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EB16: Ritchey Logic pops up WCS Trail Dropper post, flared VentureMax bar, tires, saddles & more…

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prototype ritchey logic wcs dropper seatpost for mountain bikes

Ritchey recently showed us a few new and updated bikes for tackling gravel roads and adventure riding, but on top of their frames they’re also continuing to roll out a slew of new components. Often some of the most affordable and solidly performing gear out there, we’re really interested to try out their new mountain bike dropper post. The new WCS Trail Dropper seatpost comes in two travel lengths and uses a unique 3-position stepped drop. At the same time Ritchey has introduced a new shaped & flared VentureMax bar that promises drop comfort on your off-road adventures. Plus there is a new tire each for gravel, cross, and plus-sized mountain, as well as a few updated saddles, a new trail wheelset, and even a more affordable pedal. Get a close look at all of it after the jump…

WCS Trail Dropper

ritchey_wcs-trail-dropper-seatpost_3-position-dropper-mountain-bike-post_on-bike

We first saw a prototype of the WCS Trail Dropper back at NAHBS, but now the details are in. The post is available in two diameters 30.9 & 31.6mm, and comes in two travel options 90mm or 125mm. Both of these get a 3-position drop, not infinite adjust like many on the market. Its key feature is supposed to be reliability, with a more simple mechanical internal mechanism, vs. more error-prone hydraulics.

ritchey_wcs-trail-dropper-seatpost_3-position-dropper-mountain-bike-post_head ritchey_wcs-trail-dropper-seatpost_3-position-dropper-mountain-bike-post_positions

The shorter travel 90mm post is XC focus, and steps down 40mm in the first move, then all the way. The 125mm trail post steps down 35mm then fully. The longer first move of the XC post was designed to work more on hardtails where if you are dropping, you likely want a not more at first.

To hit that first position, you have to unweight the saddle, tap the remote and sit down to that first click. It took us a few tries to figure out how to get it there without having to go all the way to the bottom or real past the first stop, but if you put it on your bike, you’ll likely get the hang of it. Already riding other droppers, these 3 positions are a good approximation of how ride even with infinite adjust, so if this makes Ritchey’s dropper lighter, cheaper, or more durable, we say why not?

ritchey_wcs-trail-dropper-seatpost_3-position-dropper-mountain-bike-post_remote ritchey_wcs-trail-dropper-seatpost_3-position-dropper-mountain-bike-post_i-spec-matchmaker

The $350/380€ WCS Trail Dropper gets a two-bolt head, and uses stealth routing only and claims a weight of 417g for the 30.9×90 or 449g for the 30.9×125 without the remote. The all alloy remote lever can work with Shimano or SRAM integrated brake clamps or its own thin bar clamp.

WCS VentureMax

ritchey_wcs-venturemax-bar_flared-ergo-road-gravel-cross-adventure-drop-handlebar_on-bike

The WCS VentureMax handlebar is a an ergonomic bend 7050 aluminum drop bar designed for off-road riding. Designed for adventure, the really wide flared drops are designed to offer more hand positions than most travel bars to better suit the growing off-road adventure touring and bike packing markets.

ritchey_wcs-venturemax-bar_flared-ergo-road-gravel-cross-adventure-drop-handlebar_shape

The bar gets a new style of measuring, based on the width at the first bend where you mount the levers, since width at the drops is so different.

ritchey_wcs-venturemax-bar_flared-ergo-road-gravel-cross-adventure-drop-handlebar_drops-profile

The bar has 6° of sweep on the tops, and a 24° flare in the drops. It comes in 38, 40, 42, 44, & 46cm widths (at the hoods), has 76cm of reach and 102mm of drop. The WCS VentureMax sells for $95/100€ and weighs 275g in the middle 42cm size.

WCS Alpine JB

ritchey_wcs-alipine-jb_jobst-brandt-tribute_cyclocross-gravel-bike-tubeless-tire_sidewall ritchey_wcs-alipine-jb_jobst-brandt-tribute_cyclocross-gravel-bike-tubeless-tire_tread

In an homage to Tom’s mentor Jobst Brandt who died last summer, Ritchey has a new road tire designed to roll as well on road as off, for the kind of riding they did together. The WCS Alpine Jobst Brandt comes in 700c both in 28mm & 35mm widths. The more narrow tire is more for fast-moving road riding and gets a tan sidewall, but the all-black 35 expects to see some rough action so is tubeless-ready at 348g a piece. We saw the tire first in it bigger guise on Ritchey’s new Outback gravel racer.

