Richard Sachs Cycles

[e-RICHIE]

A bike to Richard Sachs is hard to put in words. Each frame he builds eventually leaves his hands and heads to the paint shop and the relationship ends there. He says all that's left is the opportunity to reflect on improvements and search for inspiration for the next. Richard has chosen only to work with steel. He's essentially self taught. . .let that thought marinate for a moment. At his peak Richard was making a dozen frames a month. He's now down to a comfortable six frames a month. His lug and fitting design is matched by none. Sachs has sponsored a cyclocross team for years. One of his most notable riders was Jonathan Page. He says he's not sure how long he'll continue building exquisite frames. Yet from our conversation about life, legacy, and all things bikes it's clear the love and passion he started with has done nothing but grow. Enjoy!

I enjoyed my conversation with Todd Wilson.

His podcast is Tour de Todd.

Have a listen here: Link Link Link Link

[e-RICHIE]

rscx is coming
wait. for. it.
.
All This By Hand

[skouri1]

Are those the first carbon team issue wheels ?

[e-RICHIE]

Are those the first carbon team issue wheels ?

This is year nine. We first designed these in 2013 (iirc) and they’ve evolved since.
The original batch I think: https://www.flickr.com/photos/986633...57645657750576

[skouri1]

Wow, I remember the Cole ALU wheels of course and thought the early carbon might have been just a fairing. I didn't even realize the logo/design refresh was that old! easy to lose track of time and details as I am getting older. I'm sure your next post will be about the pantone 186c anodized Paul klampers you have already been using for 5 years :\ .

[e-RICHIE]

I deposited a mother lode of file photos here.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/986633...77720300020716

Enjoy!

[e-RICHIE]

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sneaker preview

[rccardr]

Those are ‘Off the Wall’.
Make mine red and white!

[e-RICHIE]

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And then after summoning up as many memories as possible, and
shoving words together, and rearranging much of it over and over
again, it came to me. It’s not bicycles I’ve been making at all. It’s
a life. My own. My way.

FIN

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

.
film at eleven

[Ras72]

Past my bedtime, but I'll make an exception.

[rccardr]

Full view of that frameset, PLEASE!

[Diablo de Acero]

Whatever it is I am all for it!

[Bob Ross]

Whatever it is I am all for it!

[e-RICHIE]

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checkered past
checkered present

All This By Hand

[Bittersweet]

These are spectacular. All those years of cutting the box tops. Can’t wait to see them fully built.

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checkered past
checkered present

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

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When I make a bicycle frame, the real action - the making part - doesn’t start until I’m a good four hours into the commission. Until then it’s an intellectual process. I revisit the emails and paperwork that have lived in a folder or on a clipboard, sometimes for years. A mental image of what I plan for the client forms. I grab materials, cut some tubes to length, and verify that my fixtures mirror the very plan I have in mind. All these small tasks are second nature. No formulas. No apps. No molds. Nothing conveniently falls from a tree and becomes the frame or any subassembly of it. Before anything happens, I go through the mental exercises that will, along with my experience, intuition, and some luck, yield a metal structure that components will attach to and become a bicycle.

To be continued.

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

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At that four-hour mark I grab the torch. It’s like the beginning. Almost but not exactly like the first time, no matter how many thousands of times I’ve been here before. It’s exhilarating. I live for it. And I’m good at it. I light the torch and braze the lower head lug. It’s the confluence where the down tube and head tube meet and, of course, is enveloped by a lug of my own design. I bring the area up to temperature, wait for the flux to turn from a white paste-like consistency into a clear looking liquid that resembles (turn your head if you’re squeamish) mucous. That transition is my cue. It lets me know that the joint is ready to accept the 56% silver alloy rod that rests in my left hand as I continually wave the oxy-acetylene torch in my right hand. I’m so used to this moment, so conditioned from decades of making, that often a thought bubble appears over my head in which the words, “Say bye-bye” appear. It’s a sign that the length of brazing rod will soon get shorter and shorter as I fill the joint with molten silver alloy material.

To be continued.

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

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The moment comes and I’ll often remember that scene at Monterey when Hendrix, on his knees, lights his ‘65 Strat on fire and uses body language to coax the flame up and down the neck. With torch in hand I beg the molten filler metal to go where I want it to go. Where it needs to go. Where it belongs. And sometimes I think of lovemaking. I will tease. Lure. Coerce. Sometimes even push my way around the joint until it’s filled - but only filled and never one small part of an ounce extra. I know from so many partners and trysts I’ve had at various workbenches in at least two states and three small towns what it takes for this to happen. The brazing rod touches the surface of the tubular steel and flows in and around and from top to bottom. When everything cools (myself included) and when the material solidifies between the interior of the lug and the two tubes nesting within it, and if I’ve done my job well, to borrow a quote from the film Broadcast News, it’s like great sex. Very little I do after this first operation is as satisfying. And I still have the rest of the bicycle frame to braze, to machine threads and bearing surfaces, to do alignment checks, and continually ensure that nothing goes sideways. And then I smoke a cigarette.

All This By Hand

[e-RICHIE]

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should be cool