There were no vibrations or unexpected wobbles. Nothing worked itself loose during my rides. This simple design uses just three bolts tightened to 4Nm to hold the front and rear triangles together. That bracket holds the rear brake housing stop slightly away from the top tube. What looks like a connection between the lower bolt and the top tube in the photograph below is actually a bracket welded to the lower bolt housing. One bolt above the seam between the tubes and another bolt below the seam lock the tubes together. The top tube and seat tube are held in alignment by the seat post. I think another part of the answer is in how well the Ritchey design eliminates flexing at the joints. If I tested bicycles for a living my senses would be developed enough to feel some differences. Perhaps my senses are not tuned enough to pick up the difference. After all the Ritchey frame is in two pieces, connected at the seat tube / top tube junction and just in front of the bottom bracket. Logic tells me the Break-Away should not be as stiff as the Alchemy. I don’t feel a difference between the titanium Alchemy and the Break-Away. I love the ride quality of the Ritchey Break-Away too. They are very comfortable, even on the chip sealed back roads of Texas. I am no road racer but I can make the steel frame flex under pedaling load. A little less road chatter gets transmitted through the titanium frame. The only differences that I can discern between the two Alchemys are that the titanium bike has a more ‘damped’ feel to it, and the steel bike has more flex. on the ride quality of said bike frame materials. In the hope that it heads off a potential firestorm amongst all you aficionados out there around the relative virtues of steel versus titanium as a bike frame material, and the effect of tire choice, frame geometry, tube size etc. I include all that detail as a prelude to describing the differences between these bikes. All have Ritchey carbon seat posts and cockpits. The tube lengths and angles of the Ritchey are as close to those of the Alchemys as dammit is to swearing. My other bikes are a steel framed Alchemy with carbon chain stays and fork, and a titanium framed Alchemy with carbon seat stays, chain stays and fork. There has been about 7,100 meters / 23,300 feet of climbing. Although by default any rides that involve significant travel will now be on the Ritchey. I do try to be fair and alternate between my three bikes. I have had my Ritchey Break-Away for exactly two months. That puncture was a small price to pay for a wonderful week on my bike. Now if the Dutch could find a way to eliminate getting something like this in your tyre, the Netherlands would be absolutely fantastic for cycling :). There are bike paths like this one to explore.Īnd of course there is this to look forward to. What a great place for cycling the Netherlands is. I can honestly say that I rode “with” them that day. By that second ride with the Not Possibles I had flushed most of the flu bug out of my system. Alone, or with Jeff, or with David and Jeff, and one more time with the Not Possibles. It was nice to see old friends, and to meet new ones, over a coffee or two. I blamed it on the flu bug I picked up in Cuba.įortunately Jeff was kind enough to ride with me as I sniffled and coughed my way around the Zoeterwoude-Rijndijk to Hazwerswoude to Kruisweg to Leidschenveen loop, and back to the Coffee Club in Leidschendam. I say “joined.” In reality I got dropped within the first five kilometers of leaving DAKA Leidschendam. I joined them for their regular Saturday ride. The group I cycled with when I lived in Den Haag, the Not Possibles, is still going strong. It was not so nice to be back in the wind. My bike was out of its case and I was on the fietspaden (bike paths) the day after we arrived in the Netherlands. I brought my bike with me because my biker chick and I had a stopover in Den Haag on the way home. And we drove past these guys on road bikes in La Habana one evening. Some towns have pedal powered taxis.Ī number of visitors were on touring bikes, especially on the south coast around Trinidad. I saw a lot of Cubans on bicycles, especially in towns outside La Habana. My bike stayed in its case in La Habana while the group I was with explored Cuba by van. Unfortunately I didn’t do any riding in Cuba. My Ritchey Break-Away came with me on a trip to Cuba.
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