Richard Sachs Cycles

[e-RICHIE]

how we spent our weekend atmo -

[e-RICHIE]

there is so much niceness in this world atmo -

[e-RICHIE]

in searching for some details on an old frame, i found the page in the composition book that contained the serial number. by a process of deduction, i matched it with some orders at the top of the page shown here. the edges might be torn away but the specs, such as they are, remain. the composition books (there are now about seven of them atmo) travel from shop to shop, sometimes act as coasters for lunch, have their pages turned with greased stained fingertips, and also serve as a source of entertainment. every frame also has an order form on which contains even more info than the lines of these pages. at one time, especially at the front end, i thought it would be cool, and necessary, and charming to archive my working life. often lately. i don't feel the same attachment to know everything about every job i ever completed. those knuckleheads who make the tibetan sand paintings have the right idea. but i digress. i love the liner notes showing all the colors and even the editorializing atmo; light rose metallic, white pearl. salmon/burgundy, queer paint, orchard metallic, powder blue...

queer paint??

[e-RICHIE]

a nice story with and about dan chabanov atmo.

[sonny]

richard,

in conversation with dario, you talk about having to center the design of the modern bicycle around available componentry..actually here it is:

[...] at the core, it seems like framebuilders now have to consider making designs to fit the available component market and its whims rather than making what is correct and rational and then assembling it to make the best fitting bicycle. since the 90s, bicycles have gotten uglier and sexless atmo.[...]

would you care to elaborate on this?

i recognize how parts and groups have changed over the past 30 or so years. bicycles too.
but how/why were you less constrained in this way in the past?

is it the aesthetic clash of the lug & non-os tubeset with the modern os groups? the prevailing trends of a dozen "standards" of bearing fitments, ghey bars and high hoods?


how are the opportunities for proper, functional, and serviceable bicycles less now?

[e-RICHIE]

richard,

in conversation with dario, you talk about having to center the design of the modern bicycle around available componentry..actually here it is:



would you care to elaborate on this?

i recognize how parts and groups have changed over the past 30 or so years. bicycles too.
but how/why were you less constrained in this way in the past?

is it the aesthetic clash of the lug & non-os tubeset with the modern os groups? the prevailing trends of a dozen "standards" of bearing fitments, ghey bars and high hoods?


how are the opportunities for proper, functional, and serviceable bicycles less now?

i think the challenge is to make a bicycle that looks correct against all that it is measured against. in 2011 (and in years leading up to this), most units have an aesthetic that informs of "manufactured" rather than "made by hand "(by a person...). from my perch, most of the bicycles (now) look like copies of manufactured brands. i attribute this to the slow demise of the hand-made niche that began in the late 1980s and continues today despite the small spike we know of since the internet era. because so much has been upended, component makers kowtow mainly to OEM sales and larger marques. in the wake, items that see less and less use/demand eventually cease to be produced. front changers, various headset types, hubs and rims made for artisan wheelbuilders, seat posts in a variety of diameters - these are examples of components whose inventories has lessened as a result of bicycles being made the way they are now - en masse (that's french...). so many things have become an SKU or an aftermarket part (think CF forks for starters, or pre-built wheels) that folks have become numb to the fact that all bicycles have a generic look to them. well, to me they do atmo. many come from the same places, even if that place is a just a concept. data point: in rereading what i have typed so far it makes sense to me because i feel it, but am aware it might not resonate with folks from another background. but i digress. the shapes of parts, the depth of rims, the graphics that brands now use, stem styles, cable routing, the electronic thing - these blend on the generic bicycles i refer to but fight the completed look on the frames some of us (still) make. i keep my menu tight and limited so am happy with how my hand-made frames look with the modern components i choose. but it's not without struggle. one litmus test is avoiding the "grandma' in culottes" fashion comparison. some folks shouldn't wear some clothes - period. and getting back to what we do here, some effbuilders, while crackerjack machinists, welders, or raconteurs, still seem to send out assembled units whose complete-ness looks like they choose two frame details from column A, four colors from chart B, a build kit assembled from chapters G and K in industry playbook, and sent it right out the front door. some folks need a filter. some folks need a mirror. and some folks need a food stylist for their bicycles. to bring this all together, we live in the present and must work with what's available to make a bicycle beautiful - and i mean that it should be beautiful both visually and technically atmo. put in a nickel, get an opinion...

