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Thread: Richard Sachs Cycles

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Most people recall their first, but few their second. After pedaling my Atala Gran Prix around Bayonne for a year, I wanted more. I was drawn to some ads in Bicycling Magazine that included the tagline, “Winner of 14 World Championships“. Frejus – my next obsession.

    The trip to Harlem was easy. Path Train from Journal Square to Christopher Street. Screw off in the Village for a bit. And then take the subway uptown. The landscape, including but not limited to Tommy Avenia’s retail establishment, was a stark contrast to what I was used to. But that’s where the bicycles were and it was the next stop on my journey.

    I liked my 22″ Tour de France though I never knew why. The Frejus legacy probably. It’s funny how owning something can affect your self-esteem atmo.

    Every time I needed service, I’d make the schlep back to Avenia’s, he’d write a ticket, and I’d return a week later. And for those with an imagination, his shop was mass of bicycles leaning next to and on top of each other. There was more touching and embracing in that small space than in your favorite scene from Caligula.

    On one occasion I collected the Frejus and noticed a big scratch that wasn’t there a week earlier. “It’s a bike, not a picture frame.”, said Tommy’s brother, Frank. I obsessed a bit less after that trip.



  2. #1122
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    ldamelio is offline emperor of time, space and all dimensions known and unknown
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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Very much digging the retrospective you've been providing over the past week (especially the Dick Swann letter given my geography and links to CRCoA). Thanks for all of it.
    Lou D'Amelio
    Bucks County PA

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    I was part of an entourage that spent a day in Vicenza touring the then-new Campagnolo factory, followed by an afternoon at the home of Tullio and Valentino. A busload of North Americans, in Milan for the trade show, was driven out to the East End. We were back at our respective pensiones by bed check. It was like taking the jitney to The Hamptons, but the pasta was domestic not imported.

    The morning was a bit dull. It’s one thing to love anything Campagnolo. But when you see 400 hubs in a bin waiting to be drilled, or watching workers align chainrings using the ‘hit it with a mallet’ technique, some luster is lost.

    The afternoon was like a Bar Mitzvah, a wedding, and getting past the velvet rope at Studio 54 all rolled up in one. After a guided walk around the estate, we sat down to eat. My dining partner was Sal Corso from Stuyvesant Importers, as well as the retail store which had various locations before landing next door to The Old Homestead.

    I knew Sal from the old neighborhood. During dinner, he said (gesturing with his arms, as if taking the entire party and sweeping it into a basket), “This used to be mine. All of it. And mark my words, it will be mine again.”

    Sal used to be Ground Zero for all things Campagnolo. Of course, there were some “Sals” in other parts of the country too. These were the cats that took what was a European pastime and planted it firmly into the American psyche. His comment? Sal was upset that a new breed of entrepreneur found his beautiful well and started bottling it for the money rather than for the passion. I couldn’t blame him one bit atmo.

    PS If you're keeping score, there's Mel Pinto, Ted Kirkbride, Julio Marquevich, Pat Clay, Rick Cantor, and two fellows from CKR in Tulsa whose names I forget. That's Signor Campagnolo looking at me while I'm checking my email.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    The Connecticut Yankee Bicycle Club began life in the mid 1960s and lasts to this very day. Witcomb USA started supporting the group in 1972. When I came back from England and took a job in East Haddam, I became a member.

    For most of the decade, and through many changes, one constant was that my pal, Nick Dyslin, found the resources to keep the riders organized and in matching kits. Whether the jerseys said Witcomb USA, Knight Fabrications, Alec Bird, or Dawes, the group was always well oiled and looked elegant.

    By 1980 CYBC’s presence as a force on the racing circuit was a memory. That changed in 1982 when another pal (and CYBC alum), Martin Bruhn, asked me about the status, since I kept sending in the club renewals despite my own racing being minimal.

    Martin suggested getting the band back together. He assembled a troupe that would become the next chapter in CYBC’s existence. He asked if I would sponsor it and, without pause, said yes. I wanted to help these guys just as Nick did for us when we were pinning on the numbers. Thus began my brand’s support of the team.

