John was in Los Angeles recently for a long weekend and spent some time catching up with Jimmy at Fabrica De Rosas, a new bicycle studio in Aliso Village. Read on for a message from Jimmy to his community and a full Shop Visit from John below…
From Jimmy: En Español
¡Que onda mi plebada hermosa! Muchísimas gracias por el interés en este proyecto que viene del mero corazón. Dedicado a todas las personas que se quieren sentir parte de y la banda chakalosa, porque somos un chingo! Simplemente en la Fabrica De Rosas creamos la felicidad a través de una bicicleta. Armamos cuadros ( Más Crust que nada ) estilo Los Angeles California.
Todas las partes son específicamente seleccionadas por su alta calidad, atención a sus detalles, y por las personas que hacen esas marcas especiales. También hacemos reparaciones y actualizaciones de todos tipos. Obviamente estamos muy orgullosos de nuestra cultura y lo demostramos de esa manera. Cuando llegues estás en tu casa y con excitación compartimos nuestras rutas favoritas y si vamos acabamos tomándonos unas micheladas bien combinadas con unos de los mejores tacos del mundo.
Si les toca venir a unos de nuestros eventos siempre escucharan corridos, quebraditas, banda, tamborazo, norteno, cumbias, o de cualquier tipo de música que le gusta a tu tío y por supuesto que habrá una carne asada. Ahora que ya saben, no tienen excusas para no venir a visitarnos cuando estén en Los Angeles. Nos veremos pronto amigazos!
En Inglés
Los Angeles is a plane of asphalt, surrounded by mountains and the Pacific and adorned with an ever-shifting multicultural patchwork. It is a true collage with vibrant cultures, all carving out their own niche and supporting each other. That’s how you end up with Chinatowns, Koreatowns, Japantowns, and growing expanses of Latino neighborhoods and communities.
The part I miss most about Los Angeles, other than the riding, is the diversity of its cycling culture. Both in terms of the activities at large and the backgrounds of the cyclists that show up to events. There have been many times I’ve shown up to group rides, being either the only white person or one of a few in the crowd. Race never felt uncomfortable in these circles since it’s just part of living in Los Angeles.
Having grown up in the South of the United States, this feeling of being the minority was nothing new for me, and it became something I looked forward to being a part of, in a very small way. I met a lot of people who were from LA when I lived there and those friendships grew from a shared love of the bicycle.
Jaime, or Jimmy as myself and others collectively call him, is someone I’ve gotten to know from when he was a young buck doing delivery runs for a local wine shop to being the new guy at a bike shop sweeping floors and doing lunch runs. Eventually, Jimmy worked his way up and became the face of that same shop.
Fabrica De Rosas
When Jimmy’s old shop closed, he found himself in a position where he could meld within one of the many existing shops quite easily, but instead he spent three months in Mexico City discovering more of his culture. During that time, he became motivated to start his own humble shop in Aliso Village, across the Los Angeles River from the Arts District.
This industrial feeling zone provides affordable rent within a warehouse space while abutting a thriving neighborhood, supplying open space for community-driven events and parties. In fact, at the Fabrica De Rosas opening party, many people from the neighborhood showed up with drinks, food, and low riders in tow.
Multi-cultured, diverse, and expansive, abutting large open space—including the almighty Angeles National Forest—are what makes Los Angeles so appealing for cyclists. Guys like Jimmy are the face of a new wave of local shops focusing more on community and less on model year bikes from big companies.
Fabrica De Rosas is a small shop with Jimmy at the helm, and Cache, a contract mechanic, comes in to help out when he’s needed. He also painted a beautiful mural in the alleyway adjacent to the shop! We’ve featured some of the work Jimmy has helped out with before, and we hope to continue doing so in the future.
A Few Builds
When I visit a shop, I like featuring a few builds, usually gravitating towards a customer project and one of the owner’s own bikes. Illustrated here are two Fabrica builds: a customer’s new Crust Bikes Bombora and Jimmy’s own tracklocross prototype. The Bombora features the new “Sea Monster” paint job, an iridescent splash of magenta and purple, reminiscent of a dark and moody sea. This build showcases Jimmy’s close relationship with Cheech, Matt, and Garret from Crust Bikes.
Jimmy specced the build for the customer who wanted to go “all out” with no expense spared. The end result is a stunning example of a modern gravel bike, built with faster-paced rides in mind and carbon ENVE components, powered by SRAM AXS, Zipp wheels, and Ultradynamico tires.
Meanwhile the prototype tracklocross bike was built in Orange County by Devin who used to work for Stinner Frameworks and now builds under Good Times Bicycle Company. The bike is designed around a 700 x 43 mm tire with 120 mm rear spacing for fixed gear or track bike hubs. What made me smile was that the bike features my old “Purple Rain” fork that David from Death Spray Custom painted me years ago. The magenta Phil Wood hubs match the fork perfectly.
While these are two balleur builds, Jimmy also wants to help out the neighborhood’s needs. Fabrica will work on any bike that rolls through its doors. Once the summer picks up, expect more events, group rides, and block parties, but for now, Jimmy is okay with his operations being small and manageable as he finds his footing in the ever-competitive bike industry.
If you find yourself in Los Angeles and want to see a different kind of bike shop, swing by Fabrica De Rosas.
Fabrica De Rosas
159 S Anderson St
Los Angeles, CA
90033
(323) 337-2532
Hours:
Sunday Closed
Monday 12–6 PM
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday Closed
Thursday 12–6 PM
Friday 12–6 PM
Saturday 12–4 PM