[sonny]

im gonna stew on this for a minute

thank you

[j44ke]

Is this Dan Chabanov on top of the podium after the Bikeny Junkyard Cross?

IMG_6346.JPG | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[sonny]

i think the challenge is to make a bicycle that looks correct against all that it is measured against. in 2011 (and in years leading up to this), most units have an aesthetic that informs of "manufactured" rather than "made by hand "(by a person...). from my perch, most of the bicycles (now) look like copies of manufactured brands. i attribute this to the slow demise of the hand-made niche that began in the late 1980s and continues today despite the small spike we know of since the internet era. because so much has been upended, component makers kowtow mainly to OEM sales and larger marques. in the wake, items that see less and less use/demand eventually cease to be produced. front changers, various headset types, hubs and rims made for artisan wheelbuilders, seat posts in a variety of diameters - these are examples of components whose inventories has lessened as a result of bicycles being made the way they are now - en masse (that's french...). so many things have become an SKU or an aftermarket part (think CF forks for starters, or pre-built wheels) that folks have become numb to the fact that all bicycles have a generic look to them. well, to me they do atmo. many come from the same places, even if that place is a just a concept. data point: in rereading what i have typed so far it makes sense to me because i feel it, but am aware it might not resonate with folks from another background. but i digress. the shapes of parts, the depth of rims, the graphics that brands now use, stem styles, cable routing, the electronic thing - these blend on the generic bicycles i refer to but fight the completed look on the frames some of us (still) make. i keep my menu tight and limited so am happy with how my hand-made frames look with the modern components i choose. but it's not without struggle. one litmus test is avoiding the "grandma' in culottes" fashion comparison. some folks shouldn't wear some clothes - period. and getting back to what we do here, some effbuilders, while crackerjack machinists, welders, or raconteurs, still seem to send out assembled units whose complete-ness looks like they choose two frame details from column A, four colors from chart B, a build kit assembled from chapters G and K in industry playbook, and sent it right out the front door. some folks need a filter. some folks need a mirror. and some folks need a food stylist for their bicycles. to bring this all together, we live in the present and must work with what's available to make a bicycle beautiful - and i mean that it should be beautiful both visually and technically atmo. put in a nickel, get an opinion...

atmo,

i understand better some.

how does the "complete-ness" of your bicycles play with the sale of a frameset only? although your frames are consistently and unmistakably stylized, you imply that the breadth that is your prevailing "silhouette" (something mickey was going on about i think) and resulting brand are in no small part dependent upon the final figure of the unified whole against the ground of all possible buildup options. do you prefer to sell whole assembled bikes (or maybe you only do, i'm in the dark)? do you to some extent trust your frameset clients to draw from your previous work and imagine the final form of theirs?

i would agree that a lot of folks need a food stylist and a filter, but i think that many may consider their breadth smaller than the whole bicycle(s) or even a frame(s). they may never make any two items possessing more than passing commonalities, and i think that may be another set of skills entirely. just a different way of offering their expertise: in variety.

how do you progress your form rather than merely continue it (especially in light of your original statement concerning dwindling choice)?


regards,
will

[e-RICHIE]

atmo,

i understand better some.

how does the "complete-ness" of your bicycles play with the sale of a frameset only? although your frames are consistently and unmistakably stylized, you imply that the breadth that is your prevailing "silhouette" (something mickey was going on about i think) and resulting brand are in no small part dependent upon the final figure of the unified whole against the ground of all possible buildup options. do you prefer to sell whole assembled bikes (or maybe you only do, i'm in the dark)? do you to some extent trust your frameset clients to draw from your previous work and imagine the final form of theirs?

i assume you mean "...OR theirs?" at the end there.

yes, my opinion and POV is dependent on my bicycles, assembled and sent out set up as i deem them complete. i do sell some framesets but most units leave as bicycles. that is by design atmo.

