Building the Soul of New England Mountain Biking, Seven Cycles

SingleTracks Magazine

by Kriztina Holly Contrary to legend, mountain biking's roots go farther back than the cliched images of Gary Fisher, Joe Breeze, and Tom Ritchey racing down Mt. Tam in the late 70's. In fact, over a century back -right here in New England-when Boston resident Pierre Lallement invented the bicycle in 1866 and Colonel Albert Pope built the first assembly-line in Hartford to manufacture the first mass-produced bicycle, the Columbia, in 1878.

Back then, there were no paved streets. So, for all intents and purposes. bikes in the early days were all off-road bicycles. Most suspension designs used on mountain bikes today were actually patented in the 1880's. New England soon became the hotbed of bicycle building, with about 100 manufacturers (mostly reinvented gun manufacturers looking for new business) cranking out new bikes in the late 1800's.

Since then a lot has changed in the world of bikes, but one thing has stayed constant: New England continues to give birth to a spectrum of mountain bike builders, ranging from grass-roots moonlighting operations to the multinational Cannondale. Several of them are spin-offs from the often-acknowledged Fat City, but even more have unique and surprising stories all their own.

SingleTracks caught up with these builders-some of them new, some of them established, and some of them long gone-to uncover the long and rich heritage of mountain bike building here in New England.

www.sevencycles.com

Seven was the brainchild of Rob Vandermark when he left Merlin in 1997, and he and his team have been profitable and steadily growing for the last 3 years.

Size

32 employees. They ship more bikes annually than Merlin did when they were acquired.

Place

Founded in a tiny 1,000 sq. ft. back room in Topsfield, Seven now occupies 12,000 feet of space in Watertown. MA.

Culture

Seven has a very professional attitude about business. They even have a retirement plan! Although that doesn't stop them from being wild and crazy on the side. Some of them spend their spare time making radical chopper bikes (see sidebar). But because one person works on one bike start to finish, there is huge pride in each bike. Some customers send a disposable camera to photograph their bike being made at every step.

Name

Rob Vandermark was too humble to use his name. and they didn't want a bird. Co-founder and Director of Operations and Finance Jennifer Miller suggested "Seven" and it just stuck.

Price

Bikes start at $2600. but average $4500.

What do they build?

Custom bicycles made to order. They are known for their titanium bikes. but they work with steel and carbon fiber. too. Rob Vandermark has developed a reputation for creating a perfect rider-specific fit.

Philosophy

Sense of team. of driving the corporate vision and mission.

Memorable Moment

Friday night in February, they worked in the 1,000 square foot shop in Topsfield until 5PM, loaded the truck until 2AM. unloaded all weekend, and then were building bikes in Watertown on Monday. "We couldn't even have one down day," remembers Jennifer.

Favorite place to ride

Fells - it's just so local.

What's next on the horizon?

Continue to really push on the build-to-order front. They have been transitioning Vandermark from doing almost everything to focusing on business development and setting vision.