Breakaway Road

[flatlander_48]

Yes, a seatpost would have to break in shear and that would be pretty hard to do.

[flatlander_48]

Somewhere in the Ritchey section was information about a BreakAway that was just under 16 pounds, I think. Can't remember what all it had, but the componentry wasn't super exotic. Not cheap either, but you didn't wind up with a $10,000 bike. The builder was just very careful about the parts he chose.

Edit:

Found it!

Ritchey Road Ti BreakAway
SuperLogic Evolution bars
WCS Carbon Matrix Stem
Ritchey Pro bar tape
SuperLogic 1-Bolt Seatpost
WCS Carbon Streem Saddle
SuperLogic Carbon Clinchers (Tubulars would lighten it up even more)
WCS Race Slick Open Clincher Tires
Ritchey Superlight Tubes
WCS Echelon Pedals
SRAM Red
TRP R970 SL brakes

Total = 15.34 pounds

Interbike 2010
2011-ritchey-folding-bikes-new-colors01.jpg

[55x11]

Somewhere in the Ritchey section was information about a BreakAway that was just under 16 pounds, I think. Can't remember what all it had, but the componentry wasn't super exotic. Not cheap either, but you didn't wind up with a $10,000 bike. The builder was just very careful about the parts he chose.

Edit:

Found it!

Ritchey Road Ti BreakAway
SuperLogic Evolution bars
WCS Carbon Matrix Stem
Ritchey Pro bar tape
SuperLogic 1-Bolt Seatpost
WCS Carbon Streem Saddle
SuperLogic Carbon Clinchers (Tubulars would lighten it up even more)
WCS Race Slick Open Clincher Tires
Ritchey Superlight Tubes
WCS Echelon Pedals
SRAM Red
TRP R970 SL brakes

Total = 15.34 pounds

Interbike 2010
2011-ritchey-folding-bikes-new-colors01.jpg

Yes, I remember that post.
It is possible to get the Ritchey bike pretty light - amazingly light. I have seen someone saying they got below 15lbs with Ritchey Ti road.

I have to note, this is Ti frame, not steel. Would be much more difficult to get under 16lbs with steel Ritchey. I also have to note he weighs the bike with pedals, many builds exclude pedals from total weight.

Personally, I am against carbon wheels, especially on a travel bike (I would use those only for racing, only for substantial elevation gained races, and only if I had a decent chance at winning). I would also go for more heavy duty tires and tubes for a travel bike. In particular, I would go with 25mm rather than 23, and something bomb-proof, like Gatorskins or similar, even though they are quite a bit heavier. Flats or blow-outs on unknown roads, thousands of miles away from anyone you know, is not fun. For the same reasons I would use aluminum handlebars rather than carbon - both because of potential damage during transport (even though I think we tend to over-emphasize this, once packed, the bike components survive air travel just fine), but also because one can ride back to hotel/home on slightly dented aluminum handlebars (say, following a crash), but it is impossible to do on sheared carbon bars.

That's just my personal opinion - but I also think we need to stop obsessing over differences in weight - a 17 or 18 lb bike is basically almost as good as 15 or 16 lb bike, and differences in weight have to be considered in context of overall weight (bike+gear+rider), which is often ~200 lbs, and the amount of climbing we do (often not as much as we like to pretend). Once the bike gets below 19- lb or so, each subsequent pound is increasingly more expensive to take off, and may come with serious compromises or tradeoffs in flex, reliability, braking/safety, ride comfort, etc. Even on a steep and long uphill climb course, a gain of 2lbs translates to less than 1% time/power savings - better training, nutrition, efficiency can easily give you similar or greater gains.

Riding in drops instead of on the hoods makes more of a difference in power savings and overall aerodynamics, but most people I see riding do not seem to be comfortable of staying in the drops even for 5-10 minutes. And it's FREE! Sorry, rant is over.

[flatlander_48]

Yes, I remember that post.
It is possible to get the Ritchey bike pretty light - amazingly light. I have seen someone saying they got below 15lbs with Ritchey Ti road.

Easier than you think because they used all Ritchey companents. For example, my BeBops are stainless and the weight 150g compared to 225g for the Ritchey Echelons.