    We’ve seen a lot of changes since then atmo.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Do framebuilders walk around with a sign on their back that reads, “Will do anything for Top Ramen“? More than a few times I’ve received inquiries for the unthinkable, as well as the unbuildable. I attribute this to the use/misuse of the term “custom“. It’s a charming and quaint word in its own right. But I’ve never known its relevance to my trade. I prefer the word “no”. However it is 2015, the universe (as well as the niche’s boundaries) is expanding, and noodles are now accepted as the newest addition to the food group pyramid. A serving a day atmo.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Apparently he wanted an oversized bottom bracket also.
    Lou D'Amelio
    Bucks County PA

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    [QUOTE=e-RICHIE;700769]The Connecticut Yankee Bicycle Club began life in the mid 1960s and lasts to this very day. Witcomb USA started supporting the group in 1972. When I came back from England and took a job in East Haddam, I became a member.

    For most of the decade, and through many changes, one constant was that my pal, Nick Dyslin, found the resources to keep the riders organized and in matching kits. Whether the jerseys said Witcomb USA, Knight Fabrications, Alec Bird, or Dawes, the group was always well oiled and looked elegant.

    By 1980 CYBC’s presence as a force on the racing circuit was a memory. That changed in 1982 when another pal (and CYBC alum), Martin Bruhn, asked me about the status, since I kept sending in the club renewals despite my own racing being minimal.

    Martin suggested getting the band back together. He assembled a troupe that would become the next chapter in CYBC’s existence. He asked if I would sponsor it and, without pause, said yes. I wanted to help these guys just as Nick did for us when we were pinning on the numbers. Thus began my brand’s support of the team.

    We’ve seen a lot of changes since then atmo.

    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


    --- love the ole logo brand on the coaches cap..

    ronnie

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Sometimes I look back and think about how the landscape and conversations have changed.
    The scorecard too atmo. Then I remember that line from Desperately Seeking Susan:

    Cigarette Girl: Susan! My God, we thought you were dead.

    Susan: No, just in New Jersey.

    Maybe some of these cats are in New Jersey.






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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    It's interesting to my currently-idle mind how with the exception of Trek and Santana, the "survivors" on that list are - or essentially are - all one-man shops; RS, Pete Mooney, BG, Bill Davidson...

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Quote Originally Posted by RickM View Post
    It's interesting to my currently-idle mind how with the exception of Trek and Santana, the "survivors" on that list are - or essentially are - all one-man shops; RS, Pete Mooney, BG, Bill Davidson...
    And of those, not all are 24/7 framebuilders atmo.

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Quote Originally Posted by e-RICHIE View Post
    And of those, not all are 24/7 framebuilders atmo.
    Sorta like Roberta not really being a prostitute. What do you use the doves for?

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    For a brief period before going to London, I spent a long summer in Burlington, Vermont. The Ski Rack did hire me, eventually. I lived at Sigma Nu in a room vacated by a UVM student. And Church Street still had stop lights because the downtown wasn’t yet a walk through mall.

    I started racing and joined GMBC. At the time, “racing” meant doing the Tuesday time trials on what was known as the Cheese Factory circuit. These, and a single road race in Stowe, were why I had an ABLA license. This is when I met Bill Farrell. He was one of a legion of skiers transitioning over to cycling under the guise of cross-training – a concept previously unheard of. Most of the athletes came from the Nordic side, but Bill was a downhill racer. These people changed the face of the sport in the early 1970s.

    I met Farrell again when I returned from England. We ended up in the same circles for a while, staying friends, being teammates briefly, and also doing some business. Bill rode one of my frames for many years, and I was flattered. He became one of the sport’s elite athletes, and ultimately invented the Fit-Kit, frame alignment systems for shops, and a series of devices (RADs) that allowed riders to optimally set their cleats. Bill’s developments ushered out much of the guesswork and voodoo that permeated the industry. His presence on the race course as well as being a critical thinker set the table for what we have now.

