surveyor's ridge

It was so hot this weekend! Liz and I were in the gorge at Brandon & Renee's beautiful wedding at the Maryhill Museum. It had to be over 100 degrees up there! In the morning Liz and I did an out and back on Dog River. It's a pretty steep climb for single speeds, but we managed. That's right "we". Liz is a new member of club singlespeed, and this was her first weekend on the new rig. Sunday we met up with Greg, CJ, Roll, and Devin with her new signal mountain bike, and rode Surveyor's Ridge trail. On the way up there we ran into Scott R's bachelor party crew and we all rolled up the trail. The heat took it's toll on us, but we managed to put in a pretty fun ride (if you don't believe me, just look at that photo again).

posted by matt at 8:28 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Pete's cross bike

I picked up Pete's single speed cross bike from paint today. It looks beautiful. You may remember the paint scheme from our NAHBS cross bike but it is a little different. The colors are slightly different and the logo is white with black outlines that really pop off the color bands. We also included on the down tube an image of our old friend Brett J. Pete and Brett were usually neck and neck in the single speed cross races and Pete wanted a little something special on his race rig to remember the battles. When fall comes around this bike is going to get plenty dirty. We are all looking forward to it. Thanks for stopping in.

posted by nate at 11:32 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

Lugged touring bikes all around

We started another touring bike today. Barb is going to be riding around this beauty with a carbon fork ready for long reach road calipers, fenders and a rear rack. She has spent thousands of miles in the saddle and really knows what she wants when it comes to bikes and we are having fun being specific with this build. We are really looking forward to a few bikes that will be coming back from paint in the next week or two and will post photos as soon as we can. I can't wait to see Pete's cross bike. It is getting a paint scheme that Matt and I have really started to love for our cross bikes. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talking about.

posted by nate at 10:52 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Mountain bikes=good times

I got my mountain bike running! Pete, Marlia, Brian T, Bridgette, Liz and I got up to Hood River on Sunday. The plan was to ride surveyor's ridge, but a friend who lives up there told us that it was still un-ridable, so we rode 8 mile and Knebal springs instead. It was a beautiful day, and after a few (sorry guys) on trail adjustments to my freshly built up bike, we rode some of the most fun singletrack in the area. I've often said that if I were only able to ride one bike, it would have to be a mountain bike. There is no better biking than railing a left-right turn on some pine needle singletrack at about 25mph. The ride pace was mellow but I had a 36x18 gear on (lack of planning) and after the first hour, I was hurting pretty bad. Luckily the climbs all have the best payoff and the final trail to the car is the best of all. I was following Pete brakeless down the last trail following a creek with a huge smile. My bike was perfect, the trail was perfect, the company was perfect. Another successful ride. I'm waiting for my cool wheels to come in before I shoot pictures of my bike. I'll post some soon. I promise.

posted by matt at 7:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

nestucca river road

Yeah, the ride to the beach was awesome! I asked a bunch of people to go thinking that it would end up just being me and Liz, but we rolled out of Portland 9 strong. Sunday was what feels like the only day I've seen the sun since I was back in Florida in April. We had a pretty mellow pace, and only got honked at by one car on the highway to Carlton. From there it was a steady climb to the top. Andrew turned around at the top of the climb, he wasn't intending to go the whole way to Pacific City. He did great considering he never rides his bike and his seat was about 3 inches too low. The rest of us descended down the coast side of the range, into the ferns and water. That road is so nice, and we only saw a few cars and motorcycles. There's a brief section of gravel somewhere in there and then we came to Beaver Oregon. After as many one-liners as we could come up with, we held our breath and got on 101 for the last 12 miles or so. That is where I was attacked by sudden bonkage. Everything was going along fine and all of a sudden I turned to John and said "My check engine light just came on". I stopped where there was no shoulder and people handed me food that I crammed down my throat. I hung out there for a couple minutes and found the energy to make it the rest of the way. After 95+ miles we made it to the Pelican Pub on the beach of Pacific City. I drank a couple really good beers and felt a lot better. Thanks to everyone who came: Lucy, Elizabeth, Erin, Matt Hall, John, Roll, Brandon, and Andrew. That was a super fun ride with a great crew. Roll and I want to do the Banks-Vernoina to Astoria next time.

posted by matt at 9:47 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

siouxon creek

Yesterday Nate, Liz, Brian, Jennifer and I piled into Brian's car and drove up to Washington to Siouxon creek trail. I've never been up there and was excited to see some new trail. I can't believe how beautiful it is up there! The massive cedars and firs created a trail surface best described as pine needle carpet. The ferns lining the trail polished my shoes, Brian called it "fern burn." We had a pretty slow pace and stopped to enjoy the views fairly often. It was a nice way to spend Sunday.