i would agree that a lot of folks need a food stylist and a filter, but i think that many may consider their breadth smaller than the whole bicycle(s) or even a frame(s). they may never make any two items possessing more than passing commonalities, and i think that may be another set of skills entirely. just a different way of offering their expertise: in variety.

i am not sure what you just said there, and i mean no disrespect with that comment. but, if you are asking about RS frames made into bicycles once a client intercedes, i can only add this: once the frame is made and i put it out there, i have already been done with it for a good long while with my head deeply buried in whatever comes next - until those are shipped too. etcetera...

how do you progress your form rather than merely continue it (especially in light of your original statement concerning dwindling choice)?


regards,
will

i would never want to continue it, and see all of them as part of the evolution of what came before - however FM radio-y that may all sound atmo. pal douglas (dbrk) once linked me with a passage that speaks to this atmo and i have been a cut and pasting fool ever fugkinc since. here -

Tradition is sometimes confused with transmission. Copying Momoyama pieces is transmission. Producing contemporary pieces incorporating Momoyama period techniques is tradition. Tradition consists of retaining transmitted forms and techniques in one's mind when producing a contemporary piece. Tradition is always changing. A mere copy of an old piece has not changed; it is nearly the same as its prototype of four hundred years ago. Tradition consists of creating something new with what one has inherited.

my interest in all of this is buried in that last sentence atmo.

[j44ke]

What you (e-RICHIE) are saying reminds me of a book I read a long time ago. George Kubler's The Shape of Time: Remarks on the History of Things.

[sonny]

this is all too cool
--really

thank you for your responses
as goofy as it sounds, i love being here for the foil
my lens takes away a lot from these back and forths

thanks for being able and insistent of, taking it start to end--responsibility & tradition


-w

[e-RICHIE]

this is all too cool
--really

thank you for your responses
as goofy as it sounds, i love being here for the foil
my lens takes away a lot from these back and forths

thanks for being able and insistent of, taking it start to end--responsibility & tradition


-w

so who is will and who is sonny?
have we met atmo?

[bryand]

Hi Richard,

I have read quite a few hotly contested debates regarding the amount of BB drop that should be used in contemporary (no toe-clip!) cross frames. Some folks really like the Euro-style minimum drop (57-60mm) while others believe (and often post) that builders like yourself prefer 75 to 80mm of drop. I realize that there are many other dimensional aspects used in creating a frame design, but this seems to be a polarizing issue. Would you care to elaborate on what dimension you use (on a relatively standard medium sized frame) and why you use it?

Thanks!

[e-RICHIE]

Hi Richard,

I have read quite a few hotly contested debates regarding the amount of BB drop that should be used in contemporary (no toe-clip!) cross frames. Some folks really like the Euro-style minimum drop (57-60mm) while others believe (and often post) that builders like yourself prefer 75 to 80mm of drop. I realize that there are many other dimensional aspects used in creating a frame design, but this seems to be a polarizing issue. Would you care to elaborate on what dimension you use (on a relatively standard medium sized frame) and why you use it?

Thanks!

my frames are in the 7cm range atmo. with a true 'cross tubular that still yields a pretty high
COG and the clearance that comes with it. i can think of no reason it needs to be any different.

[WayneJ]

my frames are in the 7cm range atmo. with a true 'cross tubular that still yields a pretty high
COG and the clearance that comes with it. i can think of no reason it needs to be any different.

I've never clipped a pedal on my RS 'Crosser and I'm a pedaler, not a coaster

[e-RICHIE]

Hi Richard,

Any word on when your fork crowns for SAX MAX are going to land?

Many thanks.

well, yes robert - keep your eyes on V place any day now atmo...

[e-RICHIE]

RIP Eva Zeisel | RICHARD SACHS CYCLES



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[Erik.Lazdins]

RIP Eva Zeisel | RICHARD SACHS CYCLES



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So many barriers overcome and so much contribution - thanks

PS - thanks again for the bicycle

[Cris]

Apologies if this was already posted...I was unaware that $1000 bills had multiple uses.