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Seven’s Mary McConneloug Takes the Podium at Providence

Mary races 'cross
Photo Courtesy of Natalia Boltukhova Pedal Power Photography 2011

It was sunny and hot at the Providence Festival of Cyclocross this weekend, which everyone found disorienting and dusty.We managed to see several of our favorite riders do well despite the trying conditions.

On Saturday, Mary McConneloug of Team Kenda/Seven/No Tubes finished second in the elite women’s field, and then outsprinted the Day 1 winner, Laura van Gilder, for top spot on Day 2.

These were extra impressive results for McConneloug who is only just back from racing the World Cup circuit in Europe for the summer. Making that transition from mountain to cross can be difficult, but it’s a testament to Mary’s sheer class that she can hit home soil, swap bikes and come up with a big win and a second place. Laura van Gilder, who topped Mary on Saturday, said of McConneloug after Sunday’s race, “the ideal cross racer is a mix of mountain biker and roadie. Mary has those both, she’s incredible.â€

Bob’s Red Mill and Seven racer Mo Bruno Roy took 10th on Saturday and 7th on Sunday, a pair of results that bring her to 5th on points with two weeks break before Downeast Cross in Maine.

Andrea Smith of Ladies First Racing rode her Seven Mudhoney SLX to 7th on Saturday and an impressive 4th on Sunday. Smith won the Verge Series last season and stands 3rd on the New England points list for 2011, just behind van Gilder.Since winning at Monson in her opening race of the season, and finishing 11th in a super tough field at Cross Vegas, she’s been solid and consistent, big keys to winning any series.

With Mary, Andrea and Mo doing so well, that’s three Sevens in the top ten in Providence, BOTH DAYS!!!!!

Carl Ring was there to represent the Seven Development Squad on the men’s side:

“I lined up both days, I got stuck behind a bad start line crash on Saturday, fought my way up to the front half of the field, then lost all my spark. Back slid all the way back to the tail of the field. Sunday was better. I managed to advance pretty well in the first two laps, but I’m still lacking the fitness I need after knee surgery early this year. I hope to be back to full strength in 3-4 weeks. Still it was fun racing and a great venue…(it) was great to see Mary McConneloug line up. I noticed that Andrea Smith and a few of the other Ladies First riders are also on Seven’s now. Looking forward to seeing you at the Maine VergeSeries races.”

Seven at NEPCX Gloucester

Mo Bruno Roy
Mo Bruno Roy before the mudfest that was Gloucester

Seven was out in force at the Grand Prix of Gloucester over the weekend, basking in the mud and gratuitous suffering. Bob’s Red Mill and Seven-sponsored rider Mo Bruno Roy finished top ten both days in the elite women’s race, and Andrea Smith from Team Ladies First rode her Seven to a podium spot – second overall – on Day 1, bagging a solid 5th place finish on Day 2.

Carl Ring from the Seven Development Squad was in action, and the guys from the Seven office: Keith Cardoza, Jake Bridge, and Joe Wignall all flew the colors in the mud at Stage Fort Park, too.

Keith Kardoza
Seven employee Keith Cardoza on his Mudhoney

New England has turned cool, wet and rainy: ideal cross weather. At Gloucester this weekend, Richard Fries’ bombastic ranting ringing from the PA was a perfect accompaniment to the race’s mayhem and conditions.

The New England cross season is in full swing, with races almost every week from now through December. It’s not too late to register for The Night Weasels Cometh in Shrewsbury, MA Wednesday night. You can warm up on Tuesday night at the pre-race party at Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington, too. And who is excited for Providence next weekend?

Any of you Seven owners out there who raced at Gloucester, write to us in the comment section below and let us know how you did!

Family Tree of Framebuilding in New England: Red Kite Prayer Addendum

Patrick Brady wrote a brief history of  New England bicycle manufacturing in the latest issue of Peloton Magazine, “New England Genesis”, and Seven was lucky enough to be included in it.  In his (now defunct) blog, Red Kite Prayer, Patrick elaborates on the interconnectedness of the region’s bike building companies, and created a family tree to illustrate some of the relationships.

