Richard Sachs Cycles

[ron l edmiston]

mothers --- the cornerstone...
a smiling face always in the right place..

really enjoyed -- thank you for sharing ...

ronnie

[e-RICHIE]

The Artisans section will give peloton readers a look into the lives and art of frame builders. Their stories, or versions
of them, will also be featured in the print issue of peloton. Our first interview, in two parts, features Richard Sachs.

read the rest here and here atmo.

the interview contained in the above two links continues in print atmo -

[Lionel]

Cool, nice picture of my frame ;)

[e-RICHIE]

sachs versus sachs atmo -

[WayneJ]

sachs versus sachs atmo -

The red bike should be fitted with Ardbeg bottles

[e-RICHIE]

i shot my ghetto this a.m. and loaded some images on to a flickr set atmo.
here are some teasers -

[DCT]

where are all the harpoon ipa empties atmo?

[datas_brother]

Congratulations! First on the list!

Bike Europe - News: First Brands Receive UCI Label Frames and Forks

[Dornbox]

I love reading your scribe! Nice piece. -Chris

[e-RICHIE]

there are reasons i work alone, and in silence. and with the not so recent move to franklin county, they have become more apparent than ever before. my life has always been in transition even if the work i do appears to have a consistent theme and aesthetic. i have read where folks say what i do hasn't changed much and, even when the work is commended, i question and disagree with their premise. i have never made the same bicycle twice, nor would i care to. but this is less about the bicycles i make and more about paying attention. the net has made it very easy to send out messages and opinions. like so many others, i have been caught in it too. i have always been self-absorbed and focused on my work, what drives me, and the results that i am looking for. watching and reading as life is played out online can be like candy for a diabetic. it's all there to search for, and a lot of it is served up with no need to look at all. you only need to be online, and the rest can find you, end up in a thread you're reading, or as a message sent via facebook, through forum software, via email, or similar. with all of these distractions, being alone becomes work.

whatever ease i tiptoed through life with up until that fateful day my first dell inspiron arrived is now a memory. filters are needed where none existed before. i think about actions and words (as well as alliances) now because everything is cached. for as much benefit as my business has received in the internet era, there has also been a toll to pay for becoming part of its cast of characters.

when i transitioned from chester to warwick, it was all part of a plan to simplify life and also to live it more fully. the move itself was more of an ordeal than i could imagine. forgetting about real estate agents, lawyers, lenders, and potential buyers for a moment, the very task of taking 35+ years worth of yourself from one place and dropping it off in another place is one which still is being carried out to this day. if there's a way to load stuff on a truck on friday, move it over the weekend, and resume life on monday, i certainly missed the memo. we arrived in autumn of 2009. i waited until mid winter of 2010 for the zoning permits, the architect's plans, and the contractors to all come and go so i could finally have studio space all to myself. that alone is five months i'll never have back.

i often joke that i left attitude for solitude. and, for a brief moment last spring i was actually working again, in silence, on a regular basis. by summer though, i learned about life, lemons, and lemonade, and have had to develop new filters for things that weren't planned for. since then, and for another moment - however long a moment stretches - i live within these parameters. as winter comes to an end and the ice on the pond here melts, it's a good time reflect on the pace of things and know - or should i say, realize - that it all happens for a reason. after almost two years on a dead end, dirt road with almost no personal interaction unless we go down the mountain, i see this transition as being nearly complete. whatever comes next, believe me, i'll be better prepared.

there's a reason i work alone. it suits me. i prefer to stay within my own boundaries rather than widen them and compromise by working with and for others. whenever i let anyone or anything into my cocoon-like existence, i feel like i am giving up a part of myself for them or whatever problems we are collectively trying to solve. it may work for others, but it's not how i am wired. the concept may have merit, but in practice it loses all appeal. for all the half-baked attempts as well as genuinely honest efforts made to work in collaboration, behind the scenes, in private forums, on closed cc field email strings, and in dark corners of the internet, i knew all along that working alone is its best reward. to do good work, and to do it without seeking the affirmation of anyone else, is a gift you give to yourself. i lit a few matches along the way, and i burned some too.

march has been a long month for me. i have spent less than four days at home since NAHBS. this is the weekend i go through all the mail, open all the cartons left on the porch, pay some bills, prepare to ship some long overdue parcels to clients in waiting, and also fantasize about getting to that place where i can say - finally - i have a routine again. there's no better feeling than that of being impenetrable; to be able to take what you want from the world and give a big eff to whatever else would only be excess baggage anyway. the latter is my way of describing noise, and also why i work better in silence. trading attitude for solitude...

