Seven's V�II full-carbon road bike

Bicycling Magazine — 2008 Buyer's Guide

The Seven V�II is a sleek high-performance road bike that boasts the highest level of customization available of any molded carbon frame. The bike has been heralded as "the best I've ever ridden" and has received an overwhelmingly positive response, including earning a 2008 Editor's Choice nomination in the Dream Bike category by Bicycling magazine, as well as the following review in the magazine's current Buyers Guide.

Seven V�II: Perfection Personified

Massachusetts-based Seven Cycles is one of America's preeminent boutique makers of bikes and its V�II is a stunning example of what bike builders can produce when money is no object. At $4,400 for a frame and fork and as much as $14,600 for a tricked-out build, the V-II represents a significant investment. But something this close to perfection can't come cheap.

Each Seven custom purchase starts with a careful fitting, as well as an interview to find out what kind of rider you are. I told Seven that I was an avid club rider with no interest in racing but plenty of interest in a bike that handles well, loses none of my hard-gained power to flex, and will behave itself on choppy surfaces, in tight turns and in the ill-mannered group I ride with; a bike that won't beat me up on long rides but can respond when we get to the flats. In short, more Aston Martin than Ferrari.

Seven delivered exactly what I asked for, at stunning effect. (Seven can build Ferraris, too.) The ride quality, handling and fit were as precisely tailored to my desires as a suit from Savile Row tailor. Beefy, almost rectangular chainstays help put the power down, while Seven's proprietary carbon tubes deliver stiffness in the joints—the bike's, not mine—and at the bottom bracket, but weight savings in the middles. When I stand and mash the pedals, the bike tracks as if in a slot; when I turn, the feeling is more shaped ski than straight-edge racer.

That's what I asked for, and what Seven delivers. Such precision would be cheap at twice the price.