U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix
U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix
When people find out we build custom bikes, they ask, in the grocery store, at the school drop off, at the donut shop, “What kinds of bikes do you build?” And we pause, as you do when the answer is much larger than the question, and then we say, “Well, all kinds, road, mountain, commuter, cyclocross, whatever people want.”
Except that’s not the half of it.
When a bike company talks about research and development, most people think in terms of products, new bike models, new components. But when we look at our R&D plan, the discreet projects are much smaller. For example, we have redesigned the drop outs on our road bikes a dozen times over the life of the company, evolving, refining and improving with each iteration.
New bike models, such as they are in the world of custom building, mostly come out of these smaller projects, the accumulation of progress coalescing into a vision for a new bike. Very seldom have we set out to design a bike from the ground up. Innovation, in our experience, takes the form of a series of breakthroughs that can be put to good use. There is no flash of lightning, no thunder clap.
It’s not unlike the experience of a long, testing ride. You can’t cover 50, 100 or even 200 miles all at once. You have to ride each mile as best you can, and see how it all comes together at the end.
There is no bicycle without the idea of a bicycle,
without the inspiration to go somewhere. This part of the process, the beginning, is crucial. Fix the idea in your head. Keep your eyes on the destination.
The best bikes are made of these things.
Before a frame drawing gets made.
Before a tube gets cut.
Before the welding torch burns brightly.
The kernel of the idea is in what the bike needs to do, where it wants to take you next.
The whole bike is contained in the path it will travel, all the details falling out of the necessities of the ride.
Will it be fast? Will it be comfortable? Will it have wheels like this and handlebars like that?
What is your idea? And when can we build it?
By Rob Vandermark
Since Seven’s inception, I’ve been fascinated by our position in the bike industry. Fifteen years ago, a template for a medium sized custom bike building company didn’t exist. It is because of this that it’s been instructive to witness how the industry changes, and to see the context in which we fit–and sometimes don’t fit–within those changes. Every once in a while we discover that Seven has come to influence some shift in the very industry we vie to learn from.
Product testing is such a chore. This weekend we’re working on our latest version of our Chopped Chainstay design that provides shorter stays, more clearance, and longer service life than any other system we’ve tried.
It’ll ride today, tomorrow, and for all the morrows. It’ll take you to the bridge and then some.
Contact us to find out more.