Ritchey Outback tire clearance

Apologies for reviving an old thread. Just thought I'd give a quick update. I have built up a 50th edition Outback which I am really happy with. Love it in every way EXCEPT I can't run my fave tires. IMHO the rear absolutely cannot fit 48mm safely. I wanted to run Hutchinson Tundras on DT Swiss 24mm internal hooked rims and they measure up 47mm. I thought there'd be no issue but there is absolutely no way I would run this at the rear. Front fine. Personally I think it's a real shame. We've got such LOOOONG stays so I really don't why they couldn't easily design the frame for that clearance. But hey, who am I to question the master Tom Ritchey! :-) Forks I'd say run 48mm no problems, but be aware, the rear probably hits the limit around 45. Anyway, just my personal opinion. If it never rains where you are then by all means!

I had this problem when mounting American Classic Kimberlites on my Outback. They were nominally 700x50 but a bit undersized (48mm on my caliper) so it worked for me. Some muddy rides wore some paint off. Looking closely at the chain stay dimples, I don't see why Ritchey couldn't have extended them a bit towards the BB, to give 700c wheels the same clearance as 650b (650x2.0" according to their website).

love that blue fade btw

Exactly! It makes me believe that the frame was really designed for 650b first and 700c second. As a test, I tried my wife's 650b wheels with a 2.1 tire, and it's bang in the middle of the dimples/shaping. I can't see how moving slightly forward would affect frame integrity at all. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this frame but I kinda feel like it's a missed opportunity. In every other way the bike is so capable... but the (lack of) tire clearance really limits its potential. 45mm 'knobbies' seems such a standard for gravel/adventure bikes. Shrug.