Scott Livingston is the General Manager of Horst Engineering and also wrote "The Tool" which also appears on this site.

Cycling is a passion of mine that dates back to my high school years. I have owned a dozen bicycles, and that is not counting the bikes I had as a kid. There are currently four working bikes and five partially built bikes in my basement. In addition, my wife Debbie has a couple of her own. Some of my bikes have been wrecked, some retired, and some sold. Those that are gone were stock bikes built by large manufacturers. All of my custom built bikes are with me for life. All of those bikes and the associated gear take up a lot of space, and my basement resembles a cluttered bicycle shop with old tires, tubes, and tools scattered about.

Cycling is in my blood. My grandfather, Harry Livingston, was an apprentice at a German bicycle factory in the early 1930's. He immigrated in 1938 via Ellis Island and made his way to Hartford. In 1946, he founded Horst Engineering, and some of his earliest parts were bike parts. Time constraints have thus far kept me from initiating the production of a high end bicycle component during my stewardship of Horst, but the day where we put our name on our own part may still arrive. I became deeply involved with bikes when I started road cycling and racing while at college in the early 1990's. In more recent years, our company has sponsored Team Horst Sports, a cycling and adventure sports team that competes regionally in a variety of events.

I have raced bikes both domestically and internationally. I have been in mountain bike races, road bike races, cyclocross races, duathlons, triathlons, and adventure races. All of those races and all of that training added up to a lot of miles in the saddle, back when I had more time. Work responsibilities, marriage, and the rest of life have slowed me down, but I still make the twenty four mile round-trip commute, to and from work, once or twice a week during the warmer months.

My first real road bike was a Richard Sachs, but my first custom road bike was a Spectrum Titanium. It was designed and built to my size and specifications in 1992 by Pennsylvanian Tom Kellogg with help from the folks at Merlin Metalworks, formerly of Somerville, MA. The Spectrum is my sentimental favorite because my grandfather helped me save for it, but my all time favorite bike is my second Richard Sachs. My first Sachs was a road frame that was built for someone else and I bought it second hand, but I commissioned the second Sachs in 1997 and I was custom fitted for it by Richard at his shop.

That bike was custom built for cyclocross, a cycling offshoot that was invented in Europe years ago for off-season training. Races are typically held at parks or schools and involve a combination of riding and running on a short loop. Steep hills and barriers are strategically placed to force riders to dismount and negotiate the obstacles. It is like Steeplechase with a bike. Cross bikes are designed to handle more abuse than a typical road bike, and they also have more clearance to accommodate oversized tires, cantilever brakes, and mud buildup. I love the sport and it is very popular with New England cyclists between October and January. The requirements of cross put a premium on bike handling skills and a responsive bike offers a competitive edge.

Richard Sachs is one of the finest frame builders to practice the craft. He lives in Chester, CT and I know him from my years of racing. We have raced together and share a common passion for the sport, but more importantly, we share a passion for high quality craftsmanship. He reminds me of my grandfather, who dreamed of having a product that carried his name and would stand the test of time. In the end, my grandfather moved our business into contract manufacturing, hired additional help, and Horst Engineering remains a production job shop to this day. Conversely, Richard Sachs has worked alone for more than thirty years and his most popular custom bicycle frame is aptly named the Signature Model. Each frame is a functional work of art and is hand built exclusively by Richard in his Chester workshop.

Bicycles have changed a lot in recent years. New technology has filtered into cycling from other industries and in addition to titanium; materials such as aluminum, magnesium, and carbon fiber have gained ground on trusty old steel. Richard still builds only with steel tubing and hand shaped lugs and though his craft has evolved, he still does things the way he did in the beginning. He uses tools, torches, and jigs that have stood the test of time, and he has stayed true to his craft. Aside from raw materials, which include tubing, cast lugs, and dropouts, he outsources only the painting and has maintained a long time relationship with San Diegan specialist, Joe Bell. My Sachs cross bike is my favorite because it fits me so well. I feel more comfortable on that bike than on any that I have ridden. It is even more special that I personally know Richard and that he is a Connecticut craftsman.

I have a third Sachs too. It is a road bike that was custom built for me in 2003. It is orange, like the other two and was part of a group of frames built special for Team Horst. The original frame was also repainted in team colors and will most likely grace a wall at our Horst Engineering. It is true industrial art. With three Sachs' out of twelve bikes, it is obvious that I am a big fan.

People ask why I have so many bikes and why would I have three from the same builder. I tell them that each bike serves a different purpose and is intended for a different kind of riding. Each bike has its own character and has its own storybook too. They remind me of places that I have been and people that I have been with. They remind me of great rides through the New England countryside and of summers spent racing in Belgium. They remind me of good and bad times. They remind me of pain and suffering, victory and defeat.
 

Scott's Facilities List   1985 Trek 660 ♠ 1986 Specialized Stumpjumper ♥♣ 1988 Richard Sachs Road ♠ 1991 Bridgestone MB-1 ♥ 1992 Spectrum Titanium ♠ 1995 Guerciotti Cross ♦♣ 1997 Ibis Hakkaluggi ♦ 1997 Richard Sachs Cross ♦ 1998 Cannondale F1000 ♥♣ 1998 Greg Lemond Zurich ♠ 1999 Gary Fisher Sugar-1 ♠ 2003 Richard Sachs Signature ♠

Key   ♠ = road bike ♥ = mountain bike ♦ = cyclocross bike ♣ = gone from the stable for good