Seven Cycles – Page 4 – U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix

Review: Axiom XX Road Bike

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.”

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.

Read the complete review here.

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.

Who says you can’t have it all? Not Seven.

Read the complete review here.

Seven’s Rider-Ready Road Performance bike. Speed, climbing prowess, and descending confidence. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine

Seven’s S-bend seat stays, a hallmark of our designs, provide improved wheel traction and climbing prowess. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine

Every Seven is made in Massachusetts from raw tubing and plate. Each frame is built one at a time. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine

Seven’s dropout and brake mount system enhances drivetrain stiffness and brake performance. Ride faster, stop quicker. Photo credit: Cyclist Magazine

Frame Welding: Still Beads Run Deep

The Seven weld bead may be the most misunderstood aspect of our work. It looks so simple, uniform, and beautiful (or so many people tell us).

Getting to this serene point began 35 years ago when Tim Delaney, Seven’s Lead Technical Welder & Teacher, developed the titanium welding techniques that most builders use today.

We’ve refined and improved our welding techniques countless times over the years. We’ve run countless in-house fatigue tests to enhance our weld durability and to ensure we thoroughly test any improvement concepts.

The weld bead beauty you can see is good; it is a sign of care and quality. The underlying engineering and testing you never see are what make Sevens tougher and truer than any other.

These images of Stef welding show a few examples of the intricate techniques we employ. During her nearly 30 years in the industry, Stef has welded more than 10,000 titanium frames, more than any other human. Regardless, Stef’s work is all about quality, not quantity.

As part of our Special Projects Team, Stef is responsible for welding Seven’s one-off SOURCE Endurance Race Gravel project bike, shown here. Seven’s special projects are frame designs that go beyond Seven’s already extreme customization. In this case, as relates to welding, the SOURCE project has tube interface geometry and tube wall manipulation we’re combining in new ways; it requires nuanced, self-aware welding skills. Stef is the perfect person for the SOURCE project.

Here, Stef uses a shielding technique to ensure zero oxygen contamination of the titanium weld. The inside of the frame is purged of oxygen, the backside of the weldment is protected from contamination by a shielding device, and the oversized torch cup protects the weld itself. These time-consuming techniques, along with a many others, are critical to providing the strongest, most durable weld possible.

Stef, like all of our welders, focuses on one frame at a time. She will only work on the next project once she’s completed this frame. This singular focus helps build better bikes. There are no distractions and no conflicting information. We want our builders to focus on each frame as if it’s for a family member.

Our welders use special titanium alloy welding wire that is more supple than the adjacent tube. This weld bead ductility provides increased strength and toughness. Additionally, we use three types of titanium weld wire, each optimized for specific methods of welding.

Stef checks each frame on our granite surface plate, confirming frame alignment. She’ll repeat this check multiple times during the welding process to verify what she already knows: There is no straighter frame. Stef knows this because she follows welding techniques Seven developed over the past 35 years. We call this technique induction alignment; our use of welding techniques to achieve proper tolerances rather than solely relying on cold setting the frame after welding. Induction alignment makes the welds stronger and the frame straighter.

We use a multi-pass weld technique. We don’t use pulse welders or other process simplification methods. There are no shortcuts to building the most durable frames available.

Frame Tacking: Hidden Precision

Most of Seven’s framebuilding efforts are invisible. That’s okay. We know what we did.

Tube specification accuracy, material cleanliness, as-machined frame alignment, joint fit-up, etc. These types of hidden precisions throughout our tack welding process are fundