Richard Sachs Cycles

[Peter Polack]

You should send Peddie a copy of your post, too. It says it all, brief yet eloquent.

[e-RICHIE]

Richard….I’ve always felt privileged and honored to be able to give back and some kid or kids, will surely benefit from your kindness for sure. What’s the significance of the “54”, or am I thinking too much about the number? Was that the year in which you were born, or have you built 5,400 frames and added a 0 for good luck? Please do tell.

This Google search match may help:
https://www.jccmilwaukee.org/judaism...the-number-18/

[rwsaunders]

That’s pretty cool…you learn something every day if you want to.

[NYCfixie]

This Google search match may help:
https://www.jccmilwaukee.org/judaism...the-number-18/

Most would do 1x "Chai", you did a multiples in the thousands.

Chapeau'

[JoB]

This Google search match may help:
https://www.jccmilwaukee.org/judaism...the-number-18/

I had no idea. thank you!

[e-RICHIE]

When I started my label I knew nothing more than I couldn’t be in the same room with others, despite the Witcomb USA years being full of fun. I cherish the memories and experiences just as I do my time at Witcomb Lightweight Cycles in London where all this began as some twisted way to avoid college and get back at The Ski Rack for not hiring me.

By the time my name was on a bicycle the word precision was something I could spell yet wasn’t part of my daily conversation. My routine mirrored what I saw others do. And I expanded on it if for no other reason than I didn’t want to be caught out as a fraud. I made frames. They stayed together. People paid me. All of this happened though I never prayed.

At some point I looked around my studio space. And at the tools I gathered. And probably spent too much time staring at my work in progress. And felt like I was on a fast track to standing still. Essentially a self-taught maker, I needed an injection of affirmation to make me think I had a fighting chance of keeping up with whatever aura I was trying to land in.

The Smith & Bishel Hardware Company in nearby Middletown kept a small display case containing highbrow measuring tools that I drooled over. Not knowing a dial indicator from a height gauge from a vernier caliper, I’d stare through the glass and fixate on the lot, all the time fantasizing over what these devices could add to my repertoire.

I bought this protractor because it was the only thing I could afford without taking a mortgage. It was spendy even still. But it was stamped Starrett. And I knew the brand made inspection grade measuring equipment that had no peers. To own it would (could) mean I’d have a fighting chance at taking a precise measurement.

Over time, and I mean decades not years, I realized that making is about the maker not the tools he swings. My intuition and hand eye coordination helped me so much more than any single device I ever spent money on or obsessed over. Yeah. The alignment tables and fixtures looks swell in the photos. But they don’t make the bicycles. I make them.

All This By Hand

[hampco]

This Google search match may help:
https://www.jccmilwaukee.org/judaism...the-number-18/

Interesting... my karate teacher, Yamakura sensei, says "The Chinese like to name things after numbers", which is probably an oblique reference to Chinese religion. So in karate we have kata that are Chinese-derived and named after the numbers 3, 13, 18, 24, 36, 54, and 108. Most are based on 3s, and 54 - what we call Gojushiho (54 movements or positions) - is 3 x 18; 18 being Seipei and may be be translated as "What a master knows".

Here is a 70 year-old practitioner doing Gojushiho:

[Ras72]

...I realized that making is about the maker not the tools he swings. My intuition and hand eye coordination helped me so much more than any single device I ever spent money on or obsessed over. Yeah. The alignment tables and fixtures looks swell in the photos. But they don’t make the bicycles. I make them.

In my industry (building science) I'm noticing a strong reliance on tools (specialized), devices, gadgetry, etc.
Many of these devices are eliminating skill. Much like autonomous driving will eliminate the skill of driving.
Gone are the days of intuition, hand/eye coordination (sans digital form), and listening to the gut. Instincts seems to be fading. Especially from the younger participants.
I wonder where this leads decades from now. I'm certain it's to a world different than the one I'm in.

Basically, this "Because technology alone is a poor substitute for experience."(RS circa unknown)

[e-RICHIE]

all my skin has shed. bicycle racer mind has left the building. in a timeframe slightly less than two years, i’ve transitioned into a regular guy. no more do i think about having a lithe body. or obsess about how i can shift gears while standing, and with such elan too. i still like tan lines, but that doesn’t count. and i want that my tellason jeans should fall off my hips. skinny is okay. but it’s not the driver (anymore.) nor is weight, though less is better than more. it’s just a thing. like hair. or no hair. or to be fair, fewer hairs than you’d like if you actually had a say in the matter.

it’s september and i’m entering my seventh month in the little ring. the one on the inside. that phrase, water seeks its own level. i’m comfortable just twiddling for three hours. sometimes five. and seeing things at a snail’s pace. i call it meandering. and i betchoo that after the gravel craze comes and goes, meandering will be the next big thing. think of all the safety pins we’ll save when numbers are no longer needed. or don’t. makes me no matter. the bicycle, and my time on one, is different today than it ever was. and my body is just along for the ride.

All This By Hand

[rccardr]

Chapeau, sir.

It's good to see you smiling.

Really smiling.

[e-RICHIE]

bagspotting™

[e-RICHIE]

You entered the room with nothing. So, you watch and then do what you’re told. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll learn one small thing. When it’s your turn, you mimic what you saw, because that’s all you know. If you stand around long enough, you’ll mimic what you like. Because, really - you won’t know much past what you’re shown, or like.

You get to a line that, when crossed, you start decorating the same room. And suddenly it becomes yours. And everything hanging on each wall comes from you, because it’s your room. And you are in it to turn your own head first, perhaps only. Because, really - if you don’t like what you’re looking at, why would others enter the room?

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

[e-RICHIE]

sometimes we try too hard and stand there and watch everything go sideways these things we thought we've mastered but forget we're only a part of the process and the materials we collect and the tools we swing also get a seat at the table and they talk back if when they think there's a better way or another way and try to tell us but we can't don't listen to hear it yet these are the times to look further than our eyes can possibly see and notice what's there right outside the front door

[e-RICHIE]

[Ras72]

Richie, check is in the mail.

[e-RICHIE]

5D12CAC4-0D9C-428E-BEF2-669898CBA765.jpg

[newellbt]

it's 5 o'clock somewhere

cheers

[e-RICHIE]

-
Okay, first a little background.


We spend about a week sweating the Richard Sachs downtube logo. Shaved some Cs, redrew some Ss and flattopped some As. In the end, we found ourselves yawning a bit and gravitating back toward straight up Neutraface like we used in the dropouts. We figured that any change we made there would not give us the impact that we all want. I think what we'll end up with is a hybrid with some shaved Cs and Ss to close up negative space, but not stray to far from the original mark. It also ties in with your original RS lockup.


We also started futzing with the tubing decals and other little bits to pull everything together typographically.


The Signature:


Then we started to look at the signature. We figured this was something we could refine a bit while still maintaining its visual equity, but then give it some utility as a trademark. Something you could run across a racing kit, down a leg, on a T-shirt or on a down-tube. Or as a nice top tube detail as it is now.


Ken did a few sketches and tightened it up a bit. After you sent that second round of sigs today we started to look how you unicase your last name and sometimes have an upstroke in the S to connect with the A. We may pick that up in a later edition. However, before we really start sweating the letterforms, weight and application, we wanted to take your temperature about this direction. Then we're going to riff off of this for the rest of the layout. Ultimately, it will be vectored to make life easier when ordering decals, clothes, etc, but we'll refine more with pencil for a while.

The above is a note from Rich Roat (RIP) to me in 2012 regarding the House Industries reskin of my brand.

[Bob Ross]

unicase

Cool, I learned a new word today! ...which also describes my handwriting to a T.