I have to note, this is Ti frame, not steel. Would be much more difficult to get under 16lbs with steel Ritchey. I also have to note he weighs the bike with pedals, many builds exclude pedals from total weight.

Yes, I know. I added the 1st line of the parts list to include that. When Ritchey Dave originally sent me the parts list, that wasn't in there.

Personally, I am against carbon wheels, especially on a travel bike (I would use those only for racing, only for substantial elevation gained races, and only if I had a decent chance at winning). I would also go for more heavy duty tires and tubes for a travel bike. In particular, I would go with 25mm rather than 23, and something bomb-proof, like Gatorskins or similar, even though they are quite a bit heavier. Flats or blow-outs on unknown roads, thousands of miles away from anyone you know, is not fun. For the same reasons I would use aluminum handlebars rather than carbon - both because of potential damage during transport (even though I think we tend to over-emphasize this, once packed, the bike components survive air travel just fine), but also because one can ride back to hotel/home on slightly dented aluminum handlebars (say, following a crash), but it is impossible to do on sheared carbon bars.

I was in Taiwan for a total of 6 years. I had a Giant TCR 2 for the first year and a half and the Ritchey for the remaining four and a half. I had 3 flats in 6 years, but they were all near the plant where I first worked that was a construction zone. They didn't have a truck with a magnet underneath to police the roads. After that first 18 months, no problem on 23mm Continental GP4000's (both bikes on GP4000's).

You know, my guess is that any crash hard enough to damage a carbon handlebar sufficently to make it useless would likely involve hospital time. I don't think carbon would bother me. I don't have any carbon in the front end except for the fork (all carbon). However, that decision was limited by available money back in 2005.

That's just my personal opinion - but I also think we need to stop obsessing over differences in weight - a 17 or 18 lb bike is basically almost as good as 15 or 16 lb bike, and differences in weight have to be considered in context of overall weight (bike+gear+rider), which is often ~200 lbs, and the amount of climbing we do (often not as much as we like to pretend). Once the bike gets below 19- lb or so, each subsequent pound is increasingly more expensive to take off, and may come with serious compromises or tradeoffs in flex, reliability, braking/safety, ride comfort, etc. Even on a steep and long uphill climb course, a gain of 2lbs translates to less than 1% time/power savings - better training, nutrition, efficiency can easily give you similar or greater gains.

I can't dispute what you say physically or physiologically , but there is a psychological factor. If you think that you are pushing a sled uphill, it may weigh on your mind. If that happens, it becomes a destabilizing factor and works against your effort. On the other hand, if you know that your weapon is as good as anyone else's, it ceases to be something to focus on. I also believe that having a lighter bike encourages one to go farther, which is usually a good thing.

Being an engineer, I will also admit to liking the idea of lightweight parts from a technological standpoint. Everything evolves; nothing stands still. To me that 15.34 pound BreakAway is a technical exercise. Also, since the Ritchey is my only bike, my thought process is a bit different. And, even though I was in a foreign country, I knew a cab company where the people spoke english, so it wasn't that I was riding in an inaccessible place (which I wouldn't do).

Riding in drops instead of on the hoods makes more of a difference in power savings and overall aerodynamics, but most people I see riding do not seem to be comfortable of staying in the drops even for 5-10 minutes. And it's FREE! Sorry, rant is over.

That may have more to do with flexibility than anything else. And I would disagree that it is entirely free. I don't think you breathe quite as well, although the aero benefits overshadow it. It may be a loss of 5% but gain 10% sort of thing.

[55x11]

getting down to 15.5 lbs is more of a technical exercise, I agree. It's great in theory but doesn't give you much in practice, especially considering the time and costs involved.

Breathing properly in the drops is not that difficult, but again, it's a matter of getting used to the aero position. But that takes a bit of actual work, and benefits are on the order of 10%. Even that is a bit silly for travel bike purposes.

Getting the weight down by 2 lbs costs only $, and the benefits are about 1%. I have no problems with someone obsessing about the weight after they squeezed every possible 0.1% from every other aspect of riding: training, nutrition, aero position, etc. but I feel there is something wrong about the "shortcut" approach. Not that I am not totally immune to the idea of getting the lightest bike possible. It just has to be taken in perspective of "big picture". Is shaving 5-10 seconds off 20 minute climb done on a travel bike, solo, when nobody is looking, that important?

