Better known for its works creating some rather lightweight steel tubed frames, Ritchey isn’t a name that shuns carbon altogether, having utilised the material for its forks and some frames. Named after the Septimer Pass between Switzerland and Italy, the Septimer Break-Away comes built with a carbon frame, and it’s built for ultimate versatility.
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Claiming to ‘represent the highest level of bicycle design,’ the Ritchey Septimer Break-Away benefits from the heft of the brand’s 40 years in bike building. With the brand being renowned for its steel frames, the carbon frame present here isn’t without a glimmer of steel goodness.
As its name suggests, the Septimer Break-Away uses Ritchey’s Break-Away system that allows the bike to be quickly disassembled and fit into its own travel case. This is where that steel comes in, as that’s what the Break-Away joints are made of, and Tom Ritchey himself reckons that “they are pretty much indestructible”.
Speaking of durability, we’re told that the Septimer is capable enough to be loaded with bags, carry a lot of weight, and provide wide tyre clearances, which are now part and parcel of modern gravel.
Available as a frameset only, it comes sorted with Ritchey’s WCS carbon fibre fork, and it can be built with either 1x or 2x drivetrains. As for that tyre clearance, the Septimer promises space for up to 700x48c tyres and the bike is built to use flat mount brakes with rotors of up to 160mm.
In the interest of big distance riding and ease of maintenance, there’s external routing for the brakes and stealth wire routing for Di2 groupsets. Ritchey then claims that the frame weighs 1,360g in a large size, and the fork should weigh 4404g.
Moving onto the geometry and a large frame benefits from a 400mm reach, a 73.5-degree seat tube angle, a 71.5-degree head tube angle, and a 440mm chainstay.
As mentioned before, the Ritchey Septimer Break-Away is available as a frame and fork only, and it’ll set you back £2,958. It can then be picked up in either black or white colours… Or shades.