We are honored to be a part of this thriving and expanding community, and we wanted to clarify a few aspects of Patrick’s illustration that might be confusing to readers.  Here is a list of framebuilders and bike-building industry people of which we’re aware that started businesses after working with local – primarily Massachusetts – framebuilders.  For example, King Cage is not a framebuilder, but Ron worked at Fat City Cycles so we included him on this list.

a wall of photos
A Long History of Photo-Taking

Each company mentioned is a framebuilder, unless otherwise indicated:

Updated 3 June 2015

Seven Cycles

In addition to Red Kite Prayer’s list, here are some companies started by Seven Cycles employees and alumnae, and clarification regarding some of the companies relationships to Seven:

  • Zanconato, Mike Z. was building frames before working at Seven and continues to build frames since his tenure at Seven.
  • SCUL, Skunk.  SCUL is more of a chopper gang than a framebuilder.  Currently works with Seven.
  • Sketchy Cycles, Mike Salvatore.  Currently works with Seven.
  • Banjo Cycles, Ahren Rogers.
  • Rack Lady, Leah Stargardter.  She builds custom bike racks.
  • 333fab, Maxwell Kullaway and Bernard Georges.
  • Icarus Frames, Ian Sutton.
  • Royal H Cycles, Bryan Hollingsworth.  Sometimes still helps us at Seven.
  • Honey Bikes, Beekeepers.
  • Saila, Lauren Trout.
  • Bike retailers that originally worked at Seven Cycles and later started or owned bike stores and studios:

Fat City Cycles

Here are some additional companies – beyond what’s mentioned on Red Kite Prayer – started by Fat City Cycles alumnae:

  • Independent Fabrication.  See below for more details.
  • King Cage, Ron Andrews – he makes water bottle cages.
  • Igleheart, Chris Igleheart.
  • Bomber Cycles, Dave Blakney.
  • S.R.P., Jeff Federson – no longer in business; he used to make small parts for the bike industry.
  • Janeware, Jane Hayes.  Maker of clothing for cyclists.

Merlin Metalworks

A couple of additional companies not mentioned in the Peleton article:

  • Arctos Machine, Gary Helfrich – no longer in business; Arctos was based on the west coast.
  • One-Off Titanium, Mike Augsburger – he used to make custom bicycles.

Independent Fabrication

Additional companies started by Independent Fabrication alumnae:

  • A.N.T., Mike Flanagan.  See below for more details.  Closed shop on 2015; currently works with Seven Cycles.
  • Sputnik Metalworks, Jeff Buckles – he makes framebuilding tooling for the bike industry.
  • Firefly Bicycle.  The cool kids!

Alternative Needs Transportation – A.N.T

Mike Flanigan closed up shop in 2015.  His storied past includes teaching framebuilding classes.  The most notable is:

  • Geekhouse, Marty Walsh.  In the article, it may come across that Geekhouse was born out of Marty Walsh’s work with Seven.  Marty started Geekhouse prior to working with us, ran Geekhouse while he was working with Seven, and continues to operate Geekhouse today.

Serotta Competition Cycles

Yes, we know that New York is not in New England, but Serotta and the Boston bike building scene are connected – at the very least by Whitcomb.  Here are a few additional companies started by Serotta alumnae:

  • Kirk Frameworks, Dave Kirk-Bozeman, Montana
  • K. Bedford Customs, Kelly Bedford
  • Ellis Cycles, Dave Wages

Local Builders

Here are a few framebuilders that didn’t start at a local bike company, as far as we know:

  • Peter Mooney Cycles
  • Hot Tubes, Toby Stanton.
    • Circle A Cycles, Chris Bull.
    • Maietta Cycles, Tony Maietta.
  • Dave Weagle
    • E.thirteen
    • Evil
  • Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles
  • Rhygin Cycles, Christian Jones – no longer in business.
  • Parlee Bicycles, Bob Parlee.
  • October Hand Made Bikes – no longer in business.

We’re sure we’re forgetting a bunch of people, so please let us know whom we’ve left out!  We thank Patrick for including us in this terrific article.  We hope that after reading Patrick’s work you’ll have a better understanding of the unique history of New England that helped launch so many amazing and innovative companies.