WCS Megabite

ritchey_wcs-megabite-cross_cyclocross-gravel-bike-tubeless-tire_tread ritchey_wcs-megabite-cross_cyclocross-gravel-bike-tubeless-tire_sidewall

The WCS Megabite Cross reworks the old Mount Cross with lightened knobs in a new dual-compound tread in a new 120tpi tubeless-ready casing. The $50 tire comes in the same as the original big 700 x 38mm sizing.

WCS Z-Max Evolution

ritchey_wcs-z-max-evolution_plus-size-mountain-bike-tubeless-tire_sidewall ritchey_wcs-z-max-evolution_plus-size-mountain-bike-tubeless-tire_tread

The WCS Z-Max Evolution isn’t new, but this plus sized version is. The 650b x73mm tire equates to a big 27.5x.8″ according to Ritchey. At $60/86€ the tubeless-ready tire will go nicely with a set of new…

WCS Trail 40

ritchey_wcs-trail-40_plus-size-aluminum-tubeless-mountain-bike-wheelset_wheel

WCS Trail 40 650b wheels grow their previous rim width by a full 10mm to suit plus-sized tires. The new 27.5+ rim has a 40mm external width and 35mm internal, paired with an offset 24.2mm deep profile.

ritchey_wcs-trail-40_plus-size-aluminum-tubeless-mountain-bike-wheelset_rim-bed ritchey_wcs-trail-40_plus-size-aluminum-tubeless-mountain-bike-wheelset_rim-profile

It uses 5mm of Ritchey’s OCR rim offset for better spoke tension, but even offsets the rim channel to keep the wheel light and easy to set up tubeless. Their two piece hub design lets Ritchey offer the wheels for either Boost or traditional spacing. Both options get 28 DT spokes on both ends and a claimed 1930g weight for the set.

Superlogic Neoclassic

ritchey_superlogic-neoclassic_premium-carbon-road-drop-handlebar

In the continuing quest to shed a few grams at a time (and a lot form your wallet), Ritchey has introduced a new top-end to their short reach, shallow drop round drop road bar. The new Superlogic Neoclassic keeps the same 73mm reach/128mm drop with a classic curve. The UD carbon bar gets a wider clamping area for your bolt-on accessories. It will be available in 40, 42 & 44cm widths, with the middle one claiming a weight of 205g. Pricing is to be $320/345€, which is about a $40/45€ premium over the WCS Carbon version that weighs just 7g more.

Superlogic Streem

ritchey_superlogic-streem-132_premium-carbon-road-saddle

A first for the Streem saddle shape, Ritchey has added a Superlogic level saddle. With a full carbon shell and rails it trims the weight down 10g from the original to 135g. That 10g doesn’t come cheap though; the price climbs to $300.

WCS Carbon Streem

ritchey_wcs-carbon-streem-145_wide-carbon-road-saddle ritchey_wcs-carbon-streem-132_narrow-carbon-road-saddle

New on the WCS Carbon Streem is the addition of width options. The popular saddle now gets the choice of either a wider 145mm width, or the new narrower 132mm. Pricing is the same for either at $160/175€.

WCS Skyline

ritchey_wcs-skyline_womens-road-saddles_top ritchey_wcs-skyline_womens-road-saddles_bottoms

The WCS Skyline saddles are a new ergonomic curved shape with a big perineal relief channel and cutout and 145mm width. At $150/160€ in the carbon version at 245g, it also comes with a regular nylon reinforced shell for just $100/110€ and a weight of 268g, with either white or black perforated synthetic covers for each.

Comp Trail Pedal

ritchey_comp-trail-pedal_large-platform-mountain-bike-clipless-pedal_top ritchey_comp-trail-pedal_large-platform-mountain-bike-clipless-pedal_colors

The Comp Trail Pedal gets the same shape and mechanics as the high end WCS pedal at a lower price and a bit more heft. The 402g pair of Comp level pedals will come in white, red, black, and blue, plus maybe that green.

Some of the new components have already made their way onto Ritchey’s website and into the supply chain, but most everything is slated for availability at the start of 2017.

RitcheyLogic.com

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dirtybird
dirtybird
7 years ago

i like ritchey; they have some cool details. the alpine tire looks rad – im gunna grab a set for commuting

Chris
Chris
7 years ago

I guess copying the Specialized Command Post design that has been around for years and years is considered innovative? Not really sure I’d call that a “unique 3-position design”.

