Seven Cycles

As we’ve been reporting, Seven Cycles off-road pro Mary McConneloug is a top contender for selection to the 2004 summer Olympics. At the time of this writing, Mary has taken the lead in the UCI points chase, greatly increasing her chances of making the precious single spot offered to the American women.

by Robert Millar

Portland, OR — Last month Richard Schwinn, president and founder of Waterford Precision Cycles and Gunnar Bicycles and great-grandson of Ignaz Schwinn, spent an evening at River City Bicycles, just days after Gary Fisher had been hanging out there. This month Calfee founder Craig Calfee will be doing a clinic at the shop. River City lures industry big names by telling them doing in-shop clinics will increase their brands’ sales, said Curt Dewees, River City’s newsletter editor.

“It’s true for two reasons: One, nobody is better able to tell the story about their bike than the person who designs and builds it. So customers can get that direct, one-on-one contact with the person who is actually designing their bike. No marketing hype, no biased salesperson — just you and the Man, whether it’s Gary Fisher or Richard Schwinn, or Rob Vandermark from Seven or whoever;’ Dewees said.

“Second, it gets our sales staff excited and knowledgeable about the product, which in turn enables them to do a much better job of selling. There is nothing like being able to say on the sales floor, ‘I was talking with Gary Fisher the other day about his bikes, and he said blah, blah, blah; It adds a lot of credibility.”

Larry Olmstead

WATERTOWN, MA — Seven Cycles hired Tim Carney as its finance and accounting manager. Prior to Seven, Carney worked for Gallagher, Flynn, & Co., Vermont’s largest accounting firm. He also worked at Deloitte & Touche after graduating first in his class at Bently College. Carney is a Boston native and an avid cyclist. “This is an exciting hire for us. We added 20 percent more management infrastructure. As well as bringing additional financial savvy to the company, Tim will enable us to expand our marketing effort by freeing me up to focus on it,” said Jennifer Miller, who in addition to heading up Seven’s marketing also has managed the company’s financials. “I can actually get rid of one of my business cards;’ she quipped. Carney reports to Rob Vandermark, Seven’s president.

Seven also added two production employees, as well as a new sales team member and an additional customer service representative. The new hires come as the seven-year-old company closes its sixth consecutive year of profitability, Miller said. Seven’s first-quarter sales were up 38 percent over last year, she said.