Saying we were curious to discover the next generation  Ritchey Outback would be an understatement.  The folks at Ritchey clearly had a more versatile bike in mind when they started working on the 2020 model.  While the previous version was more like an evolved Swiss Cross, Ritchey”s iconic cyclo cross bike, this one is a bike of its own.  Reimangining the Outback, they clearly knew what people nowadays are looking for in an adventure bike.

The frame now accommodates both 650x51 and 700x48 wheel sizes, has a new straight steerer adventure fork with anything cage mounts, a third bottle cage and rack/fender mounts. This bike is definitely aimed at a more adventurous crowd, while the previous incarnation was more of a lightweight steel gravel ripper for racer-types.  Like all Ritchey frames, this frame is TIG-welded with lightweight triple-butted Ritchey Logic steel tubing and has a straight steerer tube.  Both things give the frame a classic steel ride quality that’s resilient over harsh terrain and responsive when you want to push yourself to the limit.  Compared to the previous generation outback, Ritchey tuned the geometry on the bike as well.  The bike is now less racy with a slacker head-angle and longer chainstays, adding more stability and making it less nervous.

Having not ridden this bike yet it’s hard to judge how it will perform but it’s obvious this bike ticks off a lot of boxes we are looking for at Wildhood.  Some things like triple bottle cage mounts and anything cage mounts on a fork are quintessential from our point of view, but still a lot of new production bikes don’t have these.  The Outback has both and in addition rack mounts on the rear. There’s no option for adding a front rack though since the fork has no mounting option on the front side of the fork crown.  You can mount a light or fenders on the rear end of the fork crown though. This was probably an aesthetical choice, but it makes the bike less suited for people who like to use panniers or front racks.  It’s nice to see the new version of this bike being capable of running 650b hoops and having massive tire clearance even in the 700C wheel-size. Having a mountain bike background and loving tight turns and twisty single tracks, I am a fan of the 650b wheel-size because it minimizes nasty toe-overlap and adds some extra comfort and grip with bigger tires.

The cable routing on the top-tube seems like a weird choice which makes mounting a frame bag rather difficult (especially if you want to tape your frame first to prevent your paint job getting scrubbed by your frame bag), a full housed cable route on the down tube probably would have been a better way to go.   The guacamole paintjob on the frame is I guess a take it or leave it thing. Ritchey frames have always been shining with classic paintjobs like last years’ Outback which came in a classy heritage blue. 

So who’s this bike aimed at?  It looks like the perfect frameset (yes, the outback is only available as a frame like all other Ritchey bikes) for an adventurer looking for well-designed  steel ride quality, who doesn’t want to spend 3000+ euro on a custom frameset but still wants an exclusive do-anything  bike that will last for a long time.

Words: Philippe Michiels

Photo Credits: Ritchey Logic

www.ritcheylogic.com