[Craig Ryan]

Welcome home.

[ron l edmiston]

my favorate life reading ---

"walden pond" david henry thoreau
"hastings pond" richard sachs

coincidental ...

ronnie

[Len J]

Richie:

Great thread and great idea for this Smoked out.

When I came up for my fitting, you mentioned that ery few customers made the trip to (then) Chester..............Hae you been surprised by that?

You also talked about making each frame a little better than the last.........Have you ever had a frame you thought was as close to perfect as you could get? What hapened to that frame?

Say hi to Deb for me.

Len

[e-RICHIE]

there are reasons i work alone, and in silence. and with the not so recent move to franklin county, they have become more apparent than ever before. my life has always been in transition even if the work i do appears to have a consistent theme and aesthetic. i have read where folks say what i do hasn't changed much and, even when the work is commended, i question and disagree with their premise. i have never made the same bicycle twice, nor would i care to. but this is less about the bicycles i make and more about paying attention. the net has made it very easy to send out messages and opinions. like so many others, i have been caught in it too. i have always been self-absorbed and focused on my work, what drives me, and the results that i am looking for. watching and reading as life is played out online can be like candy for a diabetic. it's all there to search for, and a lot of it is served up with no need to look at all. you only need to be online, and the rest can find you, end up in a thread you're reading, or as a message sent via facebook, through forum software, via email, or similar. with all of these distractions, being alone becomes work.

whatever ease i tiptoed through life with up until that fateful day my first dell inspiron arrived is now a memory. filters are needed where none existed before. i think about actions and words (as well as alliances) now because everything is cached. for as much benefit as my business has received in the internet era, there has also been a toll to pay for becoming part of its cast of characters.

when i transitioned from chester to warwick, it was all part of a plan to simplify life and also to live it more fully. the move itself was more of an ordeal than i could imagine. forgetting about real estate agents, lawyers, lenders, and potential buyers for a moment, the very task of taking 35+ years worth of yourself from one place and dropping it off in another place is one which still is being carried out to this day. if there's a way to load stuff on a truck on friday, move it over the weekend, and resume life on monday, i certainly missed the memo. we arrived in autumn of 2009. i waited until mid winter of 2010 for the zoning permits, the architect's plans, and the contractors to all come and go so i could finally have studio space all to myself. that alone is five months i'll never have back.

i often joke that i left attitude for solitude. and, for a brief moment last spring i was actually working again, in silence, on a regular basis. by summer though, i learned about life, lemons, and lemonade, and have had to develop new filters for things that weren't planned for. since then, and for another moment - however long a moment stretches - i live within these parameters. as winter comes to an end and the ice on the pond here melts, it's a good time reflect on the pace of things and know - or should i say, realize - that it all happens for a reason. after almost two years on a dead end, dirt road with almost no personal interaction unless we go down the mountain, i see this transition as being nearly complete. whatever comes next, believe me, i'll be better prepared.

there's a reason i work alone. it suits me. i prefer to stay within my own boundaries rather than widen them and compromise by working with and for others. whenever i let anyone or anything into my cocoon-like existence, i feel like i am giving up a part of myself for them or whatever problems we are collectively trying to solve. it may work for others, but it's not how i am wired. the concept may have merit, but in practice it loses all appeal. for all the half-baked attempts as well as genuinely honest efforts made to work in collaboration, behind the scenes, in private forums, on closed cc field email strings, and in dark corners of the internet, i knew all along that working alone is its best reward. to do good work, and to do it without seeking the affirmation of anyone else, is a gift you give to yourself. i lit a few matches along the way, and i burned some too.

march has been a long month for me. i have spent less than four days at home since NAHBS. this is the weekend i go through all the mail, open all the cartons left on the porch, pay some bills, prepare to ship some long overdue parcels to clients in waiting, and also fantasize about getting to that place where i can say - finally - i have a routine again. there's no better feeling than that of being impenetrable; to be able to take what you want from the world and give a big eff to whatever else would only be excess baggage anyway. the latter is my way of describing noise, and also why i work better in silence. trading attitude for solitude...

Richie:

Great thread and great idea for this Smoked out.

thanks, len. great to see you here atmo.

When I came up for my fitting, you mentioned that ery few customers made the trip to (then) Chester..............Hae you been surprised by that?

not realy. i opened the brand in 1975 some thirty feet from where we sat that day and, from the beginning, less than 10 clients a year did the face time thing. the ratio has remained the same.

