1982 Richard Sachs |
Strada Immaculata |
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In the mid '70s, I visited the New York Bike Show and first saw a Richard Sachs frameset. Richard's work was incredible, the peak of American frame building, peer with the best. It would be inaccurate to say that Sachs is the finest frame builder, because framebuilding is not some kind of competition. It is correct to say, however, that there is no framebuilder who does better work than Richard Sachs. This frameset dates to 1982, according to Richard, and was one of a series that he called Strada Immaculata, or "Clean Road." This was a line that was similar in style to his earlier frames, while lacking the playing card cutouts and some of the other details of his custom-built Signature series, with the exception of the RS initials and the cutouts in the rear dropouts. The serial number is 6275, which makes it the 627th frame that he made under his own name. This frameset appears to be very close to typical Italian racing geometry of the era and should have a predictable, quick but stable feel. I've only ridden it on the rollers, thus far. I'll have to wait until the salt is off our northern roads to find out how it handles, but I am confident that it will ride like a dream. The workmanship on this particular bike is incredible. I believe that it has finer workmanship than the California Masi that I owned and sold around the time this frameset was built. Richard noted that he wholesaled this frameset to a shop in Philadelphia and that it was the same color as it is now. Richard now has Joe Bell paint all his frames but I believe, from the appearance of the frame, that the paint and decals are original (except for the tubing decal, which I replaced). Richard says that the pinstriping is not original, but it was done amazingly well and the color matches the detail in the other graphics exactly. It is odd that this frame has downtube cable stops and nutted brakes, considering when it was built. Perhaps it was ordered for a specific customer who planned to use bar-end shifters. Oh, and that's not just bad photography--the color really does change from maroon to violet, depending on the light. This frameset fulfills my desire to replace the Masi Gran Criterium that I sold so many years ago, especially with those Masi-esque seat stay caps. I decided against building it up with the Campagnolo Super Record component group that would be most appropriate, instead using a mix of c. 1990 Chorus and Record components. This bike is destined to be my main ride this season, and I can hardly wait! In an interesting twist, I worked for the Ski Rack in Burlington, Vermont in the 1980's. This was the only shop in which Richard worked before going to England to work in the Witcomb framebuilding shop, though he had left the area long before I was hired. I also have an early Witcomb USA touring frameset that I plan to repaint and build up some time. Sachs may have had a hand in the construction of that frame as well, since he helped establish the Witcomb USA operation. I also visited a friend at Goddard College in Marshfield, Vermont only a year or so after Richard was scheduled to attend. I must say, I don't think you missed anything, Richard. I encourage you to visit Richard Sach's website at http://www.richardsachs.com. Richard runs a one-man operation, answering his own telephone and email. He is a licensed Cat 2 racer and sponsors a cyclocross team. He is a true artisan, at the top of his field, and is a thoughtful, insightful, unflappable professional who has mastered both his craft and its sport. Email
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