April 2002--The frame we ordered from Richard Sachs in March will arrive sometime in the Fall.  In the meantime, Richard sent these photos of other riders' frames to show the work that is involved in his meticulous building process.  The amount of work involved in shaping and filing the lugs is obvious--compare the "before" and "after" shots in these photos, and then look at the finished product on his web site, at www.richardsachs.com Not as apparent is the fanatically precise frame alignment, ensured in part by pinning the tubes and lugs together before the final brazing.  Notice too the small details that Richard throws in that you may never see, like the "spade" cut into the tubing and then hidden by the lug . . .

Bottom bracket, awaiting the rear triangle	25th Anniversary head lug, showing the "pinning" process	Seat lug. Check out the roughness of the unfinished lug.	The "spade in lug"	Upper head lug, again showing the pins used to ensure perfect alignment
Rear dropout	Rear dropout--lots . . .	. . . lots . . .	. . . and lots of filing!	Attaching the seatstays
Much finishing work done.	Almost ready for painting by Joe Bell	Meticulous finish work	Look at the difference between a rough seat lug (top row) and this one	After brazing

Watch for more photos later this year as Richard builds our frame.  In the meantime, the eternal flame burns at our Sachs shrine, awaiting the day the frame is delivered . . .