Signature Cycles Greenwich to Host Women’s Cycling Information Panel and Networking Night

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Signature

April 4^th Event First in Series of Women’s-Only Clinics

What should I eat before a ride? Why does my saddle hurt? I think I want to race but how do I get started?

Cycling can be an intimidating activity for many women, but Signature Cycles is here to help answer these and many more questions during its special women’s-only “Ladies Night: Women in the Know” information panel and networking event on April 4 at 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Signature Cycles is located at 14 Railroad Avenue in Greenwich.

Women of all levels of experience and ability are welcome and encouraged to attend. Topics to be covered will include women’s health, injury prevention, gear, competitive racing, and more. A field of women panelists will be on hand to answer questions, including:

Ann Ivan – USAT Level 1 Coach, Rye YMCA Fitness Center Director, Age Group Triathlete, 2-Time Ironman Finisher, Cancer Survivor

Carrie Goldkopf – Personal Trainer, Certified Massage Therapist, Nutrition Counselor, Avid Mountain Bike Enthusiast

Clare Zecher – USAT Level 1 Certified Coach, Personal Trainer, USAT Team USA Qualification, Multiple-time Marathon Competitor

Genevieve X. Boulanger – Owner and Founder of GXB Yoga and Pilates. Certified Pilates and Yoga Instructor

Gloria C. Cohen, MD – Specialist in Non- Operative Sports Medicine. Team Physician for Columbia University Varsity Athletic Teams. Former Team Physician to the Canadian National Cycling Team andCanadian Olympic Games Medical Team

Lucia Deng – Co-Captain of the Rockstar/ Signature Cycles Womens Racing Team,Board of Directors of Century Road Club Association

Madeleine Marecki – Member of Rockstar/Signature Cycles Womens Racing Team, Former Division 1 Cross Country and Track Athlete

Abigail Smith, PT, DPT – Owner of Forward Motion Physical Therapy in Westport CT, Adjunct Professor at Norwalk Community College for the Physical Therapy Assistant program. Triathlete and Marathon Runner

Melissa Moo Harkins – Founder of MooMotion Apparel, 3-Time Ironman Finisher, Alumni of Parsons School of Design

The event will include food, drink, and great giveaways. This is an evening not to be missed! Reservations can be made by emailing lori@signaturecycles.com.

Posted on March 16, 2013 by Signature

“Blasphemy, I tell you.” my good friend scolded me.

“Why would a company that built its stellar reputation on a custom platform entertain the idea of offering a non custom product line?” he continued the beat down.

It was a gut check, for sure. I know what attracts me to Specialized S-Works and Shiv offerings. I have seen first hand, while spending time at the mother ship in Morgan Hill, California, the attention to detail in the design, engineering and execution of these fine production bikes. I have ridden all the S-Works models when I could steal time away from my teaching duties at the Masters Body Geometry Fit classes. There is no doubting that Specialized S-Works models deliver something special while cruising the Santa Cruz mountain ranges. Yes, “something special,” is critical in meeting our criteria to offer a product for sale, but is it enough?

It was time to put this decision through the litmus test of our corporate mission.

Signature Cycles is a service based company with a primary goal of offering our clients the best quality products, the highest level of expertise and service, and unparalleled ongoing support.

We create a customer experience that is specifically tailored to our individual client’s cycling aspirations, delivered in a professional manner in which every client is made to feel understood and important. We offer exemplary services and products which ultimately create raving fans.

When put through the test, Specialized S-Works and Shivs meet our criteria and then some. We have chosen Specialized S-Works and Shivs for the quality, innovation and variety the lines offer our discerning clientele.

Our commitment to a Fit First philosophy will never waiver. We believe that your bike doesn’t exist, until we fit you. Specialized S-Works and Shivs, like our other non custom models offered in our current lines, will need to fit first before one will be allowed to roll out the door.

“Blasphemy?” I think not. The only blasphemy part is that we will only be offering Specialized in our Greenwich studio. We sit too close to a current Specialized S-Works dealer in Manhattan and will respect their territory privileges.

So, say it is so. We welcome Specialized to the Signature Cycles family of the world’s best frame and bicycle offerings and are excited to add them to our stable. Please reach out to us in Greenwich when you are ready to see what all the fuss is about and have us check if one of the Specialized S-Works or Shiv geometries fit your positional coordinates.

If you are new to Signature Cycles and haven’t had a Sizecycle fitting, this would be the perfect time to get Fit and dial in your non custom current bike or take the plunge and discover what is special about riding a Specialized.

