Richard Sachs Cycles

[rosss]

I live here and will indeed have a beer with you, and then the next ones on me

look forward to meetin ya in the flesh ... in austin, maybe?
a cold beer & bbq --- on me & in yo...

ronnie

[jim d]

thanks for that answer richard. you touched on the stuff i was thinking of like people moving, changing contact info, etc.
smoked out is good stuff.
j

if they sent in details at the front end, i revisit them when the order comes up in the queue. if all i have is a place holder and a signature, then i'd likely contact the client a month or two before the slot comes up. some send in an encyclopedia's worth of information and continue to do so from the very front end, while others simply say (imply) get back to me when the time is right. in all fairness, the information is only relevant a moment before i begin cutting metal. otherwise it adds to the signal to noise overload that come with the job. ps all emails are saved, and all client's addresses are dumped into a bcc field that i use for periodic broadcasts and updates atmo. it's an amazing world we (now) live in, what with some cats having many email addresses and switching between them, much less foregoing some for others. i could write a book on that alone. some folks move, some change jobs, others divorce, while the normal ratio contains the, er - financially oversubscribed who, when notified, have life's demands in the way, cannot fulfill the obligation, and ask to be put on hold. lord knows i have had my own distractions this past year and a half. yeah. it could be a tell all from all points of view, including the client's atmo. but my lips are sealed.

[r_mutt]

e-richie-

have you ever been to ess-a-bagel on 21st and 1st? do you think it's the quintessential ny bagel?

what percentage of your customers ask the classic sachs red/white painted frame?

cheers-

[e-RICHIE]

e-richie-

have you ever been to ess-a-bagel on 21st and 1st? do you think it's the quintessential ny bagel?

what percentage of your customers ask the classic sachs red/white painted frame?

cheers-

i used to frequent zooky's down in grammercy (on third avenue iirc) but never ess-a-bagel but i think they are closed.atmo.
about 1-2 frames a year are not the typical rs 'cross team red/white paint job.

[syntax22]

any long-term plans, or will you continue to make richard sachs steel frames until you retire?

Folks will laugh, but the truth is I have very little ambition. I got into this framebuilding gig by complete serendipity. I was unprepared for the task. When Peter and I were asked to make Witcomb USA frames in Connecticut because the family in London was unable to supply our boss with product, I felt unprepared for the task. When I got fed up with my boss and set up my business in late 1975, I was unprepared for the task. Before too long, I was taking orders and making bicycles and never, ever felt as if I had the complete and proper training. So much of what I do is seat of the pants and intuitive. I’ve never seen anyone else make frames from end to end since I left England in 1973. And by the time I got up a head of steam as a commercial framebuilder, nothing – not a single task – resembled what I saw or did abroad. I am routinely confounded by the process. The lack of confidence or the deeply rooted feeling that, since I am self-taught, something is missing – this is an emotion that envelopes every working day I have and every frame I build. Because of this simple fact that I am never completely content with what passes as a finished bicycle, I continue to come in every Monday to see if I can redeem myself for all my past gaffes, miscues, and blunders. It sounds so drama queen-esque typing out these words, but this is how I feel. If it ever changes, maybe the word “retire” can be used in a sentence. For now, I have 7 years worth of work in which to see if I can possibly get it nailed.

If you lived your life over again, would it be frame building or some other endeavor? No need to answer if it's too personal. I tend to be a reflective, introspective type!

[e-RICHIE]

If you lived your life over again, would it be frame building or some other endeavor? No need to answer if it's too personal. I tend to be a reflective, introspective type!

i would live this life over in spades atmo but only if it began on the same day.

[54ny77]

Ess-a-open, sir.

Welcome to Ess-a-Bagel Online

They make a decent steamed bagel.

i used to frequent zooky's down in grammercy (on third avenue iirc) but never ess-a-bagel but i think they are closed.atmo.
about 1-2 frames a year are not the typical rs 'cross team red/white paint job.

