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I LOVE riding this bike. it just feels dialed in, and the geo fits me like a glove. I have found myself with several road bikes, but this is the one I like most. so here are some photos and musings about a new Beach Club/Ron’s road collaboration. 

so I have been riding road bikes a whole lot this year. I think it comes mostly from trying to get as much in as I can with the short daylight and long work days– at least lately, but in the summer time too, I find myself reaching for the air conditioned speeeeed and all day distance that the modern road bike provides. when I say modern road bike, I mean at least 700×30. thats what this bike maxes out on. but not out of the box …. the Columbus fork that came stock on this bike only cleared a 28, and I had to slide the wheel down to the lawyer tabs in order to squeeze in the 30.   

I never liked the sculpted look of the Columbus for either, so I set up an eBay watch for a WoundUp — with fingers crossed it would fit a 30. well I got one, and it did. and dang what an upgrade in ride quality too! that Columbus carbon fork was braced weird and meant to be aero over comfortable — something that is best left for disc bikes. the wound up is just what the doc ordered in this case. wish it were painted to match though…. maybe some day. 

if you are a carbon fork person, I would highly recommend the ol’ made in USA wound up. I sued to really make fun of these forks when they were “current” for being too low tech looking and not light enough, but now that lugged carbon has aged well. and these are still made in Tennessee or something. I emailed them last year to try and get a wider crown, center pull mount version made for the Alumax frames, but they actually said they were too busy with increased demand. its one heck of a product, but I must say I am surprised by that.   

so Beach Club is the brand of a friend of mine out in San Marino California. you might know the brand — Team Dream. the associated shop is one of the best in the country IMO called the Cub House. especially if you are a fun roadie. so these bikes get made by Darren of Larkin cycles in Deep River CT. 

Beach Club and I have been talking about the improvements I would make on a bike like this in order for it to be some kinda collaboration. the rim brake road bike is the only road bike that needs existing, but for many it takes convincing … Sean and Beach Club have moved onto disc versions, but you know what I like … thats why you are here!

my biggest critique of my beach club rim brake road bike is that 30 is the biggest it will go. 30 is huge by old road standards, but the smallest us at ultradynamico make is a 33. and while 30 is a really great size I must say — it is also a hotly contested market by all of the big tire companies. why would we bother when there is a tire like the Vittoria Corsa Pro on the market? our 33 is insane though — at only 265g it is a true ballerina slipper — although I would say these corsas are luxurious, the cava is a trance inducing flotation experience when ridden under a skilled rider. if you can only do 30 though, these new corsa pros are a rubber sniffers must. electronically vulcanized cotton casing lol. 

I want a road bike that can do more though. the funnest rides for me of the past summer were the adventure road rides. the all day 100 mile plus jaunts way far away and into new corners of Connecticut I’d never seen before. often times these routes require some dirt and light trail in order to make connections and keep it rural… a 33 is really nice for this sort of ride. the ones where you don’t really know what to expect. Plus the pros ride 30-33 now a days, so why not us???  

as you can see here, the campy skeleton brakes clear the 700×30 just fine and then some, and if they were loved up a little with a cm or so increase in the axle to crown, you’d be able to 33 on short reach calipers. it wouldn’t take much! I can actually fit a 33 safely on the CAAD 12 fork under a skeleton brake. so we could go that route, and just bump up the bridge in the rear a little. hmmmmm. easy enough. 

the other upgrade would be a painted to match and built by the builder steel fork. the rim brake road bike should not have a carbon fork — instead it should have a light (for steel) and compliant (much more than carbon) steel fork. if you are into rim brake road bikes, chances are steel forks are your thing too. what we want is the highest quality/highest performing non carbon road bike with ample tire clearances that can be made. it must be light and snappy. it must be bone simple and timeless. 

I initially really wanted to do direct mount brakes for options like the ee brakes. I love these brakes and have always wanted some… but then my mind shifted to mid reach brakes. if we were planning on 33 as a minimum, then why not go for 35 and even 38?? we have a 700×38 cava that I certainly wouldn’t mind having as an option with this bike… but then what about the ee brakes? well these mid reach ee brakes doooo exist (check out this thirst trap), but from what I understand these were kinda a 1 time deal.

so I have mid reachers on a few bikes, including the original build of my Rondini, Arya’s Weigle, and my Crust Maloccio — I have taken these bikes to the limits both here and out west in the big mountains — and you know what …. just like short reach caliper brakes, mid reach caliper brakes work good to great! more than adequate stoppers, low maintenance, easiest set up, and light weight. okay, we are doing a mid reach road bike. 

the other thing I want to change is I want there to be slope in the top tube for more post and more cantilevered saddle resulting comfort . now don’t get me wrong, I am a trad geo fan too — but when it comes to tig welds, I think things should look fast and tactfully modern. this makes for a more comfortable bike with less tubing so that weighs less and is stronger. you could go on and on. the flex and vibration dampening from an unsupported post is something anyone could benefit from on a long and unexpectedly unpaved “road ride”.

the fork will be a skinny blade unicrown. Darren will begin my prototype after the holidays. thanks for reading!

Ronnie