Help Wanted!

Posted on October 22, 2012 by Signature

Hi All,

As some of you may have heard, Grant has recently announced his imminent departure from Signature Cycles this coming January, as he moves south to Nashville, Tennessee to take over management of a high-end vintage car restoration and fabrication shop called the Greening Auto Company (www.greeningautocompany.com). Of course, we’re very excited for him, but his absence will be felt immediately.

From Paul Levine, Signature’s Founder and CEO:

“Grant is starting a new chapter in his life and moving south to run a custom car shop. Grant is my first employee and has been with me every step of the way from working in my garage to becoming the top custom bicycle salesperson in the world. Grant will be missed, both personally and professionally.”

On that note, Paul is wasting no time in beginning the grueling process of combing through the inevitable flood of well-qualified applicants for the new position that will open up, as Blake steps into Grant’s role as head fitter, and Caffery steps away from internal operations and begins to fit and sell customers their dream bikes.

The following ad will appear in a few places, and we wanted to pass it along to our more immediate following to help get the word out:

Signature Cycles in Manhattan, NY provides a professional alternative to the traditional bike shop experience. We are seeking a multi talented professional Sales/Fitter to challenge us and make us better. This is a perfect career opportunity for the right person who wants to create exceptional customer experiences.

Qualified applicants must:

Have minimum 3 years experience successfully fitting and selling premium products
Have extensive knowledge in road and triathlon equipment
Possess superior organizational skills
Use a to-do list to achieve excellence
Have mechanical aptitude
Have excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrate effective communication
Love making dreams come true for our clients

Competitive wage and benefits based on experience, ability and negotiating skills.

Email resumes or inquires to: signaturecycles@gmail.com, or call 845-978-6933.

Doors Open at New Greenwich Studio Location

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Signature

Stop in and check out our new Greenwich Studio location! Starting today, Tuesday October 9th, we are open for business at 14 Railroad Ave Greenwich, CT. Improvements and amenities include: better parking, onsite shower, Metro North station convenience, easier access to I95, improved service and fitting facilities, and great local food. Stay tuned for more info on our Grand Opening Celebration!

High Visibility and Exceptional Performance

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Signature

As much as we’d like to deny it, our shifting seasons mean not only colder temperatures, but shorter days, as well. Early morning and evening rides are often in dusk or darkness. If you’re instincts for self-preservation are in tact, lights and brightly-colored apparel are smart choices. As pioneers in technical apparel, Assos and Rapha each offer a wide variety of High Visibility (“HiViz”, in industry-speak) articles for cycling, and Signature Cycles is excited to offer the best from both this Fall and Winter season.

Read on to learn about a few of our favorite HiVis pieces!

Continue reading →

Fall Foliage Ride 2012

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Signature

October 21st

Signature Cycles Greenwich

Our favorite ride of the year is the ever-popular Signature Cycles Fall Foliage Ride. This year the 3rd Annual Fall Foliage Ride is scheduled for Sunday, October 21.

The scenic 40-mile ride through Fairfield and Westchester counties will begin at Signature Cycles new Greenwich location at 14 Railroad Ave. The incredibly scenic ride will wind its way up to Armonk, NY with a rest stop at Adopt A Dog. After a brief refueling, riders will ride back to Greenwich on some of the best roads the area has to offer.

Ride leaders will accompany various groups accommodating paces starting at 13mph and up. Road bikes are required for all group riders. Cue sheets will be available for any riders wishing the tackle the route on their own.

Registration begins at 7:15am at Signature Cycles, 14 Railroad Ave. A $25 donation will go directly to The Greenwich Boys and Girls Club and to Adopt A Dog to support their untiring efforts to better the lives of families, children and pets in our area.

RSVP/Questions : lori@signaturecycles.com

Behind the Scenes with Serotta’s Howard Berkowitz

Posted on October 1, 2012 by signature

Serotta’s Howard Berkowitz

Serotta has pioneered almost every custom bicycle frame innovation over the past forty years. They have always set the bar for accuracy, build quality and finish for all others to compare. In May this year Serotta made a big shift as interim CEO Howard Berkowitz stepped in for founder Ben Serotta. Ben continues with the company focusing on their creative vision and innovation, and now that Berkowitz has taken the helm, we wanted to learn more about him and the direction he’s looking to take Serotta.