You also talked about making each frame a little better than the last.........

yes. when that stops, i'll stop. but in reality, the learning curve became a straight line kinda sorta and the moments between the killer epiphanies seem wider apart. that should be expected.

Have you ever had a frame you thought was as close to perfect as you could get?

very, very few. less than a dozen is a good guess.

What hapened to that frame?

they're out there. when i get that close, i wanna make time stop. but my business model requires that i keep going. so after a while, i remember parts of parts of sub-assemblies on certain frames. the rest - well, i try to stay detached so that i can focus on the next one rather than wax nostalgic for what preceded it.

anyway, i am not sure i can answer your question, but i have no problems replying. the ever-reaching for the zero defect frame was once an obsession and the concept drove me for decades. but it's elusive. and so much focus on what boils down to percentages that can hardly be measured, much less felt, also costs. i think that for all the changes, and a-ha moments, and improvements, perceived or real - for all of it, i'm glad that i took that road. in more recent years, i have reconciled with what should have been obvious from day one: no matter what i know, or hard hard i try, or how centered i am on a given day, some frames will always be better than others. it's so simultaneously simple and confounding. the hard part is remembering that you're known for all of the work, not just the best of it, or the latest version.

Say hi to Deb for me.
Len

will do.
thanks atmo.

[Len J]

anyway, i am not sure i can answer your question, but i have no problems replying. the ever-reaching for the zero defect frame was once an obsession and the concept drove me for decades. but it's elusive. and so much focus on what boils down to percentages that can hardly be measured, much less felt, also costs. i think that for all the changes, and a-ha moments, and improvements, perceived or real - for all of it, i'm glad that i took that road. in more recent years, i have reconciled with what should have been obvious from day one: no matter what i know, or hard hard i try, or how centered i am on a given day, some frames will always be better than others. it's so simultaneously simple and confounding. the hard part is remembering that you're known for all of the work, not just the best of it, or the latest version.

will do.
thanks atmo.

I get that......glad you've found peace with it. Your "not sbest" is still pretty damn good. Even now, several years later, it is still a smile giver.

Len

[e-RICHIE]

whenever i don't ride, or lose fitness, i question most everything, especially my self-confidence. since my own racing, my team, and the sport itself are so intertwined with my identity, when seasons end and there's no driving reason to maintain a training schedule, i become someone else. my last event was the national championships this past december. the venue was in bend, oregon since the host city normally retains a bid for a two year period. my 2010 season was okay at best. but in 2009, i was on rails. i won five events, and my season long consistency netted me the top rung on the usac ladder of all age graded racers participating that season. in all, my name was listed above over one thousand others. heck - as a racer i'm okay and all that. on a good day i can get out of my own way and persevere for an hour or so of competition. but to end a season ranked first made all the training and focus worth it. but that was then! i had a hard time remembering all the lessons in the pain cave this past autumn as i struggled for top five finishes. i wanted good results for myself, and for my confidence, but - most of all, i think - i wanted them in order to maintain some level of respectability in public. the team i manage and race with is a high profile one and we're used to being in the spotlight by dint of so many podium finishes every weekend. while my team mates are all in the elite class, i limit my racing to the masters category. but racing is racing, and as long as two people show up, i will have a target and someone to beat up on. while it doesn't always work out that i can be the hammer (rather than the nail), the racing i do each weekend in the fall months helps complete me as a person. yeah - i do try as hard as i can (except for that pathetic effort on day one in new gloucester, maine last october when i stopped pedaling after the first lap...). i ride every race to win, but the truth is, while i felt like king shit in 2009, i had a darned hard time of it last season. when the last race in bend came around i was almost relieved that my 27th start for 2010 would be my last.

i rarely do well in national championship events, an 11th in 2008 being my best so far. maybe it's the long seasons and the traveling. maybe i get intimidated by competing against folks whose names i know from race results but only see in person once each season. despite racing with the same forty to fifty cats all the time here in the east, there's a comfort zone in knowing who you can trust to miss a root, which guys you can lean on in a corner, who hates muddy days, which riders are always going to have a mechanical no matter what, and all things in between. the nats are a different story. it's one race with guys you don't really know, and then you fly home and wait seven months for the entire ordeal to resume. this past december, i was riding the race in bend with half my head someplace else (why did 2009 ever have to end?) and was pleased beyond words when my front tire flatted with a lap to go. alas, no matter how bad i felt, or how good i looked in the race pictures, when the results would be published i knew i had an excuse to use to explain away my miserable finish.