And taxis are not easily available in most areas that I have ridden on my Breakaway. This includes mountains in Madrid Sierra, but also rural areas outside of Baltimore and DC, or Mt. Tam or Mt. Hamilton or Mt. Diablo in Bay Area, Blue Mountains of Tennessee, bike paths of suburban Chicago or Boston, high peaks of Colorado, just to name a few areas. 25mm tires are good enough for Boonen and Cancellara in Flanders, I see no reason why they won't be good enough for schmoes like me on a travel bike. In a balanced approach to exploring unknown, new roads on a bike, I think 25mm, bomb-proof, reliable clinchers and aluminum rims are a very reasonable idea (as opposed to carbon dish rims with 23mm race-quality tubulars with ultra-light tubes).

[nhluhr]

Got my Breakaway Road and have begun building it in my spare time.

One complaint so far - the barrel adjusters Ritchey includes in the package are essentially worthless for this bike using modern Shimano equipment. They don't fit in the downtube cable stops and since 5700/6700/7900 is internall cabling, you can't use them on the shifter's outlet either (like you could on older Shimano shift/brake levers). Since I'm re-using the whole cockpit (including cables and housing from my cross bike until I have time to get some new cable/housing) I'll just set it up with no barrel adjusters for now and put in an inline adjuster when I re-cable. Front derailleur adjustment may be a little tricky but I've managed to do it before.

Also, it came with three cable splitters. I assume the larger one is for the rear brake. Just two little set screws to hold the brake cable? Is that enough? Should I put these in with blue loctite? I guess worst case, I lose rear braking and still have the front available.

Oh and to my surprise/delight, the bike with all parts hung is at 18.5 lbs for a 60cm steel breakaway. Not bad! The frame by itself (no fork) was between 1960 and 2020 grams (my feedback sports 50lb scale is not ideal for measuring something in this range)

[flatlander_48]

No problem with the cables pulling out of the connectors. As I didn't do the build, I can't say if Loctite was used. There is no external evidence of it.

[flatlander_48]

And taxis are not easily available in most areas that I have ridden on my Breakaway. This includes mountains in Madrid Sierra, but also rural areas outside of Baltimore and DC, or Mt. Tam or Mt. Hamilton or Mt. Diablo in Bay Area, Blue Mountains of Tennessee, bike paths of suburban Chicago or Boston, high peaks of Colorado, just to name a few areas. 25mm tires are good enough for Boonen and Cancellara in Flanders, I see no reason why they won't be good enough for schmoes like me on a travel bike. In a balanced approach to exploring unknown, new roads on a bike, I think 25mm, bomb-proof, reliable clinchers and aluminum rims are a very reasonable idea (as opposed to carbon dish rims with 23mm race-quality tubulars with ultra-light tubes).

Basically we've used the bike in different ways. For you, it sounds like it is a part of a vacation trip. On the other hand, I wanted a bike to take with me to long term work assignments. It is the only bike I have, so it is more like the usual road bike. Even in Taiwan, it's still very much like urban and country riding here. And, in Asia taxis tend to be compacts at best, but often sub-compacts and sub-sub-compacts. Hard to take a fullsized bike box in that sitation.

[55x11]

the screws in cable splitters are amazingly strong. Have been using brakes and derailleurs with no problems.
I never got barrel adjusters in my Ritchey package. But keep in mind that the cable splitter itself can be useful for mild barrel adjustments.
I find barrel adjusters useful for some purposes, but for my Ritchey I don't use them at all, except rear derailleur of course.

[nhluhr]

I forgot when I weighed earlier I was missing a left pedal and the expander wedge. Finished weight is 18.69lbs, size 60.

