For the long-course adventure racer or someone who spends hours and days in the saddle, there's nothing like the combination of titanium's reputation for durability shaped specifically to meet your needs. Seven's hallmark is customizing: Each frame is built to order, and there are no custom up-charges.

Our Verve featured custom geometry with a tubeset tuned for good drivetrain stiffness and vertical compliance, with a handful of extras such as disc brake tabs and un-posted cantilever brake bosses, and rack and fender eyelets. On trail, the Verve is supple, light and smooth—as far opposite the Scott Scale as a bike could get and still be a hardtail. The geometry was perfect, threading technical rock garden descents or rooted climbs with precision and ease. It also offers almost no-hands stability and surety on high-speed sections (not that we're advocating taking your hands off the bar).

The Verve will cost you a bundle, but if you're a discerning distance racer who prizes durability, it may be the ultimate ride for you.

Specs