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2023 MADE Bike Showdown: ALUMIWARS – Beach Club Al Dente Gravel Bike Vs. Ron’s Bikes AluMAX Grav Grav Bike

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2023 MADE Bike Showdown: ALUMIWARS – Beach Club Al Dente Gravel Bike Vs. Ron’s Bikes AluMAX Grav Grav Bike

We interrupt our ongoing MADE coverage with an important announcement!

When carbon bicycle frames were first introduced, the evil carbon fiber bike industry did all it could to bad-mouth aluminum bikes. It took decades, but we’re seeing an abrupt re-emergence of aluminum frames, particularly from smaller cottage industry brands like Beach Club and Ron’s Bikes.

Growing up in the 1990s, it was common for publications like Mountain Bike Action to do “shootouts” between two aluminum bikes. So, we at The Radavist thought it’d be fun to pit two of our favorite companies against each other in a democratic voting process. Check out our ALUMIWARS Shootout Special featuring sneak peeks at the forthcoming Beach Club Al Dente aluminum gravel bike and the Ron’s Bikes AluMAX grav grav daddy bike…

Bike Rides and Block Parties at The Cub House: The 2023 LA Invitational

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Bike Rides and Block Parties at The Cub House: The 2023 LA Invitational

Wowzers… Okay! Sean Talkington of Team Dream coming in a bit late on this one but hopefully it is worth the wait?! It’s been two months since the second installment of the Los Angeles Invitational, a two-day event hosted at The Cub House that included a day of riding on Saturday, then a Bicycle/Car Show and parts swap turned block party extravaganza on Sunday. This started off eight years ago as a half-baked and half-assed excuse to BBQ with friends and sell some old bike stuff. It has somehow grown into a pretty sensational (though maybe still a bit half-assed), fully-loaded weekend for thousands of people to enjoy. I can’t believe we pulled it off again AND managed to do it even bigger this year. Read on for a recap of the festivities, check out the video, and be sure to peruse the stacked gallery of cars and bikes from Traece Craig and Thibault Linossier.

Spotted at The Cub House: CJ’s Salsa Ala Carte Commuter Conversion with White Industries

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Spotted at The Cub House: CJ’s Salsa Ala Carte Commuter Conversion with White Industries

While we love our share of vintage mountain bike builds, dressed with period-correct components, and embrace the patina that has been rubbed in over the decades, there’s something to the resto-mod style of vintage builds. Baskets, racks, modern bars, and the like all add to a bike’s longevity and encourage its use. Plus, a vintage mountain bike just oozes cool and generally is cheaper to build up from a parts bin than buying something brand new. On my last trip to Los Angeles, I was hanging out at The Cub House, avoiding the rain, when Simon, their mechanic, showed me a customer’s bike that rolled in for some TLC, and I had to document it…

The Cub House Builds: Sycip Disc Road with Campagnolo Ekar

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The Cub House Builds: Sycip Disc Road with Campagnolo Ekar

Los Angeles’ cycling culture is full of people who value California-made bicycles. During a week hanging out at The Cub House, I ogled a few bikes that were just too good not too show off as in-depth feature galleries here. My favorite of the bunch was very likely this custom Sycip disc road, built with Campagnolo Ekar, the Italian brand’s official “gravel” groupset. Sycips are super clean bikes, and this one has a beautifully scalloped, segmented seat stay, so let’s check it out in detail below…

Cub House Builds: Jared’s Beach Club Gravioli

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Cub House Builds: Jared’s Beach Club Gravioli

Beach Club is the bicycle brand of Danny Heeley and Sean Talkington, who also run Team Dream Bicycling Team and The Cub House in San Marino, CA. Danny and Sean launched the brand with the Discless Road model earlier this year and followed up with a disc-equipped gravel bike called the Gravioli. While Josh was in town for Team Dream’s 10th-Anniversary Party, he pulled aside an objectively stellar Gravioli build that had just been completed for Jared, rode over to one of San Marino’s most photogenic alleyways, and documented it as you see here. There’s a lot to enjoy about this bike, so let’s check it out in detail below!

Actually, It’s Something Special: Team Dream Bicycling Team Turns 10!

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Actually, It’s Something Special: Team Dream Bicycling Team Turns 10!

Team Dream is officially a decade old. What a trip. To celebrate our big birthday we threw a little party (that quickly became a really big party) at The Cub House here in Los Angeles. Hundreds of people showed up for what turned out to be one of the most amazing weekends in our history. To say it was overwhelming would be an understatement. And when I say overwhelming, I mean it in the best way possible. I’ve never been married but I think the day had big wedding energy. There was so much love and the entire Team Dream team felt like the belles of the ball!

A Weekend at The Cub House’s 2022 LA Invitational

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A Weekend at The Cub House’s 2022 LA Invitational

Los Angeles is home to one of the most diverse and eclectic cycling communities in the world. People from all walks of life have found that the bicycle is by far the best way to traverse this sprawling urban mass, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the San Gabriel mountains. Catering to this community are a number of bike shops, but one of our favs is The Cub House, which over the years has played host to a number of fun events, most notably the bike and car shows! To up the ante this year, Sean, Carla, Danny, and the team at The Cub House hosted the LA Invitational, a Euro spin on the weekend which included big rides on Saturday and the bike and car show on Sunday. John and Josh made it out to the City of Angels to document the people, bikes, rides, and more, so check out a chubby gallery and some words from John below!

The Great Nutter Butter Discovery on Mount Gleason

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The Great Nutter Butter Discovery on Mount Gleason

Whenever I stop riding for a while because of work, or life, or hurting myself (usually while sleeping, etc, etc), I obsess over these big rides that I am going to do once back on the bike. Like many of you, I can easily spend hours looking at maps trying to piece together the “perfect” route. But cycling, like most fitness-based activities, can be fickle. It doesn’t care that you used to do it a lot.

That certainly doesn’t stop a brain like mine from dreaming. So when I saw my 43rd birthday on the calendar, a group text started with some friends. In the past, we’d done some really ambitious rides for my special day, like the ‘Clouds to Cacti’ ride, for example, featured here a few years back.

The Cub House Builds: Sean’s Cösmic Cöw Ultra D Tribute

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The Cub House Builds: Sean’s Cösmic Cöw Ultra D Tribute

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be an “Ultra”. Ultraromance and Ultratradition really have it all: the looks, the tan lines, the grey tires, the lycra, then the wool and the HAIR (don’t get me started on the hair!). Like most of you, I grew up watching these guys on TV and at the age of 15 I REALLY aspired to be the next Ultraromance when I grew up. I used to travel out to all their road races and got to see Ronnie COOL Romance win 8 road races in a single season wearing his stunning Team Wooly Mammoth colors. His category was called Cat 5, which he assured me was high up in the pecking order of athletic accomplishments.

Beach Club Launches with Its Discless Road

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Beach Club Launches with Its Discless Road

Beach Club grew out of Team Dream and The Cub House and offers Made in Los Angeles frames and stems by Darren Larkin

Discless road? Beach Club? This means rim brakes, cus rim brakes still rule and look the best when surfing the Earth’s surface because that’s what matters most right? In essence, this bike is like looking at the bike you remember loving in the early 2000s thru rose-colored lenses; lithe, comfortable, and intuitive, without the annoyances of non-compact gearing and 23c tires at 120 psi loosening your fillings over pavement seams, literally the best of then and now.

These frames are full Columbus Life tubes with Columbus Futura Caliper SL Forks and clear 30mm tires. Each frame is painted with painted logos designed by The Radavist’s Cari Carmean. No decals here. Read on for more…

Team Dream’s Winter Launch Sneak Peek at the Cub House This Weekend!

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Team Dream’s Winter Launch Sneak Peek at the Cub House This Weekend!

If you’re in the greater Los Angeles area this weekend, head on over to the Cub House in San Marino. Our friends at Team Dream are having a sneak peek at their winter launch jerseys and other goodies, along with other festivities, and it looks like it’ll be a hoot!

Here’s the schedule of the weekend’s events:

Cub House opens early at 9:00 am on Saturday
-Pre-Order Jerseys in person
-See the new ‘Nopalitos Hecho en Mexico’ pop up shop by Prickley Pals
-Geaux Party working the grill starting at 12:00
-Toy Drive! Bring a new/unwrapped toy or sports equipment for Spark of Love toy drive!

Sunday Rides
-Danny’s 8 mile lazy Basket ride leaves promptly 9am. Be prepared to snack!
-Sean T’s gravel 40-mile dog loop. Leaves promptly at 9am. With 4,500 ft of climbing, be prepared to sweat!

The Cub House Builds: Sheldon and His Custom Firefly Road Bike

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The Cub House Builds: Sheldon and His Custom Firefly Road Bike

What would your dream bike look like? For the team at The Cub House in San Marino, California, just outside of Pasadena, they specialize in curated, custom dream bike builds ranging from Firefly road bikes like this one to basket bikes and everything in between. One of The Cub House‘s most recent builds was for a customer named Sheldon who wanted to put a bit of himself into this custom machine. We’re lucky to host Sheldon‘s words below, so read on to see what he did and why with this specific build…

Cub House COOLnago Colnago Redo

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Cub House COOLnago Colnago Redo

A couple of months ago, before we were all staying at home social distancing, our customer, John, pulled up to the shop and walked up to our mechanic Simon and I. He mentioned that he had an old bike that needed restoring. Of course, to a bike shop, that can mean anything! Luckily for us, it turned into something truly awesome. After chatting a bit more, we learned that it was a Colnago that John had bought after he graduated college in Arizona.