At 47 years old with 25 successful years in corporate sales and management, Berkowitz considers himself the black sheep of the family. He comes from a family of teachers, doctors and nurses, so moving up the ranks working with Fortune 500’s wasn’t exactly the track he was expected to follow. It turns out that ultimately the work he found most exciting had something to do with making a difference for others anyway. At his previous position with Zimmer, a medical device distributer, he found himself consulting with physicians, observing hi-tech surgeries and even meeting patients. Continue reading →

Passoni Behind the Scenes

Posted on September 27, 2012 by signature

Matteo Cassina

Earlier this year Signature became one the first US studios to offer the exclusive Italian bicycle line, Passoni. Passoni manages the details of finish and ride qualities that open a door to the possibilities of bicycle form and function that were never available before. Luxury, art, performance, the perfect dance partner…clearly it is Italian. We spoke with partner Matteo Cassina and Chief Operations Officer Danilo Colombo recently about what makes Passoni the experts in both elegance and high performance.

Cassina explained that well before he invested in Passoni, he had admired the beauty of their bicycles. As a 19 year old he remembered seeing his uncle’s Passoni and falling in love with it. He wanted one right then but his father said “When you have your own money, you can buy one for yourself.”

Passoni’s heritage of style and excellence

Continue reading →

D2R2 2012: The Rugged and Scenic Deerfield Dirt-Road Randonnée

Posted on August 20, 2012 by signature

This weekend Signature’s own Justin Bagnati rode the D2R2 (Deerfield Dirt-Road Randonnée ) with about 1,000 other cyclists on a summer day that couldn’t have been more perfect for this event. The D2R2 was conceived in the 1990’s as a favorite dirt road loop in the hilltowns of Franklin County, Massachusetts. Organized as an event in 2005, it’s hailed as one of the hardest, most scenic, most traffic-free rides around. According to ride designer Sandy Whittlesey, the idyllic quality of D2R2 is no accident: “We designed D2R2 by placing pins in the map where the covered bridges and coolest sights were, then connected the dots with dirt roads. When the ride was originally developed we expected it to be nothing more than a quirky event for the fringe cyclists known as “randonneurs”. However, the event got national press, with riders raving about how fun, challenging, and beautiful it was.”

Justin Bagnati (3rd from left) with friends at D2R2

D2R2 riders choose from five distances: 40 mile, 100K, 115K, 150K, and 180K. Lots of families and those looking for a relaxed ride choose the 40-mile Green River ride which is about 50% dirt roads, mostly flat and twists along the beautiful Green River. The 100K offers a real back road challenge with LOTS of hills, and the 180K (112 miles) is considered one of the hardest rides in the country with 11,070 feet of climbing. Continue reading →

July 4th Hours

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Signature

All locations of Signature Cycles will be closed on the 4th of July. We will be riding our bikes, grilling some food, and watching some fireworks. We apologize for any inconvenience!

Going Local – Getting Personal

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Paul Levine

From farmer’s markets to urban development, the discussion about sustainability and buying local is a hot one. The bicycle industry is inherently green, but long before sustainability and buying local was trendy, I knew I wanted to focus Signature Cycles around local partnerships. Back in 1999, I saw that creating the best custom built bicycles was about creating personal relationships – both with the best manufacturers and with our clients. What’s drawing people to the buy local movement is the sense of confidence and trust they feel when they actually know where a product comes from, who made it and how it’s made. It’s about transparency and going back to old values of real craftsmanship, whether we’re talking artisan cheeses or handmade bicycles.

Continue reading →

Dream Cycle

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Paul Levine

I have been a cycling wannabe before clipless pedals were a mainstay in road cycling. I would show up with the other twelve or so wannabes in Florida, NY every Saturday to play on our bikes and pretend to be fast. The Orange County Bicycle Club was created because we thought a club name would bring us closer to our dream of making our play relevant.

This tradition has developed over the past twenty years and it is not unusual to have 100+ cyclists show up for a Saturday ride. Like all clubs, we break up into smaller groups, so within your group you can always feel like you are still fast amongst your peers. No matter how fast we think we are, in the back of our brains we know that we are playing little league. We dream of beating our buddies up the hill, racing for the town line and just once taking the field sprint. We hold on to those dreams. It brings us out every weekend, year after year.

Dream cycling goes on all over the world. We shot this video of our Double A group playing on a beautiful fall Saturday in Orange County. I am the wannabe with the Rockstar kit and Team Rockstar Parlee. Because as all pretenders know, looking fast is better than being fast, even though it is best to be both.

Produced by the Cavallaro Group