[e-RICHIE]

saturday afternoon lights atmo -

[grscha]

atmo-san,

I read somewhere that your cross bikes are constructed with lighter-weight tubing than your road bikes. Could you comment on that, as well as any other non obvious differences between the road and cross bikes?

Domo.

[e-RICHIE]

atmo-san,

I read somewhere that your cross bikes are constructed with lighter-weight tubing than your road bikes. Could you comment on that, as well as any other non obvious differences between the road and cross bikes?

Domo.

ya for the past 3 seasons i have used the spirit-for-lugs (aka PegoRichie) tube sets in the lighter version. the difference between the team 'cross frames and the road frames i make for paying clients revolves around details and tolerances. i batch build all the sponsorship frames/forks and do not do much finish work, if any at all. they look nice, and folks would look at them and assume some care was taken, so we'll leave it at that. these bicycles are tools; much more so than any road frame i would sell regardless of whether it's even ever raced. since i make then en masse (that's french for in massachusetts) i can cut a few corners along the way, gain some workplace efficiency with a process or six, and work through assembly and sequencing ideas or stumbling blocks i may be having on the road frames i get paid for atmo.

[shanerpvt]

Hey Richie,

Are/have there been clients you have looked forward to or got excited about building a bike for or are you always somewhat removed?

thanks for all of this,

shaner

[e-RICHIE]

Hey Richie,

Are/have there been clients you have looked forward to or got excited about building a bike for or are you always somewhat removed?

thanks for all of this,

shaner

the framebuilding excites me atmo. it's an organic, confounding process atmo. much more so than ever, though i am also more familiar with the nuances with each build. so again, the process excites me; the people are simply the part of the equation that allows the commerce to continue so that i can have something to do. i have made a lot of great and some not so great personal connections from being in business, but i was never driven so much by the client as much as by the framebuilding. i make these for myself, and make them just to make them. period.

[Lionel]

n en masse (that's french for in massachusetts).

Funny guy for sure

[e-RICHIE]

I didn’t know it at the time, but my first bicycle came in the waning years of a sort of revolution. Over the decade The Beatles played together – from 1960 to 1970 –the American bike market grew slowly from 3.7 million bicycles sold annually to 6.9 million. But three years after the group’s breakup, the world was a different place. Credit the oil crisis or a cultural shift, in 1973 Americans bought 15.2 million bicycles, and sales were only growing. England produced some of the best examples and so, for reasons of business-minded optimism, wanderlust, or perhaps ennui, a handful of young Americans crossed the Atlantic to learn the trade of frame building

read the rest here atmo.

[e-RICHIE]

this is awesome atmo -

brian and chris at circle a restored an old RS frame from 1978/1979 or so.
it's the 602nd RS branded frame made.

here, look: AutoViewer : Greg's Richard Sachs repaint

i also mined these pics:

[krooj]

Don't know if this has been asked, but what became of the first 5 frames you built under your own name?

[Terry D]

I had a mid to late 70s Masi GC, from California, in that color blue.
Sweet!

[MarkC]

Blue is the new red...







Richard - when you are bored and feel like typing. Is there a time line when you switched from the solid "RS" on the fork crown to the double lined "RS" as on the bike you pictured?

[e-RICHIE]

Don't know if this has been asked, but what became of the first 5 frames you built under your own name?

here's a scan of notebook one - i found two of these because iirc i started it over when i realized composition books would last longer than spiral bound pads. at some point i must have transcribed all of it over. the notes show the specs of the first-ever RS frames as they were then recorded. number 85 was the first one sold for money. the first 10 were on display at the 1976 international cycle show held that february at the coliseum on columbus circle. frame number 105 (the tenth frame...) was a track frame, shown unpainted so folks could ogle the brazing and filing, was stolen one night while we were there. i dunno/remember who recycle is but it's the name of the shop that bought the first frame a season or two after i used it racing. lmk if you have any questions.

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[DCT]

richard

how has the move from chester -> warwick affected your business? (forgive me you answered this in the other 16pages of text)

d