Richard Sachs is an artist in many ways and trades. I first noticed the frames that he makes, well - not so much the frames as I came upon the mystique and respect that surrounded them. The respect he has earned by being a master craftsman, the mystique comes from... I don't know. But I guess legendary frame builders and mystique goes together by tradition.

Anyway, it was when I came upon the writings of Sachs, small notices here and there, a little longer text sometime, that I realized there was more than metalwork to this guy. He has a way with words, and a thought behind them that shows a sharp intellect. Since I am very prosaic when it comes to frame building, and think there are many, many people that make equally as good frames as he does, I think his writings are actually better than his frame building. There is no framebuilder I know of that says things to the point like him. Which leads to that in this short film Sachs gets to say a few things about his general philosophy, including bicycles of course. I guess you can say the film shows a bit of his philosophy applied to bicycles and a discussion around them.

Also, I'd like to add that Sachs is an artist when it comes to graphical works. Logotypes, text composition, layout work, it's all just excellent. He's an artisan as well as an intellectual and designer, which have enabled him to produce some remarkably beautiful things, big and small, bicycles and all the things around them. Despite I don't actually like the style of bikes he does (I find racing bikes in general quite boring), I have the highest respect for his works and the craftsmanship.

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Imperfection is Perfection

A Film About Richard Sachs and his Bicycles

For nine months in 2007, frame builder Richard Sachs invited film maker Des Horsfield to accompany him through all aspects of his working routine.

Horsfield's film takes an intimate look into the life and mind of the bicycle frame builder as Richard Sachs talks about why he does what he does, exactly as he does it.

The story reveals his reasons for entering the frame building trade, how and why he works only with steel, and why the entities of Sport and Bicycle have remained inseparable to him.

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Encoded with MeGUI
Aspect ratio on 4:3 segments restored (was stretched to wide screen on the DVD which in my eyes look horrible)

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Menu
00:00:00.000                             : Chapter 1
00:03:00.000                             : Chapter 2
00:06:00.000                             : Chapter 3
00:09:00.000                             : Chapter 4
00:12:00.000                             : Chapter 5
00:15:00.000                             : Chapter 6
00:18:00.000                             : Chapter 7
00:21:00.000                             : Chapter 8
00:24:00.000                             : Chapter 9
00:27:00.000                             : Chapter 10