Ritchey Saddles

The genius of Tom Ritchey takes place in two forms. One is that he is able to look freshly at how things have been done in the cycling world and arrive at a way to reduce weight or make improvements. His other is ability to extract quality work from manufacturing companies that hadn't been known for particularly good work before. The Ritchey Logic Racing Saddle, made in Taiwan by Viscount, brings these elements together. It begins as a nylon base with depressions molded into the shell to accept more padding where the pelvic bones come most in contact with the seat. Over the shell, molded high density foam padding is glued. The padding extends from the tail to the tip and comes to a feather edge down the side of the saddle. It's then covered in a smooth Black or White sheepskin leather which is cemented to the sides as well as the bottom backside of the lip. The "Logic" part of the Racing Saddle is in how he has chosen to reduce the weight. The rear rail receivers (the blocks of molded nylon that the rail fit into) are made hollow on the underside and at their rear. The other reduction is accomplished by using a shorter rails system. The rails are made of spring steel, (painted Black), with the return curve at the front, but it is set farther toward the tail, in fact 2 3/8" from the tip. Neither of these steps compromise the integrity of the saddle, in fact there is a web of structural reinforcement added in front of the return curve bridge to assist it's rigidity. Available only in Black which weighs 316 grams.

Color-BK-W $ Price in Catalog

Ritchey saddle design extends to a Titanium railed model, made in Italy by Selle Bassano. The Pro WCS also has the rail return curve placed well back of the nose. The shell is molded of nylon, with two depressions, to allow more padding in the pelvic contact area. The shell has what is described as "medium density" padding, but practically speaking, is considerably denser than inexpensive foam padding. The foam rubber padding is molded to the shape of the shell. It feathers into the shell shape at the lower sides, and butts up to the shell at the top of the tail end. It's covered in smooth surfaced leather, which is cemented in place around the perimeter, and is then rolled up beneath, and glued under the lip of the shell. The rear rail receivers are molded so they raise off and away from the shell bottom. These raised blocks reduce the blocks dimension and weight, while providing additional shell spring, and comfort. The front rail return curve occurs 2 1/2" from the tip of the saddle, and is housed in a nylon bridge as a part of the shell that firmly joins both sides to the top shell. The extended nose area ahead of the return curve has three nylon ribs to reinforce what would otherwise be an unsupported area in the saddle nose. The rails are made of a single piece of solid Titanium 6Al-4V rod. The Logic Pro WCS is available in Black, in a racing style only and and weighs 227 grams.

Color-BK $ Price in Catalog

The Pro WCS saddle is also available as a "Comp" model using a steel, rather than a Titanium rail assembly. A Black painted spring steel rail assembly is used with the rest of the saddle identical to the Pro WCS model. The Logic Comp, (because it has merely a different rail assembly), is available in Black or a Pearl White, in a racing style only. The Black Comp saddle weighed 227.5 grams.

Color-BK-W $ Price in Catalog