Framebuilders are obsessed with being as precise as possible. How straight is it? How long is it? Wait – one of those questions is more frequently asked than the other. Strange lot, us. But when it comes to metrology, few things separate the men from the boys like an exact measurement.

Each of us approaches the bench with different experiences, goals, and skill sets. And there’s no replacement for good tools. With my background of starting in London at a typical Dickensian-ish shop that had the barest of basics, it was imperative that I find a way to hone my intuition, my senses, muscle memory, and all traits that help a man make something better when there’s no way to check . I’ve found that if you ask ten framebuilders about the linearity of their work, you’ll get twelve answers, and two of them will need a mediator to determine wtf they were saying.

In my trade, speaking in the abstract is an art form as well as a defense mechanism. That’s why I say, “You can’t measure what you don’t see.” At Richard Sachs Cycles, I am the precision tool.