Living the cycling lifestyle in the Carolinas
TIME may be an iconic French cycling brand, but we’re also global. Just like cyclists themselves, TIME is a part of that growing family of 2-wheeled adventure seekers. In fact, we’ve kind of built our own sub-culture within world cycling - where quality counts, comfort is key to a great ride, and performance naturally flows.
At heart, TIME is a global family of like-minded people, with bases in all corners of the world - including the southern United States, where we are establishing a $6.5 million, 140,000-square-foot high-end carbon fiber bicycle manufacturing facility in Landrum (Spartanburg County), South Carolina. The area is a recognised engineering hub filled with skilled people. It has Boyd Wheels close by, as well as BMW with a technical facility, and with the renowned Clemson University engineering faculty close to hand, providing a constant stream of young engineering minds, ready to help to continue that TIME philosophy of innovation and excellence well into the future.
Creating a community of like-minded cyclists
Those of you who follow global cycling, and the network of adventure-seeking communities that exist in pockets such as the Carolinas, will probably already know this area for its reputation as a vibrant hub for both road and trail riding. It’s an amazing landscape, with ribboned roads that fall across the tapestried hills, filled with flowing, world-class climbs and world-class riders testing themselves. Legendary US cyclist from the pro peloton, George Hincapie is based nearby, along with his new world tour team; and the winter sees an influx of riders from around the globe, all retreating to the region as a great place to train on seemingly endless roads.
Not too far from our new TIME US facility is the renowned cycling cafe, The Tandem, where they serve locally sourced coffee, handcrafted sodas, fresh squeezed orange juice, and a selection of teas from Dobra Tea – with Crepes that you’ll have to save for after the ride. Yes, their crepes are so tasty that you’d stay seated and not want to ride! This way, you get to earn them. Riders at all levels flock here, and there’s usually a TIME Scylon, Alp D’Huez or ADHX being ridden towards this cycling-themed refreshment stop, seeking out the camaraderie that cycling hubs such as The Tandem generate. Cycling is a lifestyle sport, bonded together by community, and coffee stops are as important as tuna is to the cat!
Cycling the Blue Ridge Parkway
Visiting this scenic corner of the south, you can take an epic ride for the day. Or, for the more adventurous — such as Eric Lombardo, one of our inside sales specialists at the Landrum facility — you can take on a multi-day adventure on our new Fluidity endurance bike. Eric, is typical of the sports loving locals, and spent 5 days with friends, exploring the nearby Blue Ridge Parkway - a famed 469-mile scenic National route that takes you from deep in Virginia, through to North Carolina, connecting Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
It’s a road known as "America's Favorite Drive," offering stunning mountain views; and for Eric and many others it offers the opportunity to take the new Fluidity out on a true endurance ride, amidst some of the most scenic landscapes in North America. With an abundance of hidden refreshment haunts and small, family run hotels to choose from, offering southern hospitality, it’s a paradise for those with a spiritual soul for cycling away from the crowds, and on roads that weave their way through timeless scenery.
Yes, these roads, once explored by the iconic muscle cars of 20th-century American culture, now hum to the soft sound of cycling wheel hubs, as small groups of friends share experiences and a special moment in time, searching for new cycling dreams.
Travelling light and eating southern style
Talking with Eric, he recounts days that varied between rides of 75 and 123 miles, with daily ascents of up to 11k feet to be climbed - conditions that our new Fluidity was designed for. They carried little, stopping at gas stations and restaurants – which added to the experience, finding hidden places within the forested landscapes. Fried chicken, fries, hush puppies and cycling at Tuggle’s Gas, Roadside Inn. Then, extended lunches at Little Switzerland, which evolved into 4 hours of storytelling before more pedaling was required — with TIME thankfully on your side.
Cycling along the Blue Ridge Parkway includes tackling key ascents like Waterrock Knob (8.6 miles at 5.4%), Craggy Gardens and Mount Pisgah, with long, sustained efforts rewarded by stunning views across Virginia and North Carolina.
Yes, the global cycling community is thriving, and this scenic area of the USA is a mecca for cyclists and for the growing TIME community that we’re busy supporting and sharing rides with. And the 2026 TIME Fluidity is the bike to take you on these timeless journeys. Cycling days that etch themselves onto our memories, and where we hope the road will never end, but will simply keep on flowing into the distance - creating road trips where friendships are forged and endurance bikes such as the Fluidity provide the ultimate cycling experience.