    And he also gave good letter…




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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Framebuilding is in a tenuous spot these days atmo. That’s why it’s important to give back when you can, and nurture the next in line. Otherwise, all of this dies. My trade used to be the top of the industry food pyramid. Framebuilders would say “jump“, and mass-producers said “how high?” Generations of craftsmen innovated, were the laboratories for the racing community, and then all others followed.

    Everyone wants to be a niche-ista, but few invest in the time and energy to get proper training. It’s become all too common for folks to take a class, make between four and eleven frames, start a blog, and hang out a sign. This path simply hastens our little civilization’s declination situation.

    To quote myself saying my own words again, it’s all about routine, repetition, and relentlessness. You want a piece of the pie? Go work for a pie company and learn about baking inside out and sideways. Don’t expect a working framebuilder to let you into his personal space and give his life lessons away for free. But on the off chance that you do find someone who’ll spend the time and answer your questions, remember to say thanks.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    -- the troop scribe "being prepared" & with a smile.., i'm sure, from their senior patrol leader for/to mr sachs doing his "good turn.."

    fond campfire memories from way back..,
    eagle scout ronnie

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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    Caro Signor Campagnolo -

    Thank you for the invitation.
    Yes, I’ll be there.
    I’m looking forward to an elegant evening.
    And to making memories.

    Ciao
    e-RICARDO




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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    There were more than a few bicycle related periodicals in the 1980s, Cyclist Magazine among them. A pal, John Campbell, was an editor there. Before that, he sold me advertising space at Winning - Bicycle Racing Illustrated. As reps and clients go, we gelled. I trusted John’s judgement regarding insertion frequency, content, and which months were a bust – these were the issues I’d sit out.

    When his turn at the new magazine began, John made the effort to include the handmade framebuilding community whose seeds were planted just a decade before. Each issue had a single full page dedicated to what we were doing. This tear sheet from 1985 is an early example of me having an opinion. It would be at least another 10 years before I'd learn the difference between “insure” and “ensure”, and when to use each word.

    The image shows me at the bench of my Spring Street studio, which overlooked Spring Street. The little guy on my vice anvil was my first and only assistant. He would be my last one, too. A lack of focus, coupled with the inability to lower his arms, would be the deal breaker. A year later he reinvented himself, became the face of my brand, and appeared regularly in my brochures as well as in a series of late night ads I ran on public access television.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    There are the times I wonder about the secrets we could have shared, resources traded,
    and the empires we might have built. But when one considers what it once cost to spend
    a little (a lot of…) time on the phone kibitzing with a pal, it’s very clear. We were prisoners
    of technology, Ma Bell’s greed, and being born too soon. And that’s no BS atmo.



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    You want it when atmo?

    6.22.15 | RICHARD SACHS CYCLES



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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    The Wonder Years atmo -

    6.24.15 | RICHARD SACHS CYCLES






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    Default Re: Richard Sachs Cycles

    My first trip to Milan in 1979 was an amalgam (I love that word, amalgam…) of travel, relaxation, and industrial espionage. When I returned in 1981, I was in full-on spy mode. It was all about trying to find the next rung on the ladder. I had been making bicycles for almost a decade and was tired of the food chain I was part of. There was this sense that the trade in Europe was pushing boundaries exponentially, but at home it seemed stale.

    I had always used components that weren’t commonly available in North America, having secured some private lines as far back as 1975. But these channels were closing. And I couldn’t see making my frames with the crap that was being served to my niche by the distributors here.

    By fate, along with some surreal help from Howie Cohen of Everything Bicycles fame (as well as for his product placement coup in the movie, E.T.), I began a relationship with Takahashi Press in Tokyo (the one in Japan). Mr. Kikuchi, the firm’s president, personally answered all of my mail and made me feel like a valued customer.

    The letter mentions a set of lugs I designed. We were going to have Hitachi do the lost wax casting. The parts made it to the market. But they looked clunky. Somehow, the elegant curves and sinewy edges I originally created looked wrong. Many framebuilders began using them, as did some major production houses. But I was left cold, even though these came from my loin. It was a very good idea, but perhaps it was a generation too soon for me to be using my own lugs.



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