San Francisco Bay Cruiser

The Mount Tam was the most economical model available in 1983 from Ritchey. The frameset was similar to the higher-end Everest, but had less machining done on the head tube, and less finishing work done at the seat cluster area. Also, the frame came with a lower quality fork, or at least one that took less work to build. However, this particular frame ended up with a WTB-built Type-I fork. I'm unsure if the fork is original to the frame, or a later upgrade.

This frame has the less-common "Ritchey Mountain Bikes" decals that were used on some 1982-3 frames. At the same time as these decals were being used, the more common Ritchey decals were also being used. I'm not sure if there was any rational behind which frames received which decals.

In effort to offer a less costly frame, Tom Ritchey introduced three lower end models in 1982, and designated the frame the "Mountain Bikes II" frame. In '83 the frameset was continued but the three models were reduced to one: the Mount Tam, which was named after Mount Tamalpias (the highest mountain in Marin County, California). Over the following two years, the frameset was replaced in the Ritchey line-up by the Timber Wolf and Timber Comp frames. The Mount Tam followed Gary Fisher to his new company when he, Tom Ritchey, and Charlie Kelly parted ways in late 1983.

I received the frameset and some of the components from a guy in Santa Cruz. I built it with components that were approximately correct for the bike. It's a light duty coffee getter mostly, but a very cool bike for cruising around town.

-el (7/30/07)