Richard Sachs Bicycles

[rwsaunders]

Looks too small for you...send to the Steel City immediately after the holiday.

[Clean39T]

Looks too small for you...send to the Steel City immediately after the holiday.

63x58.5, 21.5-HT. Not far off from made-to-measure, I suspect. Handles that way anyway. Am looking forward to putting a -17 stem on there though and some different bars for the shape.

[darkmother]

Attachment 117093

Really nice looking bike you have there.

It will be nice to see with the new (old) parts as well.

[claritycycler]

My plan is to regale this in silvery goodness stem to stern....

That will be stunning, looking forward to more pics.

[Clean39T]

Taking a while to find the parts I'm after.. In the meantime, enjoying the elegance. ~200mi over the last week or so. What a ride.

[thomas]

That is a beautiful bike, Clean. Surprised Greg let it go, after all the work he put into it. I think the new paint is awesome, but the original red was a show-stopper, too. Greg had a nice review on this frame vs his old Marcelo here or ath a few years ago. Enjoy. You've certainly had some classic bikes.

[Clean39T]

Since it's taking a while to find some of the parts I'm after, I went ahead and made a few changes with what I had on hand. Despite the Rotor crankset being quite inelegant and the seatpost head being very chonky, I like how it is coming together. One small oddity that surfaced though is that the stack on the Deda stem is slightly less than the stack of the 1" spacer inside it, so I have to stick 1.125" spacers above it, including the top-cap, which visually disturbs me. I'm hoping to find a good -17 stem option shortly anyway.. Still, these are the things that keep me up at night. I also don't love the fit or function of the FSA K-Force brakes. I look forward to replacing them, and the rest of the groupset, with more aesthetically-pleasing Campy options shortly. I did have a strange notion to consider having the steerer cut and threaded. If I'm able to find a nice C10 silver group and C/R-Nemesis wheels, that may be something to think more seriously about.

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[climbgdh]

JUST WOW!!! This makes me want to strip my RS Signature frameset (in red of course) down and send it to Joe Bell for a repaint!!! That blue with the white panel is fantastic!!!

[Lionel]

Very nice, put hyperon tubs in there as this bikes deserves it. I miss my RS. As for the differences to the latest "production" it mostly vertical dropouts and TT brake routing. I think lug choices is always a customer choice.

[mjbabcock]

Now, for a question: can someone tell me about this vintage of Sachs' production as compared to say, circa 2017? I know the newer ones have updated dropouts and external TT routing, and less ornate lugs - but has the Pegorichie changed much over those years?

Holy crap...now that is a nice rig. If it fits I think you owe it to yourself to hold off on flipping. As for the production changes, I personally think there is more craftsmanship in the older tab style drops than in the newer plug style. I also feel as if you scored a setup that represents the most care you could ever get. That top tube routing is amazing, and external braze-ons don't hold a candle aesthetically.

[mjbabcock]

Very nice, put hyperon tubs in there as this bikes deserves it. I miss my RS. As for the differences to the latest "production" it mostly vertical dropouts and TT brake routing. I think lug choices is always a customer choice.

Agreed. Skip the nemesis rims and toss some carbon tubulars on there. Don't put overly heavy wheels on this setup or you'll be making it feel sluggish.

[RichTheRoadie]

I'd be going with a mint DA9000 groupset and some shallow carbon rims with silver spokes and hubs (older HED Stinger 3s, or something custom) on that. Then you get the best balance of the modern capability (and significantly nicer lever feel) with a classic, shiny aesthetic that suits the frame.

Also, definitely silver cages. I don't even really like silver cages, but this bike needs them.

[Saab2000]

Agreed. Skip the nemesis rims and toss some carbon tubulars on there. Don't put overly heavy wheels on this setup or you'll be making it feel sluggish.

+1

Nemesis are sluggish, heavy rims. I had some. My Nucleon tubulars were far superior wheels and I’m sure there are better options today. Nemesis were made for pros racing Paris-Roubaix 20+ years ago. If you’re not doing that get something else.

Also, a -17° stem is not a good look if you have spacers underneath it.... at least to my eyes.

[RichTheRoadie]

Also, a -17° stem is not a good look if you have spacers underneath it.... at least to my eyes.

Seconded. A -10º or -8º (or even -6º) with fewer spacers looks significantly better than a -17º with spacers.

[NorTX-Dave]

Sweet! I just love that shade of blue, and I'm a real sucker for panels. Very nice!

[Ras72]

I know we all have different tastes but that polished Potenza group that @open roader has for that Colnago Arabesque would look fantastic on the RS.
That metallic blue is wanting some silver bits.
But a fantastic ride nonetheless.

[Clean39T]

Very nice, put hyperon tubs in there as this bikes deserves it. I miss my RS. As for the differences to the latest "production" it mostly vertical dropouts and TT brake routing. I think lug choices is always a customer choice.

