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Signal Cycles gets fast with new production road bike The Pulse

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Signal Cycles Pulse Blue and White

The crew at Signal Cycles exudes quality and style.  They pump out handcrafted bicycles that show both great form and function.  Take a peek at their Flickr page to see for your self.

Signal Cycles, while no stranger to a race bike, builds a lot of frames designed for wide tire clearance.  For example, their other production bike, The Saltzman, fits 32c tires for nice plush ride.  For a change of pace, and a fast pace at that, their third production model, the Pulse, is a fast road race bike ready to take on any climb, descend any mountain, and still be fit for a century gran fondo ride.

Details on the Pulse past the break.

 

Signal Cycles Pulse Green Bike
This green stunner is up for sale, and at the Signal Cycles shop now for demo if you are in the Portland, OR area.

For starters, the bike looks the business.  The tight geometry, tapered headtube, and killer paint options really make it a standout choice if you are in the market for a high end road bike.

pulse geometry for website

Signal Cycles Pulse Rear Triangle

The Pulse is constructed of double oversized Columbus Life tubing.  It comes with a 1 1/8 to 1 1/4 tapered Enve fork that runs through a continuously tapered Paragon Machine Works headtube.  It is available in stock sizing ranging from 50cm to 60cm.  It can be had with rim or disc brake options, and can be set up for either mechanical or electronic drivetrains.

The Pulse is available as a frame set that includes the Enve fork and a Chris King headset for $2500.  Full builds start at just $4500.  For more info visit the Signal Cycles website

Signal Cycles Pulse Logo Detail

Signal Cycles Pulse Downtube

Signal Cycles Pulse Headtube

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anonymous
anonymous
10 years ago

That Chris King to ENVE fork transition is hideous. Considering how much those cost, you think it could have been done a little nicer, like a semi integrated/zero stack headset on a larger diameter head tube.

Colin
Colin
10 years ago

love the blue, love the chain stays too. Is Brett still doing the drop out and small parts?

CXisfun
CXisfun
10 years ago

@anonymous: I have to agree. The 1.5″ King lower cup with the 1.5″ ENVE fork is much smoother, I wonder why this one is so out of touch?

The problem with going with a larger head tube though is that it overpowers the down and top tubes.

Eli
Eli
10 years ago

You can get some pretty stellar custom steel bikes for that price. Same build quality. Same tubes. Built to fit. I’m not sure I get it.

flem
flem
10 years ago

but are we not simply seeing a straight 1 1/8 inch head tube and reading about a tapered one? looks that way to me…

Speedy
Speedy
10 years ago

I dunno, out of touch seems a bit harsh. The 1.5″ headtube would overpower that downtube I bet. It’s not needed. Personally, I really like the traditional style headset on steel frames. It lends to a more classic feel. Let the carbon shaped tubes have their new fancy standards. This bike is a beauty.

anonymous
anonymous
10 years ago

Well then this is what happens when custom and semi-custom makers fetishize CK and ENVE.

It would look better with a square-ish headset, or a fork that wasn’t meant for integrated headsets.

Yes, I know, it’s just looks, and CK headsets are the best and well worth the money* but one would expect a certain level of attention to detail rather than just picking the fanciest named parts off the shelf.

Eyal
Eyal
10 years ago

All artisan steel makers should start making carbon or ti or quit.

Eyal
Eyal
10 years ago

@Burklow I’m not saying it in a bad way. Resorting to pre-made change the whole image of an artisan, think Breadwinner; a diluted brand! Just buy All City or Soma. But fine by me if you want to pay 4k for uber-heavy steel. Hey I own 2 steel bikes.

James
James
10 years ago

All City and Soma = Built in China. Cool bikes, great builds, but that’s the “value” over a $4K bike built in America. I’m not a huge fan of everything this particular brand/model are, but I’m happy they are doing it.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
10 years ago

Breadwinner allows customization of their frames. You can still get Ira Ryan and Tony Pereira to build you a full on custom frame under their own brands. I didn’t see anything diluted about either of the three brands at all.

CXisfun
CXisfun
10 years ago

@flem: No, this is not a straight 1-1/8″ head tube, it has a “continuously tapered Paragon Machine Works headtube”. The taper is tough to make out in photos, but is there.

Nate
10 years ago

The Pulse comes with the option of a 44 headtube and those bikes will use the King Inset8. This pairs nicely with the Enve 1 1/4 fork. We feel strongly that the 1 1/4 is just the right size for road use. Signal wanted to try the new Paragon continuous tapered headtube, seen here-

http://www.paragonmachineworks.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HT2064

This is not a straight 1 1/8 headtube. The taper is elegant and will look great with standard oversize tubes which will be used on the smaller frames. We send a majority of our bikes (in the small sizes) to Japan so it was important to evaluate the headtube seen here for our largest market. These headtubes were also at the request of the customers. I think we are very much “in touch” enough to know the 1.5 fork is too much for standard caliper road bikes but the disc versions will come with 1.5 Enve for additional rigidity desired due to distance from crown to braking force. I have a 60cm for myself that uses the 44 headtube, Inset8, and the 42mm Columbus Life downtube. Super rad and probably what you would consider “in touch.”

Ajax
Ajax
10 years ago

The Chris King crown race/base plate that is underneath the lower cup, in conjunction with the CK lower cup, makes that ugly gap that many people complain about when the CK headset is used with a carbon fork that has a very flat upper like the Enve forks. Switch to a Cane Creek headset and crown race/base plate and that ugly gap goes away.

The problem is that most people have this stupid idea that Chris King is the best headset out there because of the continual, over-the-years blathering from Freds who have blinged out their rides with CK headsets. CK used to make the best replacement headsets in the 80s and 90s, but now every headset manufacturer makes the equal, if not better, sealed bearing headset.

Moral of the story, if you don’t like the gap,get rid of the CK headset.

steel lover
steel lover
10 years ago

@Eyal if you really think that a soma or all city are equivalent to a high end steel frame, you owe it to yourself to try something nicer. IMO, the thick tubing used in bargain brands generally sucks and feels dead.

Steel isn’t real. $teel is real.

Colin
Colin
10 years ago

The things that Chris King have over other brands are A.) Made in USA, B.) quality control, I’m pretty sure the warranty department at CK is one of the plushest jobs in the industry.

Joey Brown
Joey Brown
10 years ago

I will take a Cane Creek 110 series headset any day over CK. I love the blue/white color scheme.

Ilikeicedtea
Ilikeicedtea
10 years ago

.

Sure, they seldom deal with headset warranties, but I’ve seen plenty of hub and BB issues.

anonymous
anonymous
10 years ago

A Cane Creek headset would probably fix this cosmetic problem, and I think the 110s are made in the USA.

Chris kings are for cosmetics and colors, which is a waste for black headsets.

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