(Post edited 11/24/14. Every month or so, I check the stats of the blog for curiosity’s sake. Today, I noticed a spike in views from the
Velocipede Salon website. Seems a lot of the comments decried the amount of time the owner waited. Richard Sachs weighed in claiming the time the owner waited is incorrect. It would have been easy for him to e-mail me and correct the wait time. I’m simply going by what the owner told me on several occasions. Whether or not the wait time was 4 years or 14 years, it’s still a great looking bike. And so, I am editing the post to remove text regarding the wait time for the frame – MV)
Earlier this week, I posted about a set of wheels that turned out so nice, I wanted to keep them for myself and hinted that the frame they were destined for was special. One of the most sought after frame makers in the states these days is Richard Sachs Cycles. The bike industry is typically made up of companies who over supply bikes to the market and then have to discount them deeply to make room for the next model year and the next big thing. That’s pretty much the complete opposite to Richard Sachs’ model of business. His demand is to high and output so low that he has a wait time or several years for one of his frames.
What one does get after waiting is a beautiful frame. The lugs are nicely shaped and crisp. The overall aesthetics are very, very pleasing. The paint job by
Joe Bell is flawless with its deep red coat. It’s a right proper looking bike that I’m sure will be great fun to ride. If this was mine, I think the first ride would definitely be one with a bunch of dirt thrown in. It just looks like it wants to go anywhere.
I was pretty excited when the owner came to me to have me build his bike that he waited years to get. There were a few parameters for parts that we knew we wanted to stick to. Campagnolo. We both agreed that new 2015 Campagnolo Super Record cranks with their Shimano-esque 4-arm design wouldn’t look proper on this bike. And we thought the RS version of the 2014 Super Record would be appropriate. Super Record RS on a Richard Sachs, get it? You already was the wheelset – HED Belgium, Chris King, Challenge Strada. There were a couple other items that needed to be individually chosen that were out of production – Campagnolo Record seat post and Campagnolo quick releases. Both of these were sourced from the great folks at
Euro-Asia Imports and really make the spec of the bike dialed.
(What’s playing: David Bowie Kooks)
Beautiful bike, well built, etc… but there's absolutely nothing ATMO (if I may borrow the phrase) that makes that frame worth waiting 14 weeks for, much less 14 years. It's a steel bike, albeit a very well made steel bike, but lot's of people are making very nice steel bikes.
sweet…
I reminded of a recent news story I heard on scarcity marketing. This one's about beer, but it's a pretty similar game: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/pliny-elder-case-study-scarcity-marketing
While I wouldn't be interested in waiting 1.4 decades for a custom frame, it think it's great that some do. It's also great when builders make stock geo frames for folks less money and patience.
why are the campy drivetrain parts scratched on a bike he waited 14 years for?
Not seeing any scratches, Al. The weave of the carbon fiber might make it appear that there are scratches.
That's seriously hot. I wish I'd ordered one 14 years ago!
I thought I read something about how only the road frames have a SUPER long wait….something along the lines of he didn't want to build them anymore. But you can get a cx frame quicker…i have no idea what quicker means in relation to 14 years.
and that is a bitch'n bike
I'm surprised Sachs gets away with only using socketed seat stay caps and dropouts. if i was to wait 14 years and pay 5700 for a frame/fork i wish that he would have spent the extra hour to slot and file some tubes.
I would MUCH rather have punk ass Cam build me a frame than Richard Sachs.