I'll be honest.  I have a lot of bikes.  I collect vintage lightweights, primarily from the 70's and 80's, but I also have contemporary road bikes and mountain bikes, as well as a few other bike oddities.  I own, or have owned, bikes from all over the world, made from just about every kind of material.  I love my classic bikes, and like riding them, but most of my riding is done on contemporary frames and components because I like the function and efficiency of modern technology as much as I like the tradition of the classic marques.  Of all the various types of frame materials, I still prefer steel as the material of choice for a road frame.  I think steel has the best combination of characteristics, and modern steel tubes offer great feel and light weight, while still being true to the heritage of classic bicycles.

When I decided that I wanted to try and combine my favorite bicycle features and qualities in yet another new bicycle, I was faced with a challenge.  I wanted a traditional, lugged steel frame, but built with contemporary tubing and outfitted with modern components.  I wanted the bike true to bicycle frame building tradition, yet contemporary at the same time.  What I wanted was a "modern classic", but I still had not made the commitment to having something custom built.  I was contemplating my options when Richard offered a couple used "team frames" on the Classic Rendezvous mail list.  One appeared to be my size.  After a few conversations with Richard and a review of the detailed specifications, a deal was struck and, almost instantly, I had a Richard Sachs frame. 

It had a few minor nicks and scratches, but nothing that could seriously detract from the beautiful Joe Bell paint job, in the traditional Sachs deep-red and antique white color-scheme.  It is built with a combination of Reynolds and Dedaccai tubing, and has ornate "Rivendell-type" lugs, with yellow fill to match the graphics.  It has a nice steel fork with a "proper" crown and a threadless steerer.  It's simply beautiful.  I built it up with a Campagnolo 9-speed Record Ergo group and a set of Spinergy Spox wheels, and I had just what I was looking for, a perfect mix of traditional style and contemporary-tech.  (I've since decided to build a more traditional-style wheelset for it, but that's just part of the evolutionary process that all my bikes seem to go through).

The bike still took a little getting used to.  I had been riding a high-end, high-tech, aluminum/carbon fiber wonder-bike for a few months, mixed occasionally with rides on a very modern TIG welded steel-framed bike and on a few of my classic bikes as well.  The Sachs was different.  Not as "twitchy" as my other modern bikes, but livelier than most of my classics.  The more I rode the Sachs, the more I liked it.  It does everything well.  It's comfortable, stable, precise and generally just feels "right".  It has now become my bike of choice, especially for those long Sunday rides I cherish.  It seems that the longer the ride, the more I want it to be on my Sachs!

In the end, I've found just what I was looking for.  My Richard Sachs frame combines all the best qualities into a beautiful, cohesive, functional unit.  Richard preserves the sensibility and artistry of traditional bicycle craftsmanship and couples it to contemporary materials for the perfect blend of form and function.  The result is a perfect Modern Classic that is destined to become a true classic "down the road".