Originally Posted by
Andy_K
I didn't expect this line of exploration. As it happens, just two days ago RS shared an old article in which he gave some kind of explanation of why he had not taken apprentices. It had something to do with his own inability to answer the question for himself why one frame that he made was better than another, in spite of him striving to make both as good as he knew how. As squirtdad said, "Richie gets quite contemplative" (a generous way of putting it, IMO). The answer about not taking apprentices was like that. I'm pretty certain he knew what he meant. I'm much less certain that I know what he meant.
I hadn't considered the apparent disconnect between him not having apprentices and his complaint about others not keeping the flames alive, but given how close these two topics were in his feed, I would be surprised if he had not made a connection between them.
Many craftsmen see and utilize apprentices as cheap labour and use them as such. Telling them to file lugs for a year before allowing them to braze on their first cable stop as a example. The reality is lugged frame building can be taught in a fairly short period of time especially to someone with a bit of metalworking experience or a strong mechanical aptitude. There are numerous respected courses available including one taught by Paul Brodie which are 2 weeks in length or slightly longer. This skill is much too basic to base an apprenticeship on. The difference between a highly experienced frame builder and a newbie is the amount of time required to build the frame, the end product would be virtually identical especially in performance and ride.
Your comment how one identical bike would ride different than another confounding the builder is nothing but frame building lore and completely ridiculous. They know more than anyone that the business is based on nothing but marketing bs. Yes Sachs bikes can be beautiful however underneath the paint, subtle graphics and well finished joints they ride and perform like any other bike made of the same materials.