Over 40 Years Of Design Innovation
Tom Ritchey is one-of-a-kind. He continues to juggle his duties as president and lead designer of our company, which now has products distributed in over 40 countries – and he still logs at least 10,000 miles per year all over the world. Inspiration often comes to him while out on a ride, generating ideas that he then processes as three-dimensional design images – in his head. This is followed by the creation of initial concept models, many of which he creates by fillet brazing pieces or scraps of frame tubing. It all comes naturally to a guy who taught himself to build frames as a teenager, and who designed some of the burgeoning mountain bike industry’s first frames and components back in the 1970’s. Every year Tom guides our R&D efforts in pursuit of both subtle improvements to existing products or large-scale advances leading to new ones.
