Re: [CR]Alex Singer art?

(Example: Events:Cirque du Cyclisme:2007)

To: heine93@earthlink.net
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 2004 23:36:05 -0500
Subject: Re: [CR]Alex Singer art?
From: "Richard M Sachs" <richardsachs@juno.com>
cc: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

i'm replying to jan's post (below) and i snipped out the posts that led up to it. my answers will be more like soundbites cuz i am going horizontal asap. read his post to see what i'm replying to...

1) i wasn't suggesting there are/they were flawed. and i wasn't focusing on asymetric lug edges. i was refering to the execution of the brazing quality and the metalwork. my text most likely seemed opinionated - but i thought hard about it and i said to myself - "e-RICHIE, you saw what you saw. you have a baseline of experience to use as a vantage point. tell it to others who are following this thread." ... and i did!! 2) i am not surprised that e csuka doesn't consider himself an artist. he's too humble to express that in the first person. but what he makes is art. at this point in 2004 it could "even" be considered outsider art, though the ramifications of that are too widespread. 3) he's right. anyone could do this type of work. he's right. few will. the zeal and passion to continue in his/their footsteps are traits that are hard to find - because, bicycles being what they are - everyone would want to put his thumb- print on it rather than respect the line that they (the singer marque) have created. i can't overstate that, for me, the appeal of their frames was how rooted the bicycles were in, (sic), eisenhower era sensibility! i mean that in a good way. 4) good night!

e-RICHIEĀ® Richard Sachs Cycles No.9, North Main Street Chester, CT 06412 USA Tel. 860.526.2059 site: http://www.richardsachs.com pics: http://photos.yahoo.com/bobbesrs rants: http://richardsachs.blogspot.com/

^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^ Jan Heine <heine93@earthlink.net> writes: Richard,

I don't know as much about framebuilding as you do, and I appreciate your opinion. However, if the building process was truly flawed, the bikes would break. I have seen many broken frames, but I don't know of a single Singer that has broken, and I know many people who have been riding them hard for decades. I really think the focus is different there from what we are used to in the US - a modern American randonneur bike with zip-tied fenders and clamped-on racks may have a better-made frame, but to me, the entire bike counts. So if the headlug is filed a bit asymmetrically, I can live with that... (Even though I appreciate my chrome one all the more because it is spot-on everywhere).

As you say, I don't see how this method of making bikes can continue much longer. More and more parts are getting difficult to find, and the amount of handwork is just amazing. Ernest Csuka works most evenings until 8 or 9 pm, his son helps, too, and together, they manage to make 15-20 bikes a year. A new generation probably would have to get cast braze-ons made and streamline production... The bikes still would be amazing, but not the same.

I forgot to mention this in my previous post - to me, the final, and most important part of the experience of having a Singer is the ride. There are few bikes that are as nicely balanced and comfortable. I rode my ca. 1954 bike last weekend on our 200 km brevet. In the lead group also were two racers, on a Litespeed and a Basso (steel? with carbon fork). I felt my bike looked much nicer with its one-piece chromed headlug/tube, the slender fork blades and the little front rack, but that doesn't count much on a long day with cross- and headwinds in the company of fast riders. However, every time we got to a twisty descent with off-camber curves, rocks, etc., the racers lost huge amounts of time, and I had to softpedal for 5 minutes or more until they caught up. On the last descent, I didn't softpedal, but accelerated up the final climb and following relatively flat 8 miles to come in 5 minutes ahead of the other guys.

I am not saying it's all the bike - those racers could learn to descend faster. But I have ridden many bikes, and none are as confidence-inspiring as the Singers. (I haven't ridden a Richard Sachs, but I have heard good things about them...)

BTW, Ernest Csuka does not consider himself an artist. In the interview in VBQ (Vol. 1, No. 1), he specifically said that he doesn't think art and bikes go together. He said that anybody could do a bike like he does. The only problem is that it is a lot of work... I feel that is an understatement, but that is how he expressed it.

Finally, I forgot to disclose that I consider Ernest and Olivier Csuka friends, and that I have been ordering a few Alex Singer bikes for friends and readers of VBQ. So I am far from an unbiased source! -- Jan Heine, Seattle Editor/Publisher Vintage Bicycle Quarterly http://www.mindspring.com/~heine/bikesite/bikesite/