As a child growing up, there were two things that my father made sure my brothers and I always had.  He always made sure we had ice skates and bicycles.  We would ride the bikes all week and he would spend his Saturdays repairing them so we could continue to ride.  This is what started my love affair with bicycles. 

Forty years later that love affair has continued to grow like a strong marriage.  My problem though has been as I moved into "newer materials and faster geometries". 

My body began to show it's age by having numbness in the hands and seat area, and an attitude of just not wanting to be on the bike for more than sixty miles at a time.  It was time to find a new bike that I could tolerate being on and not feel beat up after the ride. 

I began shopping, traveling a two hundred mile radius from home, testing bikes of different materials, talking to shop keepers, looking on the internet gathering information.  Nothing seemed to fit exactly what I was looking for.  I continued to talk about the comfort and ease of handling I had from a bike I owned in the seventies.  It was a chrome moly lugged frame that brought me some of the best riding miles I ever had.  That was the standard I was out to attain. 

A close riding friend called me one day and asked me to come to his office "I've got something to show you."  Ten minutes later I was drooling over an article about Richard Sachs Bicycles.  Two days later I was on the phone talking to Richard about his bicycles and the possibility of him building one for me.  Another week later and I was sending him a check so I could get on the waiting list to have a frame built.

During Thanksgiving, I was in Connecticut, and since I was just a couple of hours away from Chester I made an appointment to meet with Richard.  It was a Saturday morning and I thought if I could get an hour of Richard's time I should be able to accomplish what I wanted.  I arrived in Chester, found Richard shop and parked.  As I was gathering materials to bring in, Richard met me at the door of my car and the relationship was off to a new level.  My one-hour I was hoping for turned into four hours and it could have continued.  As I climbed into my car for the drive back, I thought to myself, "I made the right choice in having Richard build a bike for me. 

Seven months later the frame is at my house and it's time to put it together.  I selected Campy Record components, ten speed cog, and TTT stem, Campy wheel set with Michelin Axial Pro tires.  Building the bike was as much fun as picking it out.  A friend was over while I was doing it and we would put a part on and sit down and admire the bikes beauty.  This went on for the whole evening.  One piece on and sit down and ogle. 

Now it was time for the first ride.  It was an instant match.  The comfort and handling was beyond expectations.  I came off a race frame that took on different characteristics at high speeds.  It was stiff and needed to be steered.  To date I've not been much past fifty mile per hour, but the Richard Sachs bike is equally stable at fifty as it is at twenty.  I can ride all day and not feel like someone took a baseball bat to me.  I don't feel like I've given up speed for comfort.  I feel I have it all, speed, comfort, handling and beauty.  My first season of riding my Richard Sachs has just ended with the onset of winter.  The bike has taken on the primary role for the winter as art.  It is as beautiful hanging on the wall as it is rolling down the road.  Each time I rode this past summer, as I finished the ride and pulled into the drive I would look down and say to myself "I'm riding a Richard.  I made the right choice."

Owning a Richard Sachs bicycle is an experience of a lifetime.  Choosing the builder and creating a relationship with Richard, picking the color and components, the assembly and yes, the ride are all part of it for me.  It's a true love affair with machine and art.  Having one man craft such a functional piece of artwork is such a rarity in this day of mass production, I'm so glad I can be a part of that kind of experience.