Road Bike Action Magazine: Industry Insight – Rob Vandermark defines Custom
Road Bike Action
Magazine, Jan/Feb 2008
by Roberta Holland, Journal Staff
Rob Vandermark is the founder of Seven Cycles and over the last decade he has been dedicated to creating and perfecting the ultimate custom-bike build program. With the recent proliferation of custom builders, we decided to ask his opinion on where the custom bike business is these days:
“This is an area that is in upheaval at the moment. Over the next decade the effect of customization, improved fitting technologies, an aging population and ever-increasing customer expectations will coalesce. The result will be a technology-driven market for improved individualization, bike fit, and performance for the high-end customer. However; in response, the industry is bifurcating at the moment. On the one hand ‘custom’ is all the rage, and nearly every high-end bicycle retailer is providing fitting services. On the other hand, more and more bike suppliers are offering fewer and fewer sizes of bike. In the next decade, customization, individualization, and tailor-ablity will play a larger role in frame and component design and compatibility.”
Frames
“True customization will be the cost of entry for smaller builders. Customization will not look like what most people think of today; customization will encompass a lot more than just the fit of the bike. More companies will embrace the challenge of customizing for improved performance, comfort, service life, and planning for the future use of the bike.”
“Custom frames will be customized not just in terms of frame geometry—each tube angle, top tube, etc.—but also in terms of ride characteristics through tailoring each tube of the bike and the actual geometry of the frame to accentuate or mitigate characteristics of performance and material.”
Components
“Components obviously have a big impact on the fit and performance of a bike. From a fit standpoint, components will play a larger role in the optimization of bike fit—components that are more adjustable in size than current offerings. These parts will be adjustable for rider size, changing use—road training during the week versus road racing on weekends for example—and for evolving fitness and skill.”
Materials
“Materials will be applied more specifically to the customization process. Material choice currently is driven by perceived technological value—or, at least, perceived ‘cutting edge’ value. Soon, particularly as carbon’s strengths and weaknesses become better understood in the market, the four primary materials—as well as the newer ones on the way—will be applied, not so much for wow factor but rather because they are the right materials for rider’s needs.”
02 Bike Magazine: Seven IMX
Road Bike Action: Ti Warriors – Seven ID8
Bicycling Magazine: Seven Alaris
by Valigra (Cambridge, Mass.)
Component Highlights
Shimano Ultegra 18-speed group, 12-23t 9-speed cassette, 39/53t chainrings, Seven custom titanium stem, 3T Prima 199 bar, Wound-Up seatpost, Chris King headset, Mavic Open Pro 32-hole rims, 700×23 Continental Gran Prix 300 tires
Profile
Titanium dream machine
Best Thing About This Bike
Not-of-this-earth craftsmanship and endless custom options at no extra charge.
Worst Thing
The price. Seven shaves about $600 bucks off the price of their butted titanium Axiom frame by using straight gauge tubes in the Alaris, but it’s still far from what we’d call affordable. Our test bike came with goodies like a custom ti stem and all-carbon fork and seatpost, which also jacked up the price.
The Ride
The beauty of Seven bikes is that they’re custom, so each one is designed to meet the customer’s needs. Our Alaris came in one of Seven’s Signature Sizes, which is as close as they get to offering a standard geometry, and per our request, a slightly sloping top tube and extended head tube was added. Handling was set up to be quick and ideally suited to the skilled, corner-crazy criterium junkie, while the carbon fork and curvaceous rear triangle offered an exceptionally smooth ride without compromising road feel.
Have It Your Way
There’s no such thing as a stock Seven—each frame is made to order, from the fit and geometry down to the ride, which is tuned to meet individual rider needs through careful tubing selection. Plush, stable century cruiser, razor-sharp race rig or somewhere in between—it’s your choice.
The Verve
When the November print issue went to press, Seven called this bike the Verve. Since then, they changed the name to Alaris. Same bike we planned on testing, just a different name.
Seven Words About This Bike
Clean. Smooth. Sexy. Exotic. Personalized. Litespeed killer.
The Details
Weld beads are so clean and uniform they look almost sculpted, and they thought of every detail, from aluminum water bottle bolts to a chain hanger, pump peg, nifty laser-engraved headtube badge and a composite seat tube sleeve to keep the post from seizing. They even make a titanium headset spacer stack to give the front end a cleaner look.
History Lesson
At the helm of Seven Cycles is framebuilder Rob Vandermark, who helped sculpt Merlin Metalworks into the legendary company that once supplied Lance Armstrong’s Subaru Montgomery team. Rob left Merlin and started Seven in ’97, and the company as almost named “Wright Cycles” in reference to those brothers who tinkered with bikes and accidentally made an airplane. But there were too many ways to spell “Wright”, and for various reasons, the founders settled on Seven.
Buy It If
You lust for custom titanium from a true master and want to save a buck or two with straight-gauge tubes.
Forget It If
The frame price still sounds like a lot of money compared to the custom steel and production titanium out there.