Framed Art

THE BUILDER To Connecticut’s Richard Sachs a bicycle has a split personality. As a builder, he identifies an art form in the construction of a frame. But as a racer, he knows that a finely made bicycle means very little in the midst of competition. “I...

Chester Resident Captured by the Beauty of the Bike.

Creating a bicycle frame is not just a job for Richard Sachs. It’s a labor of love. “You don’t look at it as just a bicycle. You look at it as a well-made product, like a fly rod or a well-strung instrument,” Sachs said. Sachs works alone on...

Meet the Maker

Richard Sachs lives in Chester, Connecticut. He has been building bicycle frames under his own name since 1975. He started his business, Richard Sachs Cycles, following several years of framebuilding with both Witcomb Lightweight Cycles of London, England and Witcomb...

Cycling Towards Perfection

A damaged orange bicycle frame sits in the corner of Richard Sachs’ shop in Chester. Stripped of its wheels, handlebars, pedals and saddle what was once a proud new bike is now a confusing mass of orange tubes, twisted together like a giant Krazy Straw. The...

A Stickler for the Perfect Bicycle

CHESTER—The façade of Richard Sachs’ workplace on Spring Street is unremarkable. What’s going on inside is not. In a small grey garage tucked away from the center, Sachs toils everyday building bicycles. Not just any bicycles. Contenders in the Olympics...