Zipp 404 Clincher wheelset
Dura-Ace 7900 11-25 Cassette
Dura-Ace 7901 Chain
Dura-Ace 7950 Crank
Ultegra 6700 Carbon Pedals
Ultegra BB
Ultegra Rear Derailleur
105 Front Derailleur
105 Brakes
105 Levers
Ritchey Pro Carbon Seatpost
Specialized Romin Expert Saddle
Kona alu stem (from winter bike, will replace)
Kona alu bar (from winter bike, will replace)

Of course for travel I won't use the Zipps - something more like a shimano RS-10 cheapo wheelset, but I think I'll break this in with a ride tonight and a couple of races this weekend (hilly RR on saturday, crit on sunday). The bike will get its first airline travel at the end of this month.

[Waits]

I forgot when I weighed earlier I was missing a left pedal and the expander wedge. Finished weight is 18.69lbs, size 60.

Zipp 404 Clincher wheelset
Dura-Ace 7900 11-25 Cassette
Dura-Ace 7901 Chain
Dura-Ace 7950 Crank
Ultegra 6700 Carbon Pedals
Ultegra BB
Ultegra Rear Derailleur
105 Front Derailleur
105 Brakes
105 Levers
Ritchey Pro Carbon Seatpost
Specialized Romin Expert Saddle
Kona alu stem (from winter bike, will replace)
Kona alu bar (from winter bike, will replace)

Of course for travel I won't use the Zipps - something more like a shimano RS-10 cheapo wheelset, but I think I'll break this in with a ride tonight and a couple of races this weekend (hilly RR on saturday, crit on sunday). The bike will get its first airline travel at the end of this month.

Wow! Looks great. Thanks for posting the photo!

[flatlander_48]

Very Nice!!!

[Ritchey_Dave]

Really? You're replacing the Ritchey bar and stem with Kona..? But it looks so good on that frame.

Beautiful build, let us know your thoughts after a few rides.

[nhluhr]

Really? You're replacing the Ritchey bar and stem with Kona..? But it looks so good on that frame.

Beautiful build, let us know your thoughts after a few rides.

I don't have a Ritchey Stem... I just had that Kona in my closet. It's too short at 90mm. I actually just rode over to the shop and picked up a 4-Axis WCS in the correct length.

First impression: It rides great. I haven't had a steel frame road bike since... 2001 - an old undersized Bridgestone RB1. This has pretty much that same ride feel but it fits. I just need to accumulate all the individual parts that I stripped off my winter bike so I'm not sitting on an incomplete/unrideable winter bike

Love the Breakaway Road!

[55x11]

agreed, just wanted to share my experiences. YMMV as always. I think this is a great part about Ritchey BAB - so many people using them in so many different ways, for so many different purposes. Some use them for touring. Some for short trips, some for long trips. Some for cities, some for rural areas. I used mine for cyclocross, for riding on snow, for paved roads, cities, middle-of-nowhere roads, you name it.
Definitely agreed on taxis in Asia (and Europe for that matter). Separating your frame into two pieces may help there too.

[flatlander_48]

Definitely agreed on taxis in Asia (and Europe for that matter). Separating your frame into two pieces may help there too.

Back when my wife was still able to ride, at one point she came back with me and we brought her bike in CrateWorks box. The limo company that was contracted was told to bring a van. Every time the reservation was confirmed, they kept wanting to countermand the request. They couldn't understand why 2 people needed such a big vehicle. When they came to Taipei Airport to pick us up, they didn't have a van. They had a large Volvo station wagon. When they realized that the box, our other luggage and the 2 of us would not fit, THEN they called for a van. This was the genesis of selling my Giant TCR2 and buying the BreakAway. I realized that traveling similarly with the Giant was going to be a very unpleasant experience.

I can put the Ritchey luggage in the back of my MINI, but I don't think you can go smaller than that. What I found in my car was that there was plenty of room inside the car, but the openings were marginal. If you try a car smaller than mine, I think that's the problem you will have.

[nhluhr]

Well, I stuck with my BH for the road race on Saturday but I used the Ritchey Breakaway in a cold/raining crit on Sunday. It's definitely the most flexible bike I've ridden in awhile but it doesn't really seem like a problem. I know it saved me in one instance when i was forced off my line and rode over a manhole cover in turn1. I felt my tire slide sideways then it caught the pavement again. I'm guessing the longer wheelbase and relative flexibility allowed it to absorb that with a smoother impulse whereas my carbon bike (with a 402mm chainstay) would have just snapped the tire right past its friction limit on the pavement. Ended up with a 6th place on the Breakaway. It performed great and felt just fine under my finishing sprint.