the race ended. i rode straight through the finish line and to the rental van. i changed out of my racing kit for the last time that season. the bicycles, mud, flat front tire, frayed cables and all, went into roger's trailer for the drive home after the weekend. i wouldn't see them for another three weeks until we would meet at a local post season event and i'd collect them for good. the two racing bicycles made a brief appearance at the NABHS show in february where they served as a cornerstone of my booth's display. then they came back to warwick to rest.

me? i guess i have been resting since that last lap ended. to be honest, maybe i was resting most of the season because i don't have many great race day memories to hang my hat on. in contrast to the year before, 2010 was forgettable, as least as far as my efforts are concerned. no matter how many 70 minute trips i made to the endorphinage (that's code for training) i couldn't get my name on the scoreboard. until six days ago, i hadn't pedaled a bicycle since that fateful day in oregon. with spring here, and my self esteem taking a hit every time i pull on the pants or get near a scale, i started riding again this week. whatever i had is gone, and whatever i was using to do it with has atrophied. the feeling of riding is familiar because it's in my dna, but the feeling of riding like someone so closely tied to the sport is not there.

i won't have a race to enter for another six months. since there's no base in my legs, no muscle tone, and certainly no tan lines, i will question everything. why do we have to do this, or that restaurant is too far to drive to, or i'm too tired - why can't we stay home, yada yada blah blah blah. i don't know when in my life the racing and the fitness became so tethered to my happiness and self-worth, but it certainly gained a level or three during and after my 2009 campaign. i want to be that person forever. i want to spend all week with names and faces in my cross hairs, and then show them all who's boss twice a weekend. until you know that feeling, that of winning (or, at least, being in control) you'll wonder why anyone would care about it at all. for now, with less than five rides in my legs, very little will matter, make me happy, or drive me, until i can get the confidence back.

[Joel Benjamin L]

Your two recent posts made me think of these W.W. lines:

I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end
But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.

[ron l edmiston]

be'n a farmboy --- i learned that if ya want yo purebread top dairy producer to continue:

gota clean the" birth after," delivery end -- to cleanse for with even better / "richer" future production..

honesty and self cleansing -- atmo virtues ..

just a say'n,

ronnie

[WayneJ]

The move to Warwick
One of the team mate has a season-ending injury
Another pulls out last-minute
Only so much Capt'n ATMO can absorb in addition to the normal stress of running a top-caliber team.
Mental freshness is key.
2011 will be better. F-you 2010!

[e-RICHIE]

Atmo reMission Statement

Every bicycle begins with a carefully selected blend of steel tubes: rider and frame-builder working together toward a unity of beauty and functionality. Each frame is built to the customer’s specifications, as well as my high standard of quality. I wouldn't build anything I wouldn't ride. I build bicycle frames because of the unlimited potential of travel, design, lifestyle, craftsmanship and the view from the handlebars. They are all a result of a love affair with the bicycle as a tool for discovery, a vehicle of efficiency and one of the most elegant machines that man has ever made. My goals in frame building are simple good riding bikes. Bicycles are for riding. Each tube is hand-selected for the rider and type of bike being made and then hand mitered and fitted for the perfect weld site. I use time-proven, traditional construction methods, but this does not mean these are old world, heavy non-performance oriented bikes. The frames are pinned together (which is a skill no longer used) brazed in a vice and then filed to give you the handmade bicycle. I use silver to bond my lugs and tubes. Silver has a very low melting temperature. When a steel frame is built with silver, the matrix of the steel is left virtually unchanged and its strength unaffected. The goal at is to create unique bikes that makes your pulse race. A visually simple design is often surprisingly difficult to execute. Every buyer starts out by filling out a comprehensive questionnaire intended give me a general idea of what type of cyclist you are, and uncover any special needs or desires you might have. To create your frameset, I combine the finest modern steel alloy tubing with strong and beautiful lugged joints—producing a stunning, one-of-a-kind frame built just for you. I am the sole builder, so each frame is hand cut and mitered by me. I make each frame with the minimal amount of fixtures. My goal as a builder is simple: it is to deliver an outstanding bicycle that will make you want to get out and ride. Yes, the end product is stunning but the beauty is integral, functional - more than just a shiny head badge. Each frame strikes a balance between weight and stiffness while still keeping that steel ride that is unrivaled. It is my passion to combine traditional methods and materials with a contemporary view towards building bicycles that are above all useful, elegant, and timeless.