The Break-Away

Mountain Bike Racing at a competitive level requires one ingredient more than any other - training. Spending hundreds of hours and miles in the saddle 4 to 6 days a week throughout the year is a serious time commitment. With a job that takes me away from home every time I go to work I've had to get creative to find ways to both work and train. In the spring, fall, and summer I can ride to work. When that hasn’t been practical I've stashed a bike in the airport to take with me on my trips or rented a bike if I had a long layover with a bike shop. In the past few years I've resorted to the latter option since the destinations I travel to have become more random. This year I have a new option, the Ritchey Break-Away.

The Ritchey Break-Away breaks down into two pieces, splitting at the bottom of the down tube and the top of the seat tube. It packs into a custom designed case which is 9” x 26” x 29”, meeting most airlines maximum size dimensions for normal luggage. The steel version is hand built of Cro/moly butted steel tubing with a carbon fork. It's spec’ed with a mix of Richey WCS and Ritchey Pro components and Shimano Ultegra 10 Speed brakes and drivetrain.

My friend Levi had a Break-Away for a few years, but upgraded to a full carbon road bike this winter. This left the Break-Away in need of home, to which I was happy to oblige. Seems like my basement is becoming a rescue home for bikes that need a home! The Break-Away arrived last Tuesday, just in time for the trip to Florida Jo and I had planned. I missed the FedEx truck that morning and had to pick it up at the deliver center. I was driving the M Coupe that day and gambled that it would fit in the hatch. It fit with room to spare!

Back at home I opened up the case and meticulously assembled the bike. In the top half of the case the two halves of the frame rest on top of each other while the wheels reside underneath, separated by a divider.

With the bike together it was time to fit it to me based on my Litespeed road bike. When I first started having knee problems I got a three dimensional bike fit from cycling specialist Dr. Andy Pruitt. I've tweaked the fit a little over the years, but it is basically the same. Since the fit was on the Litespeed it is the baseline I use for all of my bikes. I could tell immediately that the stem was too long and soon found out that the seat post was too short. It was 11:00 pm and we were leaving for the airport at 4:30am so I just tried to get it as close as possible. I could live with the stem for a couple rides, but I'd have to find a seat post in Florida.

Comparing the Fit

It took me a solid hour to break the bike back down and pack it into the case. That combined with packing my regular bag and taking a shower put me in bed around 2:30am. The tone of my alarm pierced my deep sleep a mere three hours later. Packed with shoes, pedals, and tools the case was still well under the airline's 50lb weight limit. It has wheels and a Velcro handle that made it easy to cart around the airport. When I checked it in at the ticket counter the agent didn't bat an eye. Beautiful!

After a connection in Atlanta we landed in Sarasota, Florida. The case was slightly scuffed, but intact and the bike was not damaged. After greetings with Jo's parents, Pat and Alan, we headed south to Port Charlotte. This was the best time to find a longer seat post. Jo and I must have called at least a dozen bike shops along our route until we found one that had a seat post that would work. I needed a longer post than normal because of the design of the Break-Away. The upper joint consists of the top tube and seat tube clamping to the seat post. Since the seat post holds it all together I wanted one long enough to give me the proper ride height and still have enough meat in the frame for a secure joint connection. I found one at Village Bikes in South Sarasota. It was perfect, nothing too fancy or expensive.

The New Seat Post is on the Right

After a nice lunch with Pat and Alan we finished the drive to their house. Later that night when Jo and I assembled the bikes (I FedEx'ed Jo's earlier in the week) the Break-Away came together in half the time it took me the night before. The seat post fit great, but I had to improvise and use Neosporin as grease because regular bike grease is flammable and could be considered HAZMAT by the airlines. I took a test ride and immediately felt too stretched out on the bike. The seat height was right, but the stem was too long. The 130mm stem was mounted with zero rise so I flipped it which gives 5 degrees of rise. The rise felt much better, but I'm going to swap it out with a shorter stem back in Colorado. With the bikes assembled Jo and I enjoyed a nice dinner and evening with her parents. When we went to bed it was still 60 degrees, Florida would be a perfect testing ground for the new bike.

Assembling

The next day Jo and I woke up to a breaking overcast and 75 degrees. After breakfast we kitted up and headed out. It felt a little odd to ride in just a sleeveless jersey and shorts. I haven't left my house yet this year with less than three layers in Colorado. Pat told us there was an alligator sunning himself in the lagoon on the way out. I grabbed my camera and we rode towards the entrance to their neighborhood. Sure enough when we rode by the lagoon there was an 8 foot alligator floating just abovet the surface. I got Jo to ride by it for a shot.

The Bikes Assembled

Ready to Ride

Local Wildlife

We left the neighborhood and turned left on HWY 776. We weren't sure how biker friendly the drivers would be in Florida. There are so many people from different parts of the country with different driving styles that it was hard to predict how people would drive. Some were aggressive, some were agonizingly slow, there was no consistency. Lucky for us 776 had a displaced sidewalk that extended for miles. We took the sidewalk for the safety and good views of the roadside swamps it offered.

The Sidewalk

More Local Wildlife

29 MPH??

The Break-Away offered a good ride. The steel frame was stiff, but compliment over bumps with absolutely no flex at the joints. It felt like a normal road bike. The Ultegra 10 speed shifting was crisp and accurate and the brakes were powerful, but easy to modulate. My only complaint was the Ritchey hubs which had noticeable drag compared to the Mavic hubs on my Litespeed. The wheels take a beating when the Break-Away is packed in the case and are easily knocked out of true, so I'm going not going to upgrade them. Besides, it's a training bike, so a little hub drag will only make me stronger.

After a mile or two we passed a bike shop and stopped for some tips on where to ride. The sole employee there was super friendly and drew us a map of a training ride the shop riders do. It was through rarely traveled, undeveloped residential roads. It wasn't a very scenic ride, but that was made for by the lack of vehicle traffic.

Drawing Out a Map for Us

No Shoulder, but No Cars

We were in Florida to visit Pat and Alan so we only rode for about 1:20 totalling 24 miles. The F in Florida stands for "flat". The highest grade we encountered was 1% and we only climbed 98 feet over the entire ride. Being at sea level we easily found ourselves cruising along at over 20mph without even trying. I've only ridden it a few times, but I can tell the Break-Away is going to be a great bike. The ease and cost of getting it to Florida were surprises in addition to being able to get a tan on a training ride in February.