jock Boyer and Alex Stieda raced alongside Ritchey. Plans are in the works to deliver the first 1,000 cargo-hauling bicycle to the country's largest coffee-grower's co-op, lead by Dr. Timothy Schilling.
[edit] Quotes
- "My bike is my office"
