Reportage

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…

This particular Sycip belongs to Matt from SWRVE, a Los Angeles-based clothing company. Matt wanted a drop bar bike with disc brakes and clearance for a bigger tire. Some might call this a gravel bike, but with these slicks, it’s in full-on road mode!

To be fair, LA is the perfect place for a bike of this ilk. With its sprawling city grid hemmed in by standalone mountain ranges, dirt roads that leave from the Hollywood hills and take you to the coast, and hundreds of miles of steep doubletrack in the San Gabriels, there are endless places to take a beaut like this.

We’ve looked at the shop of Jeremy Sycip from years ago, so I’ll spare you the history lesson in lieu of a click-through. The Sycip legacy is rooted in Northern California, Santa Rosa in particular, and the terrain Jeremy has been riding his whole life informs every bike that leaves his shop. Tire clearance is ample (up to 700x40c), stance is secure, and the geometries are dialed in as per his client’s request. Matt’s bike looks like a reliable ally in the dusty, dry, bench-cut roads found in the San Gabriel peaks.

Once he took delivery of the frame, he brought it to The Cub House where Simon, the lead mechanic, dialed it in with a proper Campagnolo Ekar package, Easton cockpit, Wolf Tooth headset, Zipp wheels, Strada Bianca tires, and a sleek setback titanium seatpost.

What I love about the bike is the lovely segmented seatstay, the paint, and the golden Sycip logo that matches the gumwall tires oh, so well…

Build Spec:

Frame: Sycip Disc Road/Gravel
Fork: Enve Gravel
Bar: Easton
Stem: Easton EC90
Headset: Wolf Tooth
Bottle Cages: Wolf Tooth
Shifters: Campagnolo Ekar
Rear Derailleur:  Campagnolo Ekar
Brakes: Campagnolo Ekar Flat Mount
Cranks:  Campagnolo Ekar
Hubs: Zipp
Rims: Zipp
Seatpost:Lynskey Titanium Setback
Saddle: Selle Italia SLR