tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50458481601323567312008-08-13T13:18:44.143-07:00BTnoreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-61173401912181685272008-08-08T17:31:00.000-07:002008-08-08T17:44:04.814-07:00

We got Caroline's frame off to the painters this week. It has some really cool stuff going on. Nate came up with this super cool through the fork fender mount and he made it look so good. The bike has a brazed on rear rack that needed integrated fender mounts to keep it in sync with the front mount. The rack was a blast to make. I love bending tubing and making it into something pretty. We are

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-601128111064467892008-07-29T23:55:00.002-07:002008-07-30T00:13:49.909-07:00

This last Monday was another great evening for folks on Signals. Our own Pete Z. closed out the MTB short track season with a win in single speed again. That makes two in a row. Congrats, Pete. I've been telling him all along, all he needs to do is sweep the leg. Drew picked up his road bike you see here on Monday afternoon and took it to the races at PIR that night for the first ride.

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-74441532587743593402008-07-22T11:42:00.000-07:002008-07-22T12:04:05.422-07:00

Congratulations to Pete Z for putting one in the "w" column! Pete rode a strong singlespeed race at Monday night's short track, and held off the rest of the field to claim a hard earned win. This is the first win ever on a signal bike, Nate and I need to get some champaign or something... Liz and I spent the weekend in Oakridge working and guiding for Mountain Bike Oregon. We've been riding

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-65133116600143494152008-07-13T19:04:00.000-07:002008-07-14T12:46:32.019-07:00

We send Gabe out on his new singlespeed cross bike this week. It came together beautifully. This was the first bike we built after launching signal at the handmade show in February. We ran into some setbacks with getting the wound up cross fork so Gabe had to wait a little longer, but we hope it was worth it. Gabe's bike was inspired by the '64 Chevy Impala, it's metallic paint white wall tires

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-62027875387986302672008-06-29T20:28:00.000-07:002008-07-06T22:32:38.891-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-83669137631437028642008-06-26T11:32:00.000-07:002008-06-26T11:47:13.927-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-11363873138395237512008-06-19T22:52:00.000-07:002008-06-19T23:04:14.775-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-1327978816104057692008-06-16T19:27:00.000-07:002008-06-16T23:13:17.963-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-80844314820702470302008-06-12T21:47:00.000-07:002008-06-12T22:11:26.572-07:00

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.

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-15379339052224636392008-06-02T18:31:00.000-07:002008-06-02T18:55:53.831-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-48698692530202078782008-05-25T13:17:00.000-07:002008-05-25T13:53:22.754-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-15358915068226606982008-05-17T20:04:00.000-07:002008-05-17T22:19:47.697-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-19018893465717852322008-05-13T17:25:00.000-07:002008-05-13T19:03:53.208-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-19434234784589325422008-05-02T09:03:00.000-07:002008-05-02T09:22:56.373-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-87496067269814201982008-04-25T22:47:00.000-07:002008-04-25T23:04:38.968-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-33912417781121572032008-04-22T21:59:00.000-07:002008-04-22T22:17:53.224-07:00

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.

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-3701527795714561292008-04-18T13:01:00.001-07:002008-04-20T09:08:12.118-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-40672990898540403612008-04-09T08:12:00.000-07:002008-04-12T10:56:01.380-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-33738595480479635522008-04-07T13:46:00.000-07:002008-04-08T11:11:43.971-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-52473323567577851862008-04-04T11:23:00.000-07:002008-04-04T11:41:19.776-07:00

...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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-28868304429327729742008-03-25T22:02:00.000-07:002008-03-26T10:56:09.771-07:00

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

natenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-7800981980254872632008-03-20T19:08:00.000-07:002008-03-20T19:44:45.805-07:00

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:

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-69272853265770848262008-03-10T23:50:00.001-07:002008-03-10T23:54:32.293-07:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-67257742546727833682008-03-03T20:01:00.001-08:002008-03-03T21:41:13.953-08:00

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

matthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13918556669251643215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5045848160132356731.post-47220370298514154292008-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:002008-02-23T10:16:19.389-08:00

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.

natenoreply@blogger.com