We received an email over the weekend from David K, who gave us an early review of his new bike.
He writes, “So, the day came in my life (I am 41 years old) when I started to think about yet another new bike. I bought my first mountain bike in 1986 and have had roughly 15 different mountain bikes. With each new bike comes anticipation that certain things will be differently better than the last bike. Hopefully it will corner better, track better, downhill with more confidence, be a little bit better at each task than the last bike. Some bikes live up to the expectation better than others. I started to look online for my new dream bike. I decided I would go with a titanium hard tail 29er. I saw a lot of companies out there making high quality cycles. I researched and researched, and researched some more and then came across Seven. I remembered that there was a local dealer right by me. I never gave much thought to Seven. I didn’t know a thing about them. All I knew at this point is that they build custom bikes. I liked that idea a lot. I went to my dealer and upon further inspection realized that these guys really know what they are doing. I started reading review after review and decided I was going to do it.
It was a high price to pay but, not much more, and custom! I was on the fence because I had never bought a bike I hadn’t ridden. I had to take a massive leap of faith and just go for it. I scheduled my fit and came back a few days later. I was blown away with the amount of information that I provided about what kind of riding experience I was looking for in a bike. The bike fit process was amazing as well. Measuring everything twice and checking angles over and over and then re tweaking and measuring again and checking comfort levels along the way.
Then, the 8 week wait started. I tried to keep it out of my mind. ‘It will be here when it gets here’ I tell myself daily. I research parts and read up on past Seven customer’s reviews. I can’t wait. I felt like a 7 year old boy waiting for Santa to bring me my very first bike. The bike shop called and it was finally here. I opened the box and then saw what was a true work of machined art. The bike was all I had hoped for. The attention to detail and craftsmanship was beautiful. I could hardly believe my eyes.
Then I rushed home and started the build. Once everything was finished, I dropped her out of the stand and took a look. Everything looked right. I was afraid to get on just in case something wasn’t going to fit right. I threw a leg over and hopped on. It felt RIGHT. It disappeared under me. It was part of me. I couldn’t dream of a better fit. Then I rode around the neighborhood to get everything dialed in. The cornering was magical. I had read someone saying their Seven was ‘telepathic’ and thought how right they were. I had never ridden a bike that felt like this. I couldn’t quit smiling. I knew I had found my soul mate.
Before I wrote a review or even gave Seven my feedback, I wanted to ride her for a month. So the rides started. Each one as enjoyable as the last. I didn’t want the rides to end. I wanted to keep riding. I didn’t have any adjustment period or any need to dial in the bike. It was perfect from the first pedal stroke. I messed with stem height and ended right back where it was at the start, where my fitter said it was supposed to be. This ‘Sola pro‘ had many characteristics that I wasn’t used to. It sucked up bumps but was still stiff at the bottom bracket. It tracked absolutely straight as an arrow. It dampened the chatter beautifully. It downhilled like it was built to do just that. Never feeling sketchy or uneasy in the corners. Always feeling great and wanting more. The ride quality that this bike has is unlike any other bike I have ever ridden.
If you can get your equipment to ‘disappear’ from the experience, then it’s doing its job. If it disappears, then it’s working perfectly. If nothing is going wrong then you don’t notice the gear, what ever it may be. This bike does just that.
Thanks Seven for making my biking dream a reality.
David K”
Thanks David, we’re happy to hear it! Thanks also to the team at Millcreek Bicycles in Salt Lake for designing the bike.