See our new Specialized S-Works gallery HERE

Paul Levine

Paul’s Zipp/SRAM Dealer Advisory Board Debrief

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Paul Levine

Spending time on a bike in Tucson in February is always a treat. This past week I was one of eight retailers invited to attend the Zipp/SRAM Dealer Advisory Board. The board meets every year to review the state of our businesses and industry, comment on the current Zipp, SRAM and Quarq offerings and get a peak at what is in the test lab forecasted to be on our bikes in the coming 1-4 years. The meeting starts with the formal ritual of filling out the N.D.A’s. So, I can’t share with you what the future will bring at Zipp and SRAM, but I can say that they will make cycling even more enjoyable than it is now, with intuitive improvements to our standard way of how we operate a bike. I am being vague for a purpose, I want to be invited back next year and don’t want to have a lawyer at my doorstep when I get home.

The stuff I can share is not about vapor ware, it is the cool stuff that we can all use right now. Aero bars, power meters and wheels, oh my.

Zipp just released their new Stealth aero bar. A one piece number where the base bar and stem have adjustable ranges fore, aft and pitch to allow the slickness of the one piece shape not to compromise either the aerodynamics of the bar or the adjustable range of the stem. Ingenious. The pads and aero extensions are exactly what we look for in adjustability and range, whereas the broadest athlete and the narrowest athlete can find a nice home for their forearms to be supported. This bar is a winner, both for the athlete and the fitter. Getting you in the perfect position is the first step in setting you up to PR in your next triathlon.

Quarq power meters come in two new versions for 2013, the ELSA and the RIKEN.

Call it what you wish, Quarq started with a clean slate and delivered on a promise to offer ease of use, accurate data and platforms that allow all of the chain ring choices and competitor manufacturer compatibility, leaving nothing else to want in a power meter. The Elsa gives you power balance data, allowing you to monitor your left and right leg efforts. I know that feeling like an astronaut is important to some cyclists, so strap an Elsa on to your bike and take off so you can fine tune your motor like never before.

Tucson isn’t chosen every year just for its glorious sunsets and dry air. It is chosen because nothing is better than looking at the new cool offerings in a board room and then going outside in 70 degree weather and taking the stuff for a rip. It has been a long time coming since we first heard about the new 202 clincher Firecrest at last year’s meeting. Not wanting lawyers on my doorstep, I kept this close to my vest, although there were sightings of the wheel being tested at small events. I waited patiently for my turn, until I could get a pair on a bike and see what all the fuss was about. In the interest of full disclosure, my baseline wheel is the Lightweight Ventoux. In my eyes the Ventoux is the best wheel money can buy for performance, comfort and durability. Yes, they are by far one of the most expensive wheels on the market. However, the holy grail of everything that is great in a wheel comes at a price. Until now.

The 202’s blew me away, without blowing me away. It was windy in the desert but the 202’s stayed on course and gave me confidence to descend the mountain passes without tension or concern that the next cross wind would put my out-of-shape ass into a cactus. I loved the quick windup when climbing out of the saddle and the braking feel was the best of any wheel that I have ridden. If you want the best of all worlds, the 202 is your answer. You get everything and give up nothing. Not to mention you get to keep approximately $2500.00 in your pocket compared to purchasing the Lightweights. Not a bad deal and well worth the one year wait for them to finally come to market.

Now I have to wait, once again, for SRAM’s new category killer to be released. I don’t know why I put myself through this torture every year in Tucson. Call me a glutton for punishment, patience isn’t my strong suit. I guess there are worse ways to spend a week in February than with one of the coolest companies in our industry, chatting with engaging retailers, riding vapor ware and sipping a Martini watching the Arizona sunset.

2012 Bike of the Year Contest

Posted on January 2, 2013 by signature

We had the pleasure of building 200 beautiful one-off custom bikes for our clients in 2012 and each week we chose one of our favorites to feature on our website. Click to see our Pinterest board where you’ll find all of last year’s picks. Now we need your help choosing the 2012 BIKE OF THE YEAR. Take a look and click LIKE to vote for your favorite bike. We’ll be featuring the winner on our website and the winner will receive a pair of Assos Zegho eye protection glasses. Contest ends 1/11/13.

CLICK HERE to vote in our BIKE OF THE YEAR CONTEST

A Great Night at Our Greenwich Studio Grand Opening

Posted on December 28, 2012 by signature

Our Greenwich Studio Grand Opening party this November was a blast and we wanted to share this short video of the night with you. It’s always great to get so many friends, clients and partners together and we want to extend our thanks to everyone for coming out and celebrating with us. Reps from Seven, IF, Guru, Serotta, Parlee, Assos, Rapha, Shimano, Zipp, SRAM and Lightweight were there along with many of our clients. We gave away over $10,000 in prizes in our raffle including a Lightweight wheelset, a Shimano Dura-Ace 9000 group, and a cycling trip to Majorca! It was a great night and we want to thank everyone for showing up. If you missed it, please come by for a tour of our new Greenwich showroom soon – Happy New Year!

Behind the Scenes with Guru’s Ted Matthews

Posted on December 22, 2012 by signature

One of the reasons we work with Guru at Signature Cycles is because they are a no-compromise performance company that sweats the details. Guru is the one company that offers a state of the art custom tri bike that will match up against any manufacturers’ testing in the wind tunnel, while offering the athlete the best fit possible. We recently spoke with CEO Ted Matthews about what makes Guru tick, and what motivated him to step into a second career in the cycling industry.

Guru is based just outside of Montreal Canada, but the company was founded in 1993 by a young Italian engineering student, Tony Giannascoli. The name Guru reflected Giannascoli’s goal to create a handcrafted bicycle company that would be a leader and a guiding creative force in the industry. Though Matthews took over as CEO in September of 2009, he says Giannascoli continues to play a major role in the company and is still “the genius behind much of what we do at Guru”. Continue reading →

Behind the Scenes with Seven’s Rob Vandermark

Posted on December 3, 2012 by signature

Seven’s CEO, Rob Vandermark

With a singular focus on custom built frames, Seven Cycles is a company founded on understanding the individual cyclist and delivering every rider the optimum fit, function and performance. Seven’s passion for custom, along with their mastery of materials, innovation and design, has helped them become the largest custom frame builders in the world. We recently talked with CEO Rob Vandermark about the company’s beginnings, his eclectic and passionate team, and new directions we might see from Seven in next few years.

Though switching careers every two years has become a norm these days, Vandermark says he’s basically had just two paths of focus in his life – sculpture and cycling – which it turns went very well together. While he was a sculpture major in college, Vandermark saw a job opening at Merlin Metalworks where he first learned to build titanium frames. Vandermark says, “Merlin was the innovator in titanium mountain bikes and it was an exciting time in the industry. I love working with my hands, problem solving in three dimensions, and exploring all kinds of engineering conundrums so it was very informative to learn in that environment. The work combined my love of sculpture and bikes.” Continue reading →

Signature’s Gift Ideas for Cyclists

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Signature

Each year around this time, cyclists, their friends, and their families ask us for gift ideas. This holiday season we decided to put together a shopping cheat sheet. Maybe somebody close to you needs a little help when shopping for the cyclist in their life. We find that this list is very effective when “accidentally” left on the kitchen table with desired items circled or highlighted.

Also, don’t forget that Signature Cycles Gift Certificates are available for fits, tune-ups, or amounts in any denomination!

We hope this list helps. Cheers!

Under $500 – Assos Zegho Glasses

Through four years of development, a company that does not make sunglasses decided to make the best cycling optics ever produced. Assos Zegho is a product like no other. The Carl Zeiss lenses with zero distortion provide the best optics you’ll ever experience. Zegho feels like you’re wearing nothing, but provides everything in protection. These glasses allow an incredible view of the road and are the ultimate choice in cycling eyewear. Prices range from $400-$470.

Under $200 – Light and Motion Urban 550 Headlight

With short winter days coming, an effective headlight is a must have to see and be seen. This self-contained rechargeable light creates more light than you would believe could come out of such a small package. Not that long ago, to get 550 lumens of output, you needed a big external battery and an expensive headlamp. Thanks to advances is LED and battery technology, you now can fit 550 lumens in your jersey pocket in case you decide to take the scenic route home! Price: $160

Continue reading →

The Bottom Line on Keeping Your Bottom Warm: Assos 607 Tights

Posted on November 28, 2012 by Signature

Review by Lori Hoefer

Dressing for cold weather riding is a fine blend between art and science. Knowing just what to wear and when to wear it is the art, and having the proper clothing with the right technical fabrics and features is the science.

Over twenty years ago, when I started riding, dressing for cold weather on the bike was more about luck and what’s in the closet. No science, no art….and surely not enough protection.

The last two winter seasons I’ve ridden through the winter using thermal leg warmers. While my knees and legs seemed to stay warm, my hips and bottom side really caught a chill at the start of each ride. But at last I have found the perfect lower body solution for cold weather riding in the Assos Lady’s 607 long tight.

Assos markets the Lady’s 607 tight as an early winter tight. Much attention was placed on comfort, fit and function in the development of this piece. Often women’s cycling products aren’t given the attention or the technical focus that men’s products receive. This is surely not the case for the Assos Lady’s 607 tight.

Continue reading →