Gravel bike tire sizes are getting wider, fast. We see a lot of interest in 50+ mm tires. Some riders say bigger tires are faster. Some say it’s bunk. It partly depends on the terrain you ride. The rougher the terrain, the faster a wider tire will typically roll. It also partly depends on the harshness of your ride; a wider tire will help mask the shortcomings of your frame and fork.
The chart below shows 10 of the most popular and respected gravel bikes compared with Seven’s Rider-Ready gravel bikes. Our three gravel designs (plus our allroads) cover every kind of performance offroad riding.
Seven’s Gravel 758 is designed for 2.3″ (58 mm) mountain bike tires. This machine is a proper mountain bike with drop bars. Ideal for rough trails and rocky terrain.
Seven’s Gravel 753 has room for 53 mm (2.1″) mountain ready tires. The 753 is our riders’ current most popular balance of capability and speed.
Seven’sGravel 743 is our classic gravel bike. It’s what most people think of when they think gravel.
Seven’s Allroads 738 is as capable as some popular gravel bikes.
Seven’s Rider-Ready gravel bikes are not warmed over mountain bikes.
Control or Fatigue?
Interest in wider tires has a lot to do with harsh riding frames of carbon or aluminum compared to well-designed titanium.
Do you want wider to help smooth out the ride and take the edge off, or do you want wider to give you more control at higher speeds and in more demanding conditions? If it’s the former, a Seven titanium frame is a great answer; this will provide you all the shock absorption you could want without the need for a wider tire. If it’s the latter, Seven offers more wide tire options and sizes than any other bike brand.
Whatever gravel you want to ride, Seven’s got it covered.
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All data was taken from the respective bike company websites.
Everyone knows that cyclists love Sevens. But did you know that Cyclist seems to love Seven, too? They just tested our Axiom XX Rider-Ready Performance road bike for their June 2024 print issue.
“It’s a bike that has been built for going far and fast.”
Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine
In brief, Cyclist’s words can be summed up with this mashup quote:
“Feel powerful when climbing. Lean confidently into corners and descents. Be powerful on the flats. Float over the rough stuff.”
What more could you want? A super light bike? Why not. The test bike tipped the scales at 7.6 kilos (16.75 lbs) with pedals, full internal routing, and standard SRAM Red parts. That puts this Seven among the lightest full carbon bikes. You get carbon lightness with Seven’s titanium performance, control, handling, and toughness.
Full Aero Internal housing routing. An option on most of our Rider-Ready bikes. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine
Here’s some of what Cyclist had to say about the ride:
Climbing:
“Climbing is where Seven has built the Axiom XX to excel. And, yes, it is great going uphill.”
“I found the Axiom XX coped happily with even the most beastly slopes.”
“[The Seven has] rigidity to make anyone feel pretty powerful when climbing.”
Descending:
“When rolling downhill, the Axiom XX picked up speed easily, and I found myself leaning confidently into corners, benefiting from the balanced handling and even weight distribution.”
Acceleration:
“[The Seven has] core rigidity to make anyone feel pretty powerful on the flats.”
Handling & Performance:
“The lightweight Axiom XX seemed to float over a lot of the rough stuff and, compared to the carbon bikes I normally ride, the vibration damping was evident.”
“[The Seven has] less inclination to bounce and skitter over road debris compared to its carbon acquaintances.”
“The natural compliance of the titanium tubes made for a more comfortable and assured ride.”
“I found myself leaning confidently into corners, benefiting from the balanced handling and even weight distribution.”
Thanks to our friends and partners at CycleFit for setting this up, supplying the bike, and managing the process.
Even the “low” points chosen by Cyclist Magazine are easily eliminated. Cyclist chose common “objections” about Sevens:
Price: Their setup was $18,000 (£14,300). This was a project bike from Seven’s partners at CycleFit; it was not designed as a price point bike. Our full titanium models start at about 1/3 of the test bike’s price: $6,700 for a complete bike. This is well within the price of any full carbon performance bike.
Long lead time: This is a UK magazine, so the lead times are a bit longer than our US retailers typically see. Our Rider-Ready bikes (which this bike is) are available within three weeks. That’s quite competitive with many high-end carbon bikes.
