Tom Ritchey’s father taught him to build wheels and repair tubular tyres at eleven. Frame repairs and brazing followed. In 1972 he built his first racing frame and competed on it that same year: workshop skills and riding experience were connected from the beginning.
In 1974, Ritchey frames appeared in Palo Alto Bicycle’s mail-order catalogue. He later worked with Gary Fisher and Charlie Kelly to distribute his mountain bikes. That progression shows an already experienced road-frame builder carrying his knowledge into the emerging world of off-road cycling.
His Logic steel tubing used extended thin-walled middle sections to reduce weight and was designed for fillet-brazed frames without lugs. The Bullmoose design, meanwhile, combined handlebar and stem. Both illustrate an interest in the whole assembly: the tube, its joint and how the parts work together.