Tara’s Ritchey Garden City
I couldn’t resist and built the Ritchey x Blue Lug 20th Anniversary Garden City for myself! I had already decided to get this bike around a year ago, when the talk started about this bike. The paint scheme wasn’t even locked in at the time.
You could probably tell how happy I am!
I am 168cm/5ft5 tall with a saddle height of 67cm 26.38″ and chose the small frame size.
If you’d like to learn more about this bike, please go check out Digi’s blog.
Shall we get into the bike check?
I got a few parts from my colleges and bought a few parts that I’ve always wanted to build up this bike.
The wheel sets were gifted by my boss, Mat.
They are *PHIL WOOD* low flange track hub with Old Mavic Open Pro rims.
The name of the bike “Garden City” is from the name of a track team in San Jose CA, that Fergus joined early on in his life, called “Garden City Wheelmen”. This is why I wanted to use the hubs by Phil Wood & Co. who are based in San Jose.
For the drivetrain, I used the Sram Omnium that I have traded in for a different component and chose the Sugino chainring with Phil Wood cogs. The gear ration is 47x17T, which would be 2.76.
I used the *MKS*の sylvan track next, *MASH* nylon double toe clips and *MKS* fit-α sports 2-buckle strap that I’ve been using before I joined Blue Lug. I recommend nyon toe clips, since they are harder to break.
Here’s a shot of the mock up…
I really love Fergus’s set up, so I wanted to copy his bike, but I couldn’t get a proper ride position with the bars, so I gave up…
Instead, I went with the *RITCHEY* classic flat 10 bar. The width comes in 660mm, but I cut them down to 630mm. The stem is the *RITCHEY* comp 4axis 44 stem, with a different faceplate from another Ritchey stem. *CAMPAGNOLO* chorus brake set, a beautiful set of brake calipers with a cool hollowed out detail.
I bought these fresh *PAUL* canti lever short reach levers. It’s always fun to get parts that I’ve always wanted. Especially for single speeds, they’re very few parts to use, so I feel like it’s easier to feel the difference when swapping out parts.
*RITCHEY* wcs streem saddle with *THOMSON* elite seatpost, a nice combination that makes the bike look sharp.
By the way, my serial number of the frame was No.75. I’m really excited to see which number you guys will get.
https://youtube.com/shorts/q7ymHoUmyjY?si=MyS9yUOvMbsx2ZZU
Here’s a short edit of Wentz and I riding Tokyo! (Wentz’s Hunter is so cool!)
Here are my impressions of the Garden City…
①Lightweight and very responsive
②Comfortable (despite being a track bike)
③Feels great to maintain speed.
For a person who also rides the Road Logic from Ritchey, it was easy to get use to the feel of this bike. I think it’s a great bike that you can spend miles and miles on and ride daily easily.
I’m so excited for the in store release, scheduled on June 26th (Fri) at 12pm. They’ll be live online from the 29th (Mon) at 7:00pm. Sorry to keep you waiting and thank you for your patients!
You can test out or see my bike in person at the Yoyogi-park store, so come on over if you’re in town!
See you at the shop!
