Today, we’re proud to share the hard work of many hands and creative minds over at Team Dream as the brand announces its collaboration with Cannondale. Read on for cycling journalism legend, Zapata Espinoza’s take on this unique Team Dream and Cannondale project!
“Unique.” It’s an often-used word in contemporary pop culture circles often bandied about like a faux badge of courage.
“Brand.” Another word similarly over-used that’s come to represent a “must-have” asset for anything or anyone in dire need of personal/commercial success.
Team Dream Bicycling team is a unique brand. It’s a brand that lives for cycling culture. But equally, cycling counterculture at the same time.
Today you can find Team Dream headquarters inside the Cub House, a small corner shop crowded with bicycles of every kind, in every condition, and in every level of build. Since its inception 13 years ago the Cub House has become a SoCal institution where the torch burns bright for the love of cycling. And most importantly, cycling in all its most inclusive, and freakishly unique manifestations.
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The Cub House is where proprietors Sean and Danny can be found putting their heads together to create everything from cycling kits and water bottles to shop-sponsored bike shows and gravel rides. Out front you’ll find their wizened master mechanic Simon who can recite the thread pitch of a Campagnolo bottom bracket as easily as he can the history of American muscle cars.
Visit their bike shop and you’ll visit a bike shop like no other. It reeks of bike love – all the while wearing a Cheshire Cat-like grin. If there’s no bike or accessory that catches your eye, maybe something from their boutique cactus garden might fit the bill. Yeah, bikes and cacti – go figure!
Recently the boys joined forces with Cannondale to design a unique bike that reflects their truly unique way of thinking about the modern world of cycling. Unique. There’s that word again!
The Team Dream Cycling Cannondale CAAD 14 frameset is about as unique a frame as any you’ve ever seen. And given its limited production run of just one hundred pieces, you might never see one in real life anyway.
This is a frame that reflects Team Dream’s ethos of approachability before fashion. It’s a frame that’s not meant to be bought but built. It’s an aluminum frame that defies the current bike industry standard that says it either has to be expensive to be special, or carbon to perform.
If there’s one thing that is appreciated within the confines of the Cub House, it’s the level of respect paid for cycling legacies earned. They had their reasons for choosing an aluminum frame. Sure, it’s easy to reminisce about the Pro Tour legacy of the vaunted Saeco Cannondale “Red Train”. But for Danny, the aluminum frame wasn’t just an ode to pro racers of old, but his own days long ago spent aboard an aged Cannondale CAAD 5. A bike he once rode with vigor, pride – and nary a hint of apology.
And now CAAD 14. Then as now. Aluminum performance and utility.
The bold finish alone should be all the convincing you need to realize that these frames are unlike any other you’ll see on the road. Let’s first appreciate the two colorways: “Player 1 Red” and “Player 2 Blue”. Simply wild! And then there’s the coy “Righty” and “Lefty” jab found on the inside of each fork leg – those who know, know! Additionally, each one of the 100 Team Dream frames is numbered to ensure its limited-edition providence.
If anything, the Team Dream CAAD 14 frameset reminds us that cycling should be about having some fun with a community of friends on two wheels. It’s about having close calls in traffic, going elbow-to-elbow to the next street sign, jumping curbs, and getting home safe and enlivened.
Cycling is about craving a daily dose of fresh air. That’s exactly what the Team Dream Cannondale CAADS 14 brings.
Pricing for the Team Dream CAAD 14 frameset is $2500 frame and fork. Each sale includes a jersey/bib from the collection.
See the Team Dream and Cannondale capsule collection at Team Dream Team and the Team Dream CAAD 14 at Cannondale.