Less durable when compared to our heavier titanium frames. True on paper. Not so relevant in most riding situations. Regardless, if a rider values toughness over other features, Seven builds bikes for that, too. And it’s even less expensive. More importantly, compared to any full carbon frame, any Seven titanium bike is significantly more durable, so perception of “less durable” is relative.
Less versatile because this is a pure performance road bike. It’s true that pure road bikes are less common this season because “allroads” are in trend. Fortunately, we offer multiple allroads versions of this bike, gravel versions, dual-wheel size versions, etc. Seven’s Rider-Ready bike categories offer more than any stock carbon bike. And if that’s not enough, we offer full custom designs, too.
Seven’s Rider-Ready Road Performance bike. Speed, climbing prowess, and descending confidence. Photo credit: Cyclist MagazineSeven’s S-bend seat stays, a hallmark of our designs, provide improved wheel traction and climbing prowess. Photo credit: Cyclist MagazineEvery Seven is made in Massachusetts from raw tubing and plate. Each frame is built one at a time. Photo credit: Cyclist MagazineSeven’s dropout and brake mount system enhances drivetrain stiffness and brake performance. Ride faster, stop quicker. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine
Designed and built with Velosmith Bicycle Studio, a Seven Cycles retailer in Wilmette, Illinois. Velosmith brought the Seven to the Chris King Open House. The Radavist took some fantastic photos at the Open House along with many beautiful bikes. Seven was fortunate to be part of it. Thank you, Velosmith, Chris King, and The Radavist! Photographs by The Radavist.
Velosmith Allroads blue beauty. Photograph credit: The RadavistFull In-Route system for clean and hidden housing presentation. Photograph credit: The RadavistSymmetry. Photograph credit: The RadavistDropped chainstays and Fastback dropout interface. Fast, stiff, clearance. Photograph credit: The RadavistSeven paint designed by Velosmith. Photograph credit: The RadavistLove to watch it go. Photograph credit: The Radavist
Holden from Bike Doctor Arnold had his first ride on his new Axiom SL at the Hincapie Grand Fondo in Lehigh Valley over the weekend. He felt super comfortable and was able to tackle 53 miles of punchy climbs and gravel descents. These are the before and after photos of Holden with his bike. He says it’s exactly what he wanted and he felt right at home on it immediately.
If you’re in the Arnold, Maryland area, contact Holden if you’re interested in hearing more about having this kind of experience for yourself!
We had been thinking about the 622 XX for 14 years before we built the first one. In 1998, it just didn’t seem possible. There wasn’t the breadth of carbon tubing we have today, and the design was maybe too far over the edge from what we were already doing at the time. We wondered if the market was ready.
We put away our sketches.
We came back to them in 2005. Carbon fiber had come a long way, and we were thinking about how we could incorporate the material of the moment into a great, custom bike. Instead of building the 622 XX then, we poured our energy into designing a custom carbon platform, a whole new way of building bikes, from the ground up, and we built those bikes for seven years before returning to our original design idea.
The key to the whole project is the lugs. Lug work has a long heritage. There was a time, when all bike builders were still working exclusively in steel, that the quality of a builder’s lugs was the measure of their skill. A lug had to be beautiful, but it also had to serve its purpose. Form had to follow function.
The titanium lugs in the 622 XX are as thin as they can be while maintaining durability and compliance. They take the edge off the frame’s carbon tubes, which on their own provide more than ample stiffness. We added some aesthetic flourishes, too. A tapered 7 at the head and seat tubes, geometric cut outs at the other junctions. When people first see the bike, these are the things they notice.
The carbon tubing in the bike comes from a partner in Utah and is filament-wound to our exclusive specification. Each layer of material has been chosen to produce very specific ride characteristics. Filament-wound carbon, as opposed to its roll-wrapped equivalent, provides a consistent, accurate quality.
The name for the bike comes from the Periodic Table. 6 is carbon. 22 is titanium. And, by merging them into one number, we are expressing exactly what we want the bike to be, a true union of the materials, a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.
The 622 XX is either a carbon bike that doesn’t feel plasticky, or it’s a Ti bike that is lighter and stiffer than any that came before it. Or maybe it’s a new bike, a bike that makes use of the best materials, that borrows something from the heritage of bike building but leverages the technology of the moment to produce a ride that is at once light, stiff and comfortable.