Gotcha. I think these are Newvex lugs. They certainly are pretty in person. The fork is magical as well. I know ride quality is highly subjective but this one really sings. It's funny too because its first two owners commented on it being sluggish climbing. I've felt none of that - in fact, I'm climbing very well on it despite the time of year, and it feels mighty good and efficient regardless the terrain or how I'm putting the power down. It does feel more planted than the early 90s Sachs I had before (see posts multiple pages above) - I'm inclined to chalk that up to fit more than anything though - extra post sticking out and a long flexy stem just changes how things feel. This one is more squarely in range for me.

Holy crap...now that is a nice rig. If it fits I think you owe it to yourself to hold off on flipping. As for the production changes, I personally think there is more craftsmanship in the older tab style drops than in the newer plug style. I also feel as if you scored a setup that represents the most care you could ever get. That top tube routing is amazing, and external braze-ons don't hold a candle aesthetically.

Thanks. I agree on the extra level of detail in this one. But I also am not a huge fan of internal routing in general - there is an inevitable slight buzz that wears on me and I can never shake the concern of wetness accumulating in there. Just a preference thing but not enough to change my opinion of the bike overall.

[Greg Costello]

That is a beautiful bike, Clean. Surprised Greg let it go, after all the work he put into it. I think the new paint is awesome, but the original red was a show-stopper, too. Greg had a nice review on this frame vs his old Marcelo here or ath a few years ago. Enjoy. You've certainly had some classic bikes.

It was a very tough decision to let go for sure as I invested a lot of time in getting it the way I wanted - and that paint job - but sometimes it's a matter of millimeters here and minutes there and the truth is that while this bike fit well and is a wonderful ride, the custom Spectrum I had made, after I'd aquired the Sachs from JR59, is just a better fit. How that translates into the ride is subtle to be sure, and I'll miss looking down and seeing the Sachs logo on the flat crown fork and the beautiful paint and lugs, but it's better that this bike gets ridden regularly and I had a strong hunch that it would be a great fit for Dan. I remain tempted by the idea of keeping an eye open for when Richard's cue opens, just because ....

[Clean39T]

I'd be going with a mint DA9000 groupset and some shallow carbon rims with silver spokes and hubs (older HED Stinger 3s, or something custom) on that. Then you get the best balance of the modern capability (and significantly nicer lever feel) with a classic, shiny aesthetic that suits the frame.

Also, definitely silver cages. I don't even really like silver cages, but this bike needs them.

I love discussing aesthetics. If I were taking bikes to NAHBS, I would obsess over details for months..

I'm really not a fan of DA9K for the ergonomics and super light touch on the shifters - plus I think the blue tones in the components clashes with the finish on this. If I'm able to find a good price on classic silver Campy stuff, that's where I'm going - otherwise it'll be 2012 R11 with silver accents on the RD. And at that point, while I agree silver cages do look nice with the paint, it'd be mostly black all around, just a few silver highlights (like PMP silver clamp on a carbon post and the silver headset and bars). I think the cages clash with the components too much unless it's all silver stuff.

+1

Nemesis are sluggish, heavy rims. I had some. My Nucleon tubulars were far superior wheels and I’m sure there are better options today. Nemesis were made for pros racing Paris-Roubaix 20+ years ago. If you’re not doing that get something else.

Also, a -17° stem is not a good look if you have spacers underneath it.... at least to my eyes.

The 28H Nemesis' I had never felt sluggish, and I do ride on pretty bad roads in Central OR now, so running a Roubaix-type setup does kind of make sense....Vlaanderens, etc. That said, I happen to have a pair of all black Stinger 3s that could end up in the rotation here.

Seconded. A -10º or -8º (or even -6º) with fewer spacers looks significantly better than a -17º with spacers.

The goal for the -17 would be to have around 1-1.5cm of spacers under the stem. I think that roughly approximates the look of a quill stem, if the threadless stem is constructed properly. I want it as much for fit as aesthetics, plus I'd prefer not to #slamthatstem on such a unique bike - it's not like you can just go buy another fork. I think leaving 1-2cm of adjustability makes sense to that end.

I know we all have different tastes but that polished Potenza group that @open roader has for that Colnago Arabesque would look fantastic on the RS.
That metallic blue is wanting some silver bits.
But a fantastic ride nonetheless.

Polished Potenza is nice. I'd be fine with a 39x27 low gear here though - most rides rarely see climbs above 10% - so there's really no incentive to go modern 11 spd on it from a functionality perspective, so for pure aesthetics, finding silver stuff from the golden age (mid/late-00s) is ideal. atmo, of course.

[Clean39T]

Sweet! I just love that shade of blue, and I'm a real sucker for panels. Very nice!

Thanks, but I can't take any credit. Greg picked the color and worked with TK on the details. It is very reminiscent of the Ellis' I've had, so I naturally am quite enamored by it as well. It really shines in the sun and is pleasant to look down at while suffering up a climb. These things are important.