I'm falling rapidly in love with this bike. I can't say its acceleration is particularly snappy (especially with the aluminum powertap wheelset and generally heavier parts) but it does just fine. It's really the ride quality that is shockingly good. I'm a big guy anyway (duh, 60cm frame) so the weight isn't much of an issue at all, and the fact that I'll be able to carry it with me on business trips is friggin delightful.

[flatlander_48]

I'm a big guy anyway (duh, 60cm frame) so the weight isn't much of an issue at all, and the fact that I'll be able to carry it with me on business trips is friggin delightful.

I think the fact the the BreakAway system and the S & S BTC's work so well is that they were designed by people who ride and they were trying to solve a problem to suit their needs. Both methods turned out very well, just different roads to town so to speak. Their advantages are also different. The BreakAway system is lighter, but the BTC can be retrofitted into existing frames as well as built into new ones.

Since the BreakAway is my only bike, it works very in that mode also. It's a very versatile machine!

[Ritchey_Dave]

Their advantages are also different. The BreakAway system is lighter, but the BTC can be retrofitted into existing frames as well as built into new ones.

Actually, we sell our Breakaway fittings to custom framebuilders too. If someone wanted, they could have a framebuilder integrate our Breakaway system into a custom frame.

[flatlander_48]

Actually, we sell our Breakaway fittings to custom framebuilders too. If someone wanted, they could have a framebuilder integrate our Breakaway system into a custom frame.

Yes, I remember Andy Hampsten and his brother were doing that for a while. However, the BreakAway system is not designed to be retrofitted, as far as I can tell.

[Ritchey_Dave]

Yes, I remember Andy Hampsten and his brother were doing that for a while. However, the BreakAway system is not designed to be retrofitted, as far as I can tell.

For the most part yes. If your frame has a 28.6 seattube and either 31.8 or 34.9 downtube you can though.

[nhluhr]

Not having a dedicated TT bike and having signed up for a stage race this past weekend, I converted my Breakaway temporarily to TT duty.

I slammed my seat all the way forward on the rails (20mm increase resulting in an effective STA of around 75 degrees in my size 60 frame which has an actual STA of 73.5), raised up the seatpost to get the same pedal to seat distance with the slammed-forward position, then installed some clip-on aero bars and of course the aero wheels. I ended up getting 10th in a field of 78 starters of the TT with this setup so I'm pretty happy

I know I could do better with a little work - perhaps improving the seat position even more by getting a 0-setback seatpost or a Fast-Forward style post.

[Ritchey_Dave]

Nice! Did you have to get on and off a plane as part of the course? Let's see your bike all TT'd out.

[55x11]

Headtube is pretty short on Ritchey Breakaway so you can get pretty low in aerobars (or the drops for that matter).

[nhluhr]

Well, I just packed up my 60cm Breakaway Road (first trip with it this weekend). It looks okay, everything well protected.

At first I tried using the directions that came with it (and which are mirrored in the top youtube result). I actually used the words "not even ****ing close" after trying it. I googled and found a couple diagrams that helped me pack it differently:

1) Front frame/fork/headset/stem on bottom of case, front brake removed and kept with handlebar
2) Rear wheel, cassette-down (I find having this wheel above the front-frame half helps reduce the bulge on the case backside)
3) Handlebar tucked around rear wheel at right of case. Bottles and cages in free space between shifters
4) Rear frame half, dropouts in upper left of case, rear derailleur and left crank arm removed
5) seat/post between chainstays at free space to left
6) Front wheel on top.
7) accessories: seatbag velcroed to wheel in free space at bottom right, crankarm, skewers, pedals, breakaway collar in black musette bag, tools in black cloth bag both cinched tight and lashed to wheel at bottom left.



NOTE: Per the advice in another thread, I removed the water bottles to hopefully avoid having TSA rip it open.

I actually fly out 6am Sunday but I'm racing on Saturday so I can't put other crucial items like shoes in yet.