Frame Ritchey Swiss Cross

Many Ritchey-sponsored mountain bike champions were also cyclocross champions—Thomas Frischknecht, Henrik Djernis and Ruthie Matthes, to name a few. And though they were paid to race Ritchey mountain bikes, they often wanted a Ritchey cyclocross bike to race in the winter.

This ultimately resulted in another iconic Ritchey model—the SwissCross. And for 2012 the SwissCross is back, and better than ever.

We started with the same forged-and-machined integrated head tube design found on the P-29er—80 grams lighter than a standard 1 1/8" head tube and just as strong—a design which also provides much-needed shouldering room at the head tube.

Tubing is an all-new triple-butted, heat treated steel designed to Tom's specifications for a classically lightweight, compliant yet tough-as-nails frame. Geometry has been updated to reflect what cross riders want: race-ready handling and responsiveness that's still versatile enough to serve as a capable all-around rough road/trail bike.

Tire clearance? Plenty. The SwissCross is designed with cross racing in mind, after all. But with two bottle cage mounts, the SwissCross is perfect for long mixed rides in the off-season.