This week in the shop we're finishing up Caroline's frame and fork and we're getting ready for the next few bikes. Barb's touring bike, Kevin's cross bike, and Drew's road bike. We'll do our best to show the progress here.

Thanks for reading.

posted by matt at 6:31 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

We're rollin

It's been awhile since I've posted here so I thought I would give everyone out there a glimpse of the last week or so. Autumn's bike got some new shiny parts installed that she was not expecting (see facial expression in photo) and she rolled out the door one happy individual. As soon as the ankle is healed up she will be putting this bike in its place.

Pete Z's single speed cross bike is done and will go to paint this week along with a new Alpha Q cross fork to be painted to match. Look for Pete and his cross rig this Fall gettin dirty.

We got started on Caroline's touring rig this last week. This could turn in to one detailed project with custom rear rack brazed to the frame, fork and maybe a front rack and custom stem too. Fun project for sure. We'll get some photos posted as the frame comes together.

Check ya later.

posted by nate at 1:17 PM 4 Comments Links to this post

It's hot

Yesterday it was like four hundred degrees outside. I may be exaggerating a little, but it sure felt warm. We've been used to 50 degrees and rain for the last six months, and then we're thrown into a record high day without any adjustment period, it makes people crazy. Crazy enough to decide to do a 30+ mile mountain bike race. Liz and I are heading to the bear springs MTB race tomorrow. I remember how much that race beat me down last year, and here it is again... time to suffer. And I just checked the forcast for next week... rain and 50 degrees.
In the signal shop, we got Autumn's bike back from Coat and it looks rad! All white with red logos and this is the first painted bike with our new dropout. The paint really highlights the little scallop on the chainstay, it looks good. real good. The bike is going to get built up next week and we'll post more pictures then.
We finished up Pete's singlespeed cross bike during the heat wave 2008. It's got the swoopiest s-bends we've done yet. You're sure to see this bike on the front end of any cross race this fall. Pete is one of the most modest guys you'll ever meet. He'd never brag about how fast he is... so we will. He's fast!

posted by matt at 8:04 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

and the winner is...

You kind of have to squint a little, but yeah Michael Jordan won the raffle at the Brett Jarolimek memorial fund raiser. Of course this MJ is not quite as good at dunking a ball from the free throw line, but he is very excited about the whole process of having a custom bike built for him. It sounds like we're going to make a cross-ish city-ish bike. We're going to get him all fit up and get a cool bike built. Lucky guy...

posted by matt at 5:25 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

platinum!

I got a call on Friday from Jay Graves (owner of the bike gallery). He told me the top secret news that Portland was going to be named a platinum level bike-friendly city on Tuesday. He asked me if I could put a trophy together for the event to use as a symbol of the award and I said "of course!" As soon as I hung up the phone, I thought "why did I agree to that? I've got no time to do this." So I went to work Saturday at the bike shop, picked my parents up from the airport Saturday after work, hung out Sunday with mom & dad, Then began to work on the trophy Monday morning (Monday was my birthday...happy birthday to me). I ran to goodwill and picked up some metal things, swung by the bike shop and picked up some more metal things, and went to the garage and started to stick them all together. I think Nate found all of this to be pretty entertaining. I was obviously stressed out and as the trophy emerged out of the junk I collected, it started to crack me up how ridiculous this whole thing was. Somewhere in the middle there the trophy fell on the concrete floor and broke in half. I used that opportunity to braze a signalcycles serial number on the underside of the award. When It was all done, Liz came home and I showed her the "platinum" trophy, we both laughed. I was pretty embarrassed, but felt like I had to give it to Jay, because I said I would. The next morning I ran to the store and got some moss and turned it into a planter. Jay picked it up around 9:00 and said he liked it. I apologized and said that he could use it, but that he didn't have to if he didn't want to. The next morning I picked up the paper and saw a photo of the funny little trophy. It didn't look quite as bad as I remembered...

posted by matt at 9:03 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

These are the last touches before frames head to the painters. Stainless serial number plates that will be brazed under the bottom bracket. The actual serial numbers were made using a pantograph courtesy of our favorite machinist friend, Brett Flemming. This is old engraving technology for sure, but it is a fun machine to run and the slight cutting depth changes seen in the letters gives it a human element that stands out next to the perfect laser engraved Signal logo. Sweet.

posted by nate at 10:47 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Geared dropout finished with stainless badge and dropout ring. I think these will really accentuate the scallop created when the flat dropout meets the round chainstay. When the frame is painted these polished pieces will really pop. And Autumn, this one is going on your bike.

posted by nate at 9:59 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

dropouts

We finally got the dropouts back! They came out real nice. We're busy putting them in some cool new bikes that should be ready to paint by early next week. We're trying to keep our flickr page curent, so that's a good place to look at if you're interested in pictures of bikes and bike related things. What's with this weather? I tried to cram all the outdoor activity I could into yesterday due to the impending "winter snow storm 2008 part 2" that is supposed to happen this weekend. I'm so ready to ride without gloves and 2 jackets... But that does make working in the garage a little easier (less distraction).

posted by matt at 1:01 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

jarolimez!

May 1st is the Brett Jarolimek memorial fund fundraiser. We are proud to be a part of the event and are donating a frame for the raffle. I've been missing Brett's smile and laugh so much this past winter. His joking had a way of making the rain a little more bearable. I was riding alone in the west hills last week and kept thinking about rides we shared up there. The spot where took a pitstop and then still managed to pass me before we got to skyline. The spot where he said "hey watch this" as he tried to motor up a shortcut and snapped his chain. I'm so glad that I got to share a lot of rides with Brett, and I wish I'd been able to do more. Mark your calender: May 1, 2008, 7 pm at the downtown Bike Gallery. The Portland State University Cycling team is taking the lead in making this happen, and lots of Brett's friends are donating time and goods to help the fund. The fund has been created to:" 1) enhance motorist awareness and education, 2) enhance the awareness, visibility and education of bicyclists, and 3) enable bicycle safety infrastructure projects on a selected basis." The BTA is managing the fund, and is always ready to take donations. Buy a lottery ticket and you could win a custom signal bike! Check out this page to find out more news about the event and to pre-buy raffle tickets.

posted by matt at 8:12 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

We're back in the Signal shop today doing some final work to Gabe and Devin's front triangles. As we wait for our dropouts to get finished up, we are trying to do everything we can so when they show up we can hit the ground running. We finished the frame drawing and ordering tubes for Autumn's road bike. That bike is going to be light! This is the front end of Gabe's single-speed crossbike. It has carved stainless lugs which will be beautifully brushed. Stainless is a lot of work but is very rewarding to see the progress as you go through the brushing and polishing steps. Lunch blog time is over for us. Back to work.

posted by nate at 1:46 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

I'm learning all kinds of things about websites...

...but won't bore you with the details. I am learning how to update our site, and keep things looking fresh. It should be easier to post pictures in the future. Of course there are the bugs to work out, but it's coming together. Not too much activity in the shop this week. The bike shop is having it's big spring sale and we're plenty busy helping out there. Nate and I had a chance to get a road ride in together on Monday (something that rarely happens). He was killing me up Saltzman and also up Old Germantown! Of course I had to play it cool and act like it was no big deal, but he was drilling it! We were coming down Germantown to the St. John's bridge, not pushing it at all (it was pretty wet) and I heard Nate hit the deck on one of those really tight left hand turns. He jumped up and got off the road pretty quickly and we had a look at the bike and him. Nate has a HUGE raspberry (or is it strawberry?) on his hip, and some tore tape, but that was about it. That road has delivered it's fair share of road rash, be careful out there people! Well I'd better get to the shop, those fenders and racks aren't just going to install themselves !

posted by matt at 11:23 AM 2 Comments Links to this post

a few days ago we worked with a friend(mike hills is cool)taking some photos of the bikes that would do them justice. did you notice the raw painters canvas acting as the backdrop of the current photos? the shots that are on the website now are from the night before NAHBS when matt and i were running around trying to settle loose ends. the photos of bikes to date will be posted in their entirety in the next few days but while you wait we thought we would give you an idea of what is to come. here is one image of the cross bike, which is arguably the favorite of the portland cross-a-files.

update on the signal drop-outs: we picked up the first prototypes and liked what we saw. a few dimensional changes here and there and we will be lined up for some production. road, mountain with disc tabs, and single-speed will be the first ones off the production lines and will get a few stainless steel lovelies brazed on before paint. photos to come. thanks for dropping in now and then and thanks for those who have chimed in on the blog. check ya later.

posted by nate at 10:02 PM 1 Comments Links to this post

Is it spring yet?

I'm looking out the window at rain and gray clouds. It's that oppressive time of year that we all remember that nature likes to play this trick on us: nature:"Hey look! things are popping out of the ground! the trees are turning pink! " you: Hooray! It looks like it's going to be nice from now on. I'll just pack up the winter clothes and get out my flip-flops and look for the shades..." nature: "ha-ha! I was only kidding, now it's going to rain non-stop for two more months. Why don't you move to Austin?" But I've never been to Austin, so here I sit, looking out at the rain... Nate and I have been busy working on some bikes. We should have our own signal cycles dropouts ready to go by early next week! (don't you wish you could see one right now?) They are at the place. The place that's doing the cutting. The cutting of the dropouts... I'm really excited to show them off on these new bikes. And today we did a fitting for another customer bike, this one will be a racy fillet-brazed road bike with a carbon fork. Stay tuned...

posted by matt at 7:08 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Liz and I went for a mountain bike ride today with Pete, Marila, and Megan. The trails are just starting to dry out, but are still full of slick roots that keep it interesting. I love mountain bike rides. It's so fun to go out there and slip around with a big ol' grin, and get giddy. The sun came out today and the trees are just starting to turn pink. This is the time of year that Portlanders look forward to all winter. It's payback time! I'm going to post a couple shameless self promotional links here: race.cx wants to "race the hell out of" our cross bike, and then "keep it in the bedroom". I think that may be one of the best compliments so far,

urbanvelo posted a picture of our city bike in its latest issue. It looks good even in black and white! We are getting going on a few customer bikes this week. I'll be posting build pictures on our flickr page, so check that out. Nate and I are right in the middle of designing our own dropouts too. With CAD help from Brandon (thanks!), and some long nights, we're getting closer.

posted by matt at 11:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Liz's road bike

I had to put up a photo of this bike even though it's not all built up yet. This is Mrs. Cardinal's road bike, and I am so glad to see it come together. I know, it was supposed to be a cardinal. I think after the bike show and after seeing the signal bikes all finished, Liz asked "Do you think my bike could be a signal?" I said "of course!" I'm excited to have her on one of my bikes. I know it's going to get ridden and raced and loved. The paint color was picked from Elizabeth's closet. She showed me a favorite color on one of her shirts, so I took it to the painters and matched it up. We added a cream panel and gold highlights. The frame is fillet brazed with fender mounts and a carbon fork. It's getting built up all racey, dura-ace, king hubs/ headset, silver thomson seatpost and stem, and I'm polishing an oversize bontrager h-bar silver so it matches up with the other silver stuff (no one seems to make a silver 31.8 bar...). Be on the lookout for this bike parked in front of the fresh pot, or flying up the west hills! I'll probably be somewhere behind.

Labels: Elizabeth, Liz, road, signal bike

posted by matt at 8:01 PM 2 Comments Links to this post

bike builders as artists

a friend of mine mentioned that we should post a photo of our artwork since we talk about being art students and painters on the website. sounded great to me until i started perusing my photos of my artwork. my documentation is not something to be proud of. so for your viewing pleasure we go all the way back to my senior painting thesis, circa 2004, a solo show that i had at a local gallery. i've made newer and mo' better paintings since then, believe me, but i haven't put together an updated photo group yet. maybe in the future, like we all say about things we want to enjoy doing on the side of the things we are doing.

for bike building- we have taken in a few orders from the show and expect a few more in the next week or so. check back as we intend to document the build process for our customers and for all you out there wondering what's going on in the signal cycles shop. take care and remember what my mom used to say when commenting on someone's artwork. "Have mercy."

good night neverland. and matt-you're next. and don't make me look bad.

posted by nate at 9:00 PM 3 Comments Links to this post

show's over

We had a fantastic weekend. The show was very well attended, and our booth was pretty full for most of the weekend. We got a lot of great feedback on all the bikes, it seemed like the blue city bike was the most commented on. The racks that Ben made for us took that bike to the next level. Portland totally represented. It was great showing with the beautiful bikes of Strawberry, Sweetpea, Vanilla, Hufnagle, Vertigo, Ira Ryan, Pereira (who had a fantastic road bike that should've won the road category). Ahearne took a well deserved trophy for city bike. Big congratulations to Aaron at Courage Cycles for winning best new builder. Aaron had a fantastic group of bikes, especially the cross rig. A really nice showing and you can tell he's paying attention to the details. The roller races on Saturday night were totally fun (except for the "Dean-you-win-oh-wait-you-loose-oh-wait-you-are-both-winners" fiasco). I got completely killed by one Tony Pereira (thanks Liz). all said it was a super fun weekend, and I'm really glad it's over so I can sleep now. We gained a lot of momentum from the show, the inbox is filling up and we're trying to get info out as soon as we can. Thanks for looking at our stuff. Oh and we've enabled comments, so you can tell us what you think, unless you want to say something that would offend my mom.

posted by matt at 9:40 PM 4 Comments Links to this post

NAHBS day zero

posted by nate at 10:18 PM Links to this post

bike portland

We just spent some time talking with Jonathan of bikeportland.org He took some photos of our bikes and talked with us about the business. His great photos were able to made the shop look really good! We are still waiting on a couple frames to get back from the painters. The show opens Friday and move in time is Thursday. We have decided to make NAHBS the launch site for our bike co. It's going to be a full weekend of bikes and bike related hoo-ha. I hope you are going to stop in and see us. Check out the website for more information.

posted by matt at 5:12 PM Links to this post

another bike

Here's a look at another bike we're working on for the show. We are still finalizing the racks and a few other things (there's still time, right?). We are anticipating a pretty fun weekend, I hope the weather changes by show time.

posted by matt at 8:47 PM Links to this post

NAHBS teasers

with NAHBS only a few weeks away, signal is starting to get goodies back from paint. this is the rigid fork for the mtb which uses the maverick 24mm axle hub. three other framesets should be back from paint this week and we will get photos posted on the website as soon as possible. can't wait for the festivities. 

-nate 

posted by nate at 7:29 PM Links to this post

from Italy

Greetings from Italy! I've spent the last few days in Rome and am now in Forli. It's been a pretty full trip already, with lots more to come (cross worlds). We are staying at the Italian headquarters for experience plus bicycle tours. It's the off season here so we have the place to ourselves, access to bikes, a computer, a kitchen... I just read bikeportland's preview of the bike show and am getting all pumped up! When I get back we should have all of the bikes ready to roll. I'm like a kid on Christmas eve, can't wait. Looking forward to worlds, It's going to be great to cheer for the Americans. That's all for now. ciao!

posted by matt at 12:23 AM Links to this post

website is up!

...but I guess if you are reading this you know already. All the NAHBS preperation is underway. We are about a month away, and all of our bikes are at paint. It's hard to wait for all this cool stuff to show up. I've been working on a bike for my wife Elizabeth. She's getting a geared fender road bike. She's been without a road bike for about a year now and this one is her (late) christmas present. I'm pretty close to being done. It is going to be the last of the cardinals (since it's her last name too, I figured she deserves one). The bike is all fillet brazed with breezer style dropouts. Nothing too ground-breaking, but it's a bike that fits her, and that's something she has had real trouble finding. I can't wait to go on a long ride with her when it's all done. We're leaving for Italy next week. We'll be heading to the cyclocross world championships in Treviso. I'll take a lot of pictures.

Labels: cardinal, framebuilding, Italy

posted by matt at 4:37 PM Links to this post

first post

Hi, It's the day after christmas and we're looking forward to NAHBS. The bikes are all at paint right now and we are waiting... waiting. Here's a picture of the mountain bike fork:

posted by matt at 8:15 PM Links to this post