Veganpotter
Veganpotter
7 years ago
Reply to  Chris

Are all the posts without specific stops in drop all copies? It may just be the way it stops. That said, this is nice and light, especially for the price, that alone makes this worth taking a look at.

TheKaiser
TheKaiser
7 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

I agree with Vegan, these seem like a great weight weenie choice for a dropper, plus no hydraulics to deal with out in the field, so they could be a good bike packing choice as well.

Regarding the copying the SPZ Command Post, didn’t SPZ just copy Gravity Dropper anyway, which lead all of these other droppers by 10yrs or thereabouts?

Alphaadam
Alphaadam
7 years ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

Gravity dropper is Made in USA easy to service and probably the least expensive but for performance sake Specialized is much easier to operate and is no longer a 3 position dropper post. Specialized has Top, Bottom, and 10 positions in the middle range so you can find one quick. I spent a lot of time trying to snap into the middle position when it was a 3 position dropper. The 2016 posts are nearly indestructible.

Unless Ritchey has some tricky way to catch that middle position the Specialized Command Post is a much better option for about the same price.

iamkeith
iamkeith
7 years ago
Reply to  TheKaiser

Yeah, that was my first thought too: “Awesome – a dropper with the potential of being as reliable as Gravity, but with stealth routing.” Looks promising. As much as I admire Ritchey though, the constant “we thought of it first” spin they put in all their marketing copy gets tiresome – even when it happens to be based in fact. In this case, the “we’re the first to offer reliability” is particularly obnoxious, in light of what Gravity has been doing for years.

Groghunter
Groghunter
7 years ago
Reply to  Chris

The way they phrased it is tough to parse, but this post lets you hit the middle position without having to float & “find it with your ass.” Specialized doesn’t have that.

Basically, you unweight, tap the remote, & then sit, & the post stops at the middle spot. Having run a couple infinite posts, older command post, the FOX DOSS with their remote, & the DOSS with a remote that doesn’t give you an easy way to find the middle spot, this is actually super appealing to me. I actually switched back from a nicer remote to the ugly FOX one, purely because being able to hit the middle position with less thought was actually super useful. as for infinite posts, they’re alright, but I’d prefer a repeatable middle position to dropping a random amount every time I’m looking for a mid travel spot.

I can ride fine with all these posts, at the end of the day, but it’s similar to the button on the reverb: works fine, but because it’s not in the best spot, I find myself using my dropper differently, & not using it as much. The best dropper experience I’ve had has been non-infinite travel, with a fixed middle position that I could just sit & lock into rather than finding, & this post gives exactly that.

J-dog
J-dog
7 years ago
Reply to  Chris

The honest truth is that there a a population of riders who will go out of their way to never own a specialized product or support them in any way.

blueberrypi
blueberrypi
7 years ago

Anyone tried a Streem saddle? The Vector Wing rail attachment makes perfect sense to me.

.: r|b :.
.: r|b :.
7 years ago
Reply to  blueberrypi

Have used all three of the Vector Evo mono rail saddles. Personally I wouldn’t go back to regular rail saddles. The mono rail has the same light weight as carbon rail saddles but are way more forgiving and flexible. The Streem is good for shorter rides. I prefer the Zero Max for longer rides. The Contrail is okay but I prefer the flatter shape of the Streem or Zero Max. If you want the best make sure you get the WCS version though because I think that Ritchey make all three saddles in non-WCS versions which are heavier. Even though I have both I prefer the looks of the regular $130 Streem over the $300 Superlogic Streem.

The only down side of the Vector Evo system is that you might have to buy a different saddle bag depending on how it attaches to you regular saddle and you can’t use Assavers mud/rain guards.

Chris
Chris
7 years ago

That JB tire looks interesting. Just wish they offered it in an even fatter version and also in a 650b version. The WCS Megabite is cool. I still have some NOW WCS Mt Cross tires.

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

I’m curious about the Alpine JB as well. I typically run something like the Clement LAS or Schwalbe Sammy Slick for light gravel/commuting but these look like they could roll faster and still give good grip in the sketchy, frequently wet conditions in my area. Have there been similar tires to the Alpine before? I haven’t seen anything like them.

.: r|b :.
.: r|b :.
7 years ago

Hope there’s a Vector Evo version. Will be bought the day it comes out. Better not be abandoning your proprietary standard Ritchey! Lol.

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