Ritchey Serial Numbers
Serial number can be helpful in identifying information about a frame.
The information (potentially) included is the production year, size, and model. Unfortunately, the
serial numbers for Ritchey made frames does not appear to have been well documented. By
collecting the information that we do know, we can begin to fill in some of the blanks.
Many different serial number schemes have been used over the years,
depending on the year and model. The following information presents an overview on how to interpret
serial number information, and the bike listing page cane be used to further identify frames.
The most common serial number scheme on early frames follow one of two conventions:
Example Serial Number: 1B227
Frame Size
or
Year of Frame | Frame Type | Build Order |
| 1 | B | 227 |
The first one (or two) characters in the serial number, "frame size" or "year of frame,"
varies by frame type. In the example above, the "1" might mean that the frame is a size
"21 inch" frame or that it was built in "1981." Although having two similar schemes can cause some identification problems,
the frame's age can usually be determined based on components and frame details. In cases where two numbers
appear at the start of the sequence, the numbers seem to invariably be the frame size.
The second (or third) character describes the frame type. Below is a table of known frame types.
This information is not fact, only my best guess given the limited data.
| Frame Type | Examples | Frame Notes | First Digit Represents ... |
| A | Ascent (?) | | year of frame(?) |
| B, C | Timber Comp | u-brake posts under the chain-stays (some models) | frame size |
| Timber Wolf | cantilever posts |
| H | ?? | | ?? |
| P | P series bikes | available as fillet brazed or tig | frame size |
| R | Ritchey (?) | early bikes | year of frame |
| U | Ultra | not all Ultras follow this scheme | frame size(?) |
| Note: Frames with two numbers listed prior to the "frame type" do not follow this scheme. "A" and "C" frames exist, and it's not clear what distinguishes the two. |
The last set of characters reflect the build order of the frame. In the example
serial number (1B227) the frame was the 227th "B" frame built, or the 227th frame built
in 1981 (although I know that as a "B" frame, the "1" refers to the size). The lower this number, the
earlier the bike was built in the model run.
Other serial number patterns exist that do not follow either of the schemes detailed above.
Super Comps and early "P Series" frames appear to be numbered consecutively with no
information contained in the serial number. The lower the number the earlier the build date.
Aspens and early Ultra frames have a similar serial number scheme, "lnlnnnn."
However, I'm not sure how to decipher these, other than the final numbers are most likely build order.
Several early frames have more unique numbers: 2PD, SC11, etc. As more of these
frames are identified a pattern may emerge.
As more serial numbers come in I'll try to draw more conclusions. View the
bike listing for a list of serial numbers of bikes.
| 
