Just in: Ritte Ace

Ritte’s new Ace, a 980g carbon fibre frame, was launched at the trade-only Core Bike show back in January, and we’ve just got our hands on a Shimano Ultegra-equipped bike to review.

Ritte has an interesting background. A US company that isn’t shy about the fact it is hugely influenced by Belgian cycle racing culture; the classics, cobbles, frites and beer. The name, Ritte, even comes from Henri “Ritte” Van Lerberghe, who won the 1919 edition of the Tour of Flanders, despite having time to stop in a pub for several drinks after attacking the race. There are references to famous climbs in the names of its frames, and the Flemish Lion adorns the head tube.

This new Ace is an evolution of its previous flagship carbon frame, the Vlaanderen. They’ve worked the carbon fibre layup and tube profiles to increase the frame stiffness and lower the weight, and the integrated seatmast of the Vlaanderen has been dropped in favour of a conventional seatpost.

Ritte claim a 980g frame weight, and in the Shimano Ultegra build we’ve got here, it weighs 7.4kg (16.31lb). The frame is constructed from a combination of T700 and T1000 carbon fibre. The tube profiles are far more oversized than the previous frame, with flat-sided tubes giving the Ace quite an aggressive appearance.

To eke out as much stiffness as possible, the seat tube and chainstays are asymmetric.  The seat tube draws a straight line from the bottom bracket to the seat clamp, while on the driveside it curves to provide space for the front mech. It’s the same story with the chainstays as well, the driveside chainstay is curved to clear the chainset, while the non-driveside chainstay runs a straighter line between the bottom bracket and rear dropout.

Despite the huge chainstays, Ritte reckons there’s space for up to 28mm tyres in the frame. All cables are internally routed, naturally, and it’s Di2 compatible. There’s a 31.6mm seatpost and PressFit 30 bottom bracket. Plugged into the tapered head tube is a 340g carbon fibre fork.

The Ace gets the same geometry as the Vlaanderen. The size large we have here has a 565mm horizontal top tube, 155mm head tube, 559mm stack, 394mm reach, 995.7mm wheelbase, and parallel 73.5 degree head and seat angles.

Ritte drew some criticism from readers on our first look article suggesting the Ace frame is an open mould design. Ritte’s designer, Spencer Canon said: “Fact is, no Ritte frames are open mold.”

He adds: “Since the original Bosberg, the Vlaanderen, Ace and all our other frames are designed by and unique to us (including the customs we made here in California and the other quality steel and alloy frames we make in Taiwan).

“As for the Ace, it's been in development for several years now. I began the design by first carving the frame out of clay. We're very proud of the Ace and I'm sure any of you who get a chance to see and ride it in person, we'll see why we feel that way.”

The Ritte Ace is currently only available from Silverfish, the UK distributor for Ritte, as a frameset (frame, fork, seat collar) and costs £1,999. You can choose from six sizes and three colours, the light blue we have here, or a white or black colour option.

There is no complete bike option at this stage, so it’s a case of buying a frame and building it up yourself, or getting your local Ritte dealer to build it for you. This review bike has been built with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset, Easton EC70 handlebars and stem, Ritte’s own carbon seatpost and Easton EA70 SL wheels, with Onza Preda 23mm tyres. It weighs 7.4kg (16.31lb)

More at www.silverfish-uk.com and http://rittecycles.com