Our Top 6 Items for Fall Riding

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Fall Gear Guide

Fall is in full swing here in NYC. Thoughts of bare-kneed riding are a distant memory as I check my phone’s weather app to see today’s high: 55 degrees. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful weekend. October and November are my favorite riding months here in New York and Connecticut. Aero-race gear is replaced by fenders and trusty hand-built wheels. Cyclocross and gravel grinding bikes begin to appear on the roads equipped with 25 and 28mm tires. Best of all, those extra 5 pounds of “winter weight” become a socially acceptable accessory.

With the weather change, I am constantly reminded of that Golden Rule: “There is no bad weather, just bad equipment.” For many of us, it’s difficult to justify a good pair of winter tights, as compared to a new gadget for our bikes. However, investing in your cold weather gear will ensure a great riding experience for years to come. Here, we offer some of our trusted favorites and also some of the latest, groundbreaking cold weather innovations.

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Winterizing Your Road Bike

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With cold-weather fast approaching, snow, rain, salt, and mud covered roads aren’t too far behind. Winterizing your bike is an important step and one that only takes a few minutes. Good tires are a must for winter riding and no matter what climate you live, thinking about changing out your carbon Lightweight, Enve or Zipp wheels will be of most importance when preparing for winter riding. Let Signature help find the right wheel for you and your bike so your cold weather training does not suffer from winter weather blues.

One wheel that is a versatile and reliable everyday wheel for winter is the Shimano C35 Carbon Clincher. The C35 is made for power transfer and with an extra wide hub, it helps maximize lateral rigidity. The set weighs in at only 1530 grams yet is still light enough that you will not feel the added weight. It has an alloy braking surface for better stopping-power on wet, slushy roads, and its new OptBal rear-wheel spoke system features 21 spokes: 14 on the drive side and 7 on the non-drive side. This enhances rigidity and strength, making a more durable wheel. These Shimano wheels not only achieve exceptional lightness, durability and stiffness, but also have an unmistakably super ride quality.

Winterizing your wheels will help protect your baby (let’s face it…it is a part of your family!) as well as allow for comfortable and safe riding throughout these dark, cold months and will aid the longevity of your full carbon wheels. So, let’s get ready for Old Man Winter so we can get out there and ride!

Shimano C35 Clinchers

Signature Greenwich welcomes Abraham Soler

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It’s not just the leaves that are changing in Greenwich!  We’d like to extend a warm welcome to our new team member, Abraham Soler.  Abraham, who brings 10 years experience in the cycling industry, will be working in our Greenwich Studio.  We asked Abraham to tell you something about himself.  In his own words:

“I was born in Bogota, Colombia and I have been around bicycle wheels and frames since I was a baby in my crib. My father was a professional cyclist who raced in the 1986 Tour de France with the “Cafe de Colombia” Team.

I moved to the US after I finished school, looking for a better future. When I arrived in 2003, I started working in a bike shop as a mechanic and then moved into sales, all while learning English the hard way. At the same time I started competing in the road racing scene in NYC. My goal was to work my way up to be a Category 1 and one day return to Colombia and do a local race, just like my father.  In 2009, I was ranked number 1 Category 3 road racer in the US and in 2013, I achieved my upgrade to Category 1. This allowed me to compete in my first UCI event in Bucks County, PA with the top professionals in the US and get invited to Trinidad to participate in my first international race.

I have been part of Foundation’s Elite Cycling Team in NYC Elite Team for the past 5 years. I currently live in Manhattan with my wife Karen. I am very happy to be part of the Signature Cycles team!”

Please stop by the Greenwich Studio to meet Abraham, or join our 9am Saturday Ride and chase him up a few hills!

Dream Prizes on Offer to Help Build Children’s Dreams in Africa

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World Bicycle ReliefSignature Cycles has been delivering dream bikes to cyclists for the last fifteen years. To many of us, a bicycle is a recreational tool we use to train, race, or commute. We search for the perfect, high-performance bike to chase our dreams and goals. Yet, for many more people around the world, a bicycle is a basic, sustainable form of mobility when mobility can mean the difference between seeing a doctor, getting to school, or making a living.

Signature Cycles has partnered with World Bicycle Relief and set a goal to provide 100 or more specifically engineered, culturally appropriate bikes to a school in Zambia.

The path to this goal involves you – our clients and friends – and a few different approaches to raising funds in order to build and deliver “Buffalo Bikes” to students and workers in a rural region of Zambia.

— The Raffle —

The highlight of our fundraising effort will be raffle drawings for one complete Parlee bicycle, one complete Seven bicycle, and one dream cycling trip to Signature’s 2014 Majorca Spring Training Camp.

Tickets for the raffle are available any time at our Manhattan and Greenwich studios, online at our WBR fundraising site, or at each of our evening events (event details below). This raffle is open to any and all, and you do not need to be present at the drawing to claim your prize. Each entry in the raffle is $134, the cost of a single Buffalo Bike. For every five raffle tickets you purchase, we will better your odds in the drawings by putting a complimentary sixth ticket in the hat as a thank you for helping us meet our goal. As of November 1st, all donations to World Bicycle Relief (i.e. your raffle tickets) will be matched dollar-for-dollar to create double the impact.

Parlee Cycles, SRAM, and Zipp have generously donated one complete Parlee bicycle for the drawing at our Manhattan studio’s event.

Seven Cycles, SRAM, and Zipp have generously donated a complete Seven bicycle for the drawing at our Greenwich studio’s event.

The winner of each bicycle will receive a fitting at Signature Cycles for their new Parlee or Seven.

Buffalo BikeThe drawing for the trip to Majorca will be held at our second evening event in Greenwich, with tickets collected from both events, both studios, and online entries.

All online raffle entries will be evenly and randomly split between our evening events for the Parlee and Seven bicycle drawings.

 

— The Events and Silent Auctions —

Our Manhattan and Greenwich studios will each host an evening event with representatives of World Bicycle Relief, including their Founder, FK Day.

Manhattan: Wednesday, November 20, 6pm – 9pm

Greenwich: Thursday, November 21, 6pm – 9pm

At each of these two evenings will be a silent auction comprised of items generously donated by many of our bicycle industry partners, and others:

Parlee Cycles — Seven Cycles — SRAM — Movado
Assos — Enve Composites — Rapha — Shimano
Osmo Nutrition — Arundel — Chris King — Fizik

The list of items for auction currently totals $35,000 and the list of donors continues to grow. 100% of silent auction proceeds will be donated to World Bicycle Relief. Many thanks to our donors and partners for working with us to help better the lives of others.

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Paul’s New Parlee Z Zero Scores Ten

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I decided to gift myself a new bike after my short hiccup this summer with my surgeries  to correct my occluded external iliac artery. It was time for me to create a whimsical paint scheme to remind myself that I ride because I like to feel like I am ten again. There is no denying it, we all ride because there are only a few things that we do as responsible adults that make us feel preteen and enjoy them as much now as we did when we used to skid in puddles with our Schwinn Stingrays.

At first look at my Parlee Z zero, you can’t get past the deep purple palette trimmed with gold accents. It screams “pop a wheelie” and “this is a great skidder”. This bike goes way beyond a chick magnet, it will turn heads at elementary schools. Parlee nailed the depth of my immaturity right down to the purple matching Enve seat post, stem and handlebars. I might be slow, for now, but I do feel pretty on this bike. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The only thing that is missing is streamers out the back of the handlebars.

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Abilis’s Walk in the Park touches Justin Bagnati’s Family

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DSCF9872I have had many changes as my life has gone on.  I met an amazing woman who is my partner in everything, my wife Kate. We have traveled and had many interesting adventures. We have two amazing children, our first daughter Raven Snow, now 3.5 years, and our second, Wolf Grace, now 16 months. I am a very lucky man.

Wolf is the tiniest little lady, a smiling, magnetizing girl. How tiny you might ask? She tips the scales at 13 pounds 4 ounces, about half the size of her peers. In addition to her small stature she is developmentally delayed.  She started crawling, more like sliding but I count it as crawling, at 14 months. Wolf has an extremely rare chromosome disorder, making her one of less than 100 in the world. It is called “duplication of 10Q”. The way I look at it is her genes are twice as awesome as everyone else’s!

Wolf was diagnosed at 5 weeks old. Fortunately the early diagnosis has allowed us  to do everything we can to give her all the help she currently needs.  The biggest problem for us is not knowing what is ahead since there are so few cases of 10q, and even fewer similar to hers.

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On the Mend, Phase II: Back on the Bike

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For the backstory on this post by Paul Levine, follow this link.

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I have sat on many starting lines in my cycling career, from crits to road races, to European etapes, to countless club tours. I have never been as anxious and nervous as I was today, starting the Saturday morning Hump ride. The unknown is always worse than the known, and I had no idea how my body was going to perform. This was truly the first day of the rest of my cycling future.

Today was two months since my final operation, of four, to bypass my external iliac artery. The day after the last operation I was challenged to use a walker for fifteen minutes. I moved on quickly to a cane and then went sans cane five days later. My thoughts were would I ever be able to ride my bike again and if so, would I be able to ride with my same group at the Saturday ride. I thought about the Hump ride for two months and visually road the course figuring out the best way to effectively stay in the group with the least amount of effort. We all know that no two rides are the same and the dynamics of the ebbs and flows of the pace is determined by several unpredictable factors. The best I can plan for would be to be aware of my redline and use my energy sparingly. Considering that I have been off of a bike for three months, I had no idea if I had any matches to burn. The strategy to ride with the “A” group was a crap shoot, hence the butterflies in my belly this morning.

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Signature Cycles Partners with World Bicycle Relief

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$134 Buys A Dream Bike!

Signature Cycles is proud to partner with World Bicycle Relief, a not for profit organization that makes transportation available by providing dependable, durable bicycles to the people of Zambia.
Through the power of the bicycle, those living in the rural villages of Zambia have access to healthcare, education and economic opportunities. $134 is all it takes to purchase a “Buffalo Bike” which is designed to carry loads up to 200lbs and navigate the rugged terrain.

Join us on Wednesday, November 20th (NY studio) and Thursday, November 21 (CT studio) for an Extraordinary Evening of Making Dreams Come True – a fundraiser to support the efforts of World Bicycle Relief. Signature Cycles has created the goal of buying 100 bicycles and providing an entire village school with viable, dependable transportation. The events will run 6pm – 8pm.

Your generosity will be rewarded with opportunities to participate in a silent auction with various premium items including a Spring Training Camp in Majorca, Spain and a custom frame from Seven Cycles. SRAM will be providing the complete build kit for this beautiful bike. More exciting auction items will be added as the event approaches!

If you are unable to attend our events you can make a donation by stopping by the Manhattan or CT studios.

Learn more about WBR here.

Signature Cycles NYC Winter Body Maintenance Clinic

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Signature Cycles Manhattan
Thursday, October 17, 2013 from 6-8pm

Signature Cycles’ Jim Cooper, (NASM (CPT/CES), NCSF (CPT) Functional Movement Screen, USA Cycling) will host a Functional Movement and Simple Stretches presentation with Q&A. By identifying the often overlooked key cyclists’ muscle groups, Jim will help you discover some of your weaknesses, and more importantly help you get ready for a healthy and injury free spring. Please note, this is an interactive clinic. Athletic apparel is advised.

Please RSVP by October 10 to stacy@signaturecycles.com

*Event is limited to 12 participants

Hector Picard Round Two

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In July of 2011 we had the pleasure of working with the I Will Foundation athlete, Hector Picard. Designing a bicycle for a double arm amputee presented some interesting challenges that we were excited to tackle. A blog post detailing the unique solutions to overcome these challenges for his first bike can be found here. This past May, misfortune struck Hector when his custom bicycle was stolen from the back of his car in Florida.
A collaborative effort between Signature Cycles, the I Will Foundation, and generous industry partners got Hector back on the road as soon as possible.
Thanks to Seven Cycles, Shimano, Zipp Speed Weaponry, and the I Will Foundation,  Hector was able to get a replacement bike made so that he could get get back to riding.