Conversation with Richard Sachs (Silca blog)

[TiStar]

I have to say I’m a little shocked at the outpouring of defense for RS based on my simple but honest opinion. I REALLY wasn’t trying to bring people out of retirement to comment and I certainly wasn’t trying to hurt RS’s feelings on a deep personal level….. and I’m 150% absolutely certain I haven’t…but just in case.. RS I am truly sorry if I offended This guy is on top of his game and couldn’t give two sh*ts what I or probably most people have to say. Do you really think he wants to be praised BY EVERYONE all the time? I’m sure he is very aware that he comes across a little self grandiose and likes it that way and I highly doubt he is shedding tears in his workshop over my opinion. In fact he is probably glad I gave my opinion because apparently I’ve started a movement and if he wasn’t feeling the love before he sure as hell is now A couple have implied I may not have good taste or style because I wasn’t a fanboy of the guy. I even complimented his bikes. I have steel bikes, Ti bikes and carbon bikes and I’m very confident and comfortable in my style and taste. My car collection includes a 993, a RS6, a FJ40, a C10 and I’m definitely not offended when someone doesn’t like my style…or personality. To avoid sounding like a troll I’ll ONLY say nice things and compliment on things that I love moving forward. BTW…to the guy with the green bike and matching helmet with red bolts and badge…sick whip

[XXtwindad]

I think Richard should start marketing his own line of boxer shorts.

“Effete elitist aesthetic slut.” With lugs instead of quotation marks. I might spring for a pair. 😉

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by krooj

But... like... your opinion is based on what, exactly? Lots and lots of folks on this forum have personally engaged with Mr. Sachs, myself included, and he's always straight to the point and kind. Don't pass judgment on people based on what you read online - it's not real life. At the end of the day, he's an active, grass-roots, participant in the sport and has been building frames for longer than I've been alive in a manner which requires a lot more skill and patience than many are willing to put in. At this point, he can do what he damn well wants atmo

Regardless of whether the linked interview gives you a positive or negative impression of RS, why is it not "real life"? It's his own words. It provides good insights into his personality.

[EB]

I feel bad for his cross team that doesn’t get to have disc brakes.

[DHallerman]

Originally Posted by johnniecakes

You know like Mama taught, if you can't say something nice, just be quiet.

And like my Papa taught, if you have something nice to say, don’t hold back. Here’s my little Richard Sachs story.

Late last century, my wife Cathy (who I didn’t know at the time) was on a bike trip in Connecticut with three women friends. They happened to be passing near Richard’s shop when one of them broke a spoke, or some other not-trivial mechanical. So they thought, let’s ask if he can help.

Well, he was most gracious, putting his work aside, fixing their problem, and just in general being a mensch. That’s all.

Dave, who had an appointment early this century on a Friday to see Richard in CT and get fitted for a frame but on that Tuesday I lost my job when the magazine I was editing folded so I really couldn’t buy a custom frame and in the years following my bicycle focus went in another direction so I never followed up

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

I feel bad for his cross team that doesn’t get to have disc brakes.

I thought that as well but did not want to get in the middle of this fight. It is nice to have good looking, well made, frames but they are just that...bike frames...not actual art. Hmmm, just opened another can of worms didn't I?

Tim

[Ttx1]

Originally Posted by XXtwindad

Wowza! Is RS like the Miles Davis of the “Kind of Blue” era or the “Bitches Brew” period? And who would be Coltrane/Zawinul? Inquiring minds want to know!

Richard is more like Miles, live.

The last time I saw Miles, every time he started to raise his horn the audience would applaud and then Miles would not play. The audience never got wise, and Miles never played - he grooved to what the rest of the band was up to, but never really jumped in. At one point, he gestured to wave off the audience at one point - but that crowd was clueless.

Some people go to actually listen - those are the people Miles played for, if he was ever playing for anyone other than himself. Those who showed up for proximity to celebrity or to hum along or whatever? They didn't get squat.

[callmeishmael]

I fear I’ve missed something in either this thread or the interview. He’s used one or two (I suspect deliberately and self-consciously) striking phrases to illustrate a point, one of which (in the context) appears to me at least to be very tongue in cheek (‘slut’ in a sentence otherwise about bar tape). He’s (based on this interview) got a well-developed sense of his own identity as a craftsman, but I’m struggling to see what he said that was especially controversial or likely to inspire a strong reaction (either positive or negative). I would stress I’ve never met the man and know very little about him save his reputation as an expensive frame builder with a long waiting list. What am I missing?

[Davist]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

I feel bad for his cross team that doesn’t get to have disc brakes.

ha! exactly. I like to read what RS has to say and enjoy it as entertainment (I ride a canyon, so I chuckled at the reference in article).

I also think there's a bit of "yesterday's technology at tomorrow's prices" with his (and similar) handmade stuff, definitely artful, but maybe not the ideal tool fit for purpose.

[Ttx1]

Originally Posted by Eli Bingham

I feel bad for his cross team that doesn’t get to have disc brakes.

They dominate in the Cantilever and the Hand-Made Steel categories...

[basilic]

R Sachs strikes me as a smart guy who realized long ago that the era of artisan-built steel frames sold to racing cyclists was coming to an end. His solution was to create an aura of quirky elitism that justifies high (to the customer) but viable (for him) prices. No need to please everyone - in fact that would be counterproductive, just enough demand is enough. Plus I'm sure he's having fun.
(Downside is now you're buying the image along with the frame. personally I feel more affinity with straight-faced framebuilders like Kirk or English.)

[XXtwindad]

Originally Posted by Ttx1

Richard is more like Miles, live.

The last time I saw Miles, every time he started to raise his horn the audience would applaud and then Miles would not play. The audience never got wise, and Miles never played - he grooved to what the rest of the band was up to, but never really jumped in. At one point, he gestured to wave off the audience at one point - but that crowd was clueless.

Some people go to actually listen - those are the people Miles played for, if he was ever playing for anyone other than himself. Those who showed up for proximity to celebrity or to hum along or whatever? They didn't get squat.

In modern day parlance, this is called being an asshole. I don’t think you’re doing RS any favors with this comparison. It’s like Roger Waters chastising the audience for wanting to hear “The Wall” instead of his political ranting. No thanks. I’ll listen to the genius of “KOB” and “Comfortably Numb” in the blissfully ignorant cocoon of my apartment.

In a very (VERY) small cloistered part of the universe, this topic has elicited some pretty starry-eyed responses.

[HenryA]

Originally Posted by basilic

R Sachs strikes me as a smart guy who realized long ago that the era of artisan-built steel frames sold to racing cyclists was coming to an end. His solution was to create an aura of quirky elitism that justifies high (to the customer) but viable (for him) prices. No need to please everyone - in fact that would be counterproductive, just enough demand is enough. Plus I'm sure he's having fun.
(Downside is now you're buying the image along with the frame. personally I feel more affinity with straight-faced framebuilders like Kirk or English.)

^^^^^^^^
Gets it.

[Likes2ridefar]

.

[Sihardy]

What a thread.

Insufferable, precious? Or is it more than that, I really wonder. Awful lot of stuff out there. I mean, what is this cringy stuff comparing frame building to, well, coercive what?:

“And sometimes I think of lovemaking. I will tease. Lure. Coerce. Sometimes even push my way around the joint until it’s filled.”

Link: https://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=285304

Or this misanthropic rant about Black Friday shopping and what, firebombing?:

“I look at news feeds about this commercial phenomenon and want to move to another planet, or firebomb the part of mine that these folks inhabit.*“

Link: https://web.archive.org/web/20161106...tmo-35321.html

Invested fan-boys can rationalize this away as edgy or badass or maybe just branding, but is that really what this is? I hope so. But who else puts out stuff like this? I’m sorry, but these sure don’t seem to me the broodings of a beautiful mind, and they’re not the only ones.

The current graphics on his bikes are very nicely done though, that’s for sure.