I am an opinion machine: put in a nickel, get an opinion. At least that's my own how internet life seems to me. We all have baggage, or points of view, and sharing them is easy. First you type, and then you press the publish key. In the last week or so my focus has...

I am devoted to my suppliers, friends, clients, and to the framebuilding niche. The alliances and allegiances we have are what made us, and what makes much of life enjoyable and business profitable. This is a story about my day and how I wasted over half of it...

For as long as I can remember, I have considered framebuilding a creative process. Indeed it is also one that can be tied to production methods, and quotas, and price points. It's a lot easier for me to reconcile the business side of things now than when my life was...

Having sustained a near four decade effort in the framebuilding trade, it's not uncommon to field questions about endgame. Whether the conversation contains words like retirement or phrases like winding down, the subject does make my radar a lot more now than it ever...

I am not sure I know the meaning of the word, perseverance. My career - actually I should say my life because what I do is so intertwined with who I am - is not where it is because I persevered as much as it is because I let fate happen. On the left hand side of the...

Many folks enter the framebuilding niche by way of the message boards and some leave the same way. There's a certain vibe surrounding the trade that has attracted more than its share of voyeurs. From my vantage point, it appears that a mindset exists that includes not...

Framebuilders - heck, most craftsmen - are a solitary lot. Regardless of the medium, people who do this type of thing are a different breed. Many have have chosen to eschew the conventional 9-5 route. By the time a guy is rooted, he is likely to have gone through his...

As an 18 year old in London who sidetracked a college entrance for a quick adventure, I realized that there might in fact be something to this framebuilding thing. After a half year there, I could imagine a life in the trade. Here's a letter I wrote to my mom. Did I...

You typically use 8cm of bottom bracket drop, which especially with skinny race wheels means a low bottom bracket. Were you doing that from the start or what influenced you to go that low in the bottom bracket? Let me be specific. I don’t really make custom frames. I...

I'm a loner and over the years have controlled everything RS. It's only in recent times that I have conceded a project or two (art direction being one example that comes to mind) to someone else. Once a control freak, always a control freak etcetera. And in most...

It's funny what time will do to you when you let it pass. I'd be fooling myself if I believed I was an industry veteran despite standing at the bench for nearly 40 years. To roll it back a moment, I still see myself as the 18 year old who sidestepped some obstacles...

When you see these older frames what are you thinking and feeling? "Wow, things have changed", "Man, why did I do that?", "i see how much I've improved", "Dude, that was awesome. I'd forgotten bout those. I gotta do that one my next bike" i don't attach any emotion or...

Where do ideas come from - and where do mine originate? With so much of my life spent with and around bicycles, as well as being a maker of them, I wonder about this. I arrived on the industry's doorstep by accident and poorly prepared, and have managed to eke out...

Inexperienced and unfit riders + ignorant and unscrupulous fitters = the blind leading the blind. i am equal parts racer, psychologist, best friend, and worst enemy. the last part because sometimes i need to find a diplomatic way to convince a zealous client that - of...

Richard, I have a non-cycling question for you. Don't ask me how, but the Peddie School came up in conversation today; which got me to thinking about you. I was under the impression that Peddie was a pretty large feeder school for Princeton, but after doing some...

Hey Richard, In your view are there actual fabrication things that many builders focus too much on and worry about and/or others that they should worry about more? the focus appears to be on fabricating a cult of personality first, and then getting the design...

If you hadn’t been fortunate enough to become a framebuilder, what career path would you have seen for Richard Sachs? I have no clue at all. despite that I was accepted at Goddard with a plan to pursue a writing career, with hindsight I realize I would have stumbled...

Hi Richard. At the risk of sounding like a kiss ass I'd have to say that you were one of the inspirations that led me to pursue this craft and make it my trade. If you had to distill your experiences in framebuilding into a single piece of advice for us younger...

the organic nature of frame building - taking a pile of parts, some tools, experience, and a vision - has always confounded me atmo. i'm way more comfortable with it now than i was when i started. but it often made me squirm as i was trying to figure out the dance. no...

I read in the news today that Eva Zeisel has passed away. In 2005 Jennifer Ludden did an interview with her on NPR. Hearing it live was a turning point for me - yes, yet another turning point in my near four decades of bicycle making. In the never ending pursuit of...