# Annoying Ritchey Break Away purchase



## Mootsie

I'll try and keep this brief, but I think others should be aware of some inconsistant frame specs from Ritchey. My wife is petite and stand over is her major problem when buying bikes to the point were custom frames are sometimes her only option. 

Ritchey publishes frame specs for a 48cm Ritchey Break Away Cross frame as having a 48 c to t seat tube (Ritchey's site even says 46 c to t) with a 72 cm standover and a 95mm headtube. We verifed the specs with Ritchey and the shop and all was confirmed as being correct, so we bought it. 

The bike arrived the other day and we found the seat tube (using Ritchey's measuring guidelines) measured 50 c to t and standover was a 77. Way too tall to fit her. We thought we got the wrong frame size, but Ritchey says no it really is a 48 and the specs they publish can vary. I know standover can vary on the tire size, but even with bare rims, the SO would never be a 72. 
We were skeptical, still thinking we got the wrong size, so we went to another LBS that had a 48 Ritchey Break Away Cross in stock. We took measurements on that frame. Sure enough it had 50 cm seat tube and this frame even had a 100 mm headtube to boot. Two frames, neither of which matched published specs, neither "48" even matched each other! 

So the bike goes back on Monday. Thankfully the shop agrees with us.. How can a reputable company like Ritchey publish BS specs and be so inconsistant even within a model line?


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## magnolialover

*Mostly because...*



Mootsie said:


> I'll try and keep this brief, but I think others should be aware of some inconsistant frame specs from Ritchey. My wife is petite and stand over is her major problem when buying bikes to the point were custom frames are sometimes her only option.
> 
> Ritchey publishes frame specs for a 48cm Ritchey Break Away Cross frame as having a 48 c to t seat tube (Ritchey's site even says 46 c to t) with a 72 cm standover and a 95mm headtube. We verifed the specs with Ritchey and the shop and all was confirmed as being correct, so we bought it.
> 
> The bike arrived the other day and we found the seat tube (using Ritchey's measuring guidelines) measured 50 c to t and standover was a 77. Way too tall to fit her. We thought we got the wrong frame size, but Ritchey says no it really is a 48 and the specs they publish can vary. I know standover can vary on the tire size, but even with bare rims, the SO would never be a 72.
> We were skeptical, still thinking we got the wrong size, so we went to another LBS that had a 48 Ritchey Break Away Cross in stock. We took measurements on that frame. Sure enough it had 50 cm seat tube and this frame even had a 100 mm headtube to boot. Two frames, neither of which matched published specs, neither "48" even matched each other!
> 
> So the bike goes back on Monday. Thankfully the shop agrees with us.. How can a reputable company like Ritchey publish BS specs and be so inconsistant even within a model line?


Mostly because Tom Ritchey is a kook. He builds great bikes, but a kook nonetheless.


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## kensmerlin

I'm sure glad that you decided to post your experience here. Over the past 2 months, I've been debating whether I should order the 48 cm Ritchey Breakaway Cross or a custom frame with S&S couplers. I was a bit nervous about it as I couldn't get a good feeling about the standover height on this frame. I was also nervous about the case dimensions being slightly over the airline industry maximum. Although current BreakAway owners may not have had issues, I'm certain the airline industry is going to be scrutinizing and enforcing luggage dimensions in the future.


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## Mootsie

kensmerlin said:


> I'm sure glad that you decided to post your experience here. Over the past 2 months, I've been debating whether I should order the 48 cm Ritchey Breakaway Cross or a custom frame with S&S couplers. I was a bit nervous about it as I couldn't get a good feeling about the standover height on this frame. I was also nervous about the case dimensions being slightly over the airline industry maximum. Although current BreakAway owners may not have had issues, I'm certain the airline industry is going to be scrutinizing and enforcing luggage dimensions in the future.


We ended up buying her a Surly 42 cm Travelers Check with the S & S system. The SO on that frame was dead on and the case meets airline regs.


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