Ritchey Ascent review: A gravel transformer
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- Опубликовано: 23 ноя 2023
- Video Review: The Ritchey Ascent Is the Ultimate No-Frills Bike. A transformer of a gravel machine, a bike you can make it what you want it to be. it also eschews modern features. But does that mean it's doesn't master anything perfectly or lacks something?
Shoddy Dave will tell you why.
To read a fuller review head here:
velo.outsideonline.com/gravel... 
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Nice one! Ritchey make absolutely fantastic bikes. No BS. Worth mentioning the Outback which is Ritchey's more conventional, carbon forked, lightweight gravel bike (the Ascent leaning more toward expedition/adventure). Easily fast/light enough to race or go bikepacking on. My Outback is so comfortable and stable at speed, runs 45mm in 700c and weighs 9.5kg in XL running Ekar. Easy to work on, easy to clean, never dings or scratches. Such a pleasure after carbon hassle. I also own an older Logic Road (rim) from 2013 running Ultega: runs 28mm tyres easily and weighs 8.3kg in XL. Ritchey bikes are just made to ride - lightweight for steel but with perfected geometry - so smooth, a joy to ride. Bikes for life, but can be hard to get hold of (in UK at least). And for people who don't know Tom - Google him, the man's a flipping legend! And his philosophy for frames and components is spot-on. Some of the highest quality kit on the market, without the BS hype train.
Agree 100% I have one and you just said exactly what I would have said! I have the Break Away version and it flies with me everywhere!
Wow, the Break Away is a fantastic piece of engineering! Tom Ritchey's main bike, I think. I don't travel enough to warrant one, but more people should discover these bikes. Enjoy! @@peterhehn9511
I find it interesting that weight keeps getting mentioned. I built one up last spring expressly to use for bikepacking, and come from road touring and commuting. To me, it feels relatively light for steel! Even with fenders, racks, and 2.25 tires (mezcals). Anyway, it's a joy to ride in the woods, and stayed planted and composed even as my ineperience was convinced i was going to break some bones or loose my teeth during some particularly gnarly downhills.
I understand you. I think some of it is down to the fact that I'm used to riding lightweight bikes. That's what brands usually send me to test. But the weight is a factor I pick up on because it's a pretty damn near-perfect machine; I had to nit-pick it somehow!!! - Dave
Great review of a super cool bike. Would love to see you do a review of a Poseidon Redwood, a bike that’s maybe similar to the Ascent, but at the lower end of the spectrum. I bought one last Christmas as a cheap bike to put on the smart trainer. But I only kept it on the trainer for a month. Instead, it’s turned out to be the bike I ride most. I put pannier racks on it for a week-long bike tour. It’s turned out to be awesome for commuting, running errands around town (I live in Washington, DC, so it’s faster to bike than drive), It’s kinda heavy, but following advice from “The Bike Sauce” RUclips channel, I swapped in a pair of HuntxMason 650b gravel wheels with Victoria Terrence Dry tires set up tubeless, and that made the bike 3-1/2lbs lighter. Also swapped in compression less brake housing, which made the mechanical disc brakes much more responsive.
I'll have to check the bike out, can't say I've heard of that one. Cheers for the heads up. - Dave
Weight counts in a sanctioned event if you are racing for the win. Otherwise, it is totally overrated and every cyclist who competes should have at least three gears anyway. One was racing and one for serious training and one for everything else. And that orange bike by Tom looks perfect for the later category, such a nice bike. And I am sort of building up a bootleg version as I recently bought a '90s Specialized Rockhopper Ultra with 3x and a compact frame and because I paid little for it, actually doubling the price voluntarily for the benefit of the charity thrift shop, I look forward to modernizing it with Ritchey components and the like. And if gravel bikes are actually, indeed, '90s mountain bikes, well, I'll be having a blast in a gravel event somewhere back there in the field, recalling my Sting-Ray days in the '70s on dirt roads in California. And a good day and a good result is the result of a good performance and for me at age 64, a good performance is where it's at, no need to fight for victories anymore, tho' they were fun back in the day, my handful of road victories, good memories not unlike those of jumping down the stairs in front of Fairmont Elementary in Pacifica and all those crazy duels and dares with friends..
looks interesting
It rides just as interestingly - Dave
Hey Dave would love to know what the fit is like. What size are you on and how it feels. Many thanks
I'm on a medium and I'm 179cm tall (on a good day) - Dave
@@VeloVeloVeloTV so I guess a large would work for you also. Do you like the feel of it smaller? Thanks 😊
I'm in between small and medium. Can't decide which
Love this bike , it’s fun and lively, built mine with 27.5 and it’s really responsive
I’m 5’10” and a large feels a little to large but a medium might be to small, does anyone have any thoughts on sizes???
I'm on a medium and 179cm. It feels just right. - Dave
Ritchey says size up on the Ascent
Shoddy 👋
Hello and thanks - Dave
Cool, they kinda build the Kona Sutra LTD from 2018!🤠😉
Just hunted for that and you're not too far wrong. I love a Kona too, have one in my garage a lovely 2012 (ish) steel Paddy Wagon - Dave
@@VeloVeloVeloTV Great bike as well. Got a 2017 Sutra LTD and love it for its ride feel and incredible versatility. Probably my forever bike.😍😉
What happened to cycling tips
We were merged with VeloNews and now exist as Velo.
It's not heavy, not a good start to the video.
I disagree. Compared to many gravel bikes, it's a little portly. But admittedly not the heaviest. It certainly doesn't feel heavy under you when you ride it, though, for the most part. - Dave
@@VeloVeloVeloTV well it certainly isn't a so called G bike is it ...
It’s a steel bike and unfortunately the subject of weight always comes up although in the end it doesn’t matter. Most of us can lose 10 pounds or 50.