Reportage

Sean’s Beach Club Discless Road

Beach Club. What is it? Are they serious? Rim brakes in 2022? Hot pink and white? Wut in tarnation are those Los Angeles city slickers at The Cub House doing? They’re doing what they want, and to be honest, we dig it. Beach Club began as the side project hustle of Danny Heeley and Sean Talkington from Team Dream and The Cub House. They wanted to make production bikes in the USA for people who still care about rim brakes, steel tubing, and lookin’ good. We already looked at the flagship livery a little while ago, and at the LA Invitational this weekend, John photographed Sean’s build. We think you’ll all agree deserves a full-n-fat gallery on this lovely Monday. Check out more below!

Seeing a company put a lot of time and energy into making a rim brake road bike in 2022 gives me hope in this world. It’s easy to get swept up in the technological march perpetuated by professional cycling, more prominent brands, and bike media. I always enjoy watching framebuilders, and smaller brands direct this careening juggernaut of a bike industry by doing what the people want. Be it plus-sized tires, fat tire road bikes, rigid mountain bikes, and, yeah, rim brake road bikes, it’s usually the smaller companies that can pivot faster, addressing specific niche demands by staying in tune with “the people.”

Beach Club is doing just that, all the while having a bit of fun along the way. The graphics package was designed by my co-worker (I have those now!), Dan Hanafin. Sean and Danny gave Dan some direction, and he went to town.

While the typography is exceptionally well done, I really enjoyed Dan’s illustrations of the Columbus Dove logo and a seagull on a boogie board wearing a bucket hat because, well, why the hell not? These playful Easter eggs really sum up the vibe Danny and Sean were going for with this brand.

Yes, you can ride your rim brake road bike on gravel roads. Since dirt is such a big part of the cycling offerings in Los Angeles, the boys wanted the Discless Road to be able to clear a 28-32mm tire, depending on the rim brake calipers and tire models used, to allow their customers to interconnect any number of dirt paths, fire roads, or even cutty singletrack on their road rides.

Sean’s build is by no means an intentionally weight-weenie build, yet it weighs in at 16lbs while maintaining a bit of panache with the brown suede Titanium Flite saddle. Classy yet modern is an admirable direction for any build, but I was impressed with the overall selection of components here and the inclusion of what is perhaps one of the prettiest saddles ever made. This made in the USA steel chassis was a real treat to shoot and hopefully you enjoyed it too!

Beach Club is a real thing and yes, you can buy a frame direct from them by dropping the boys a line at their website, or by calling The Cub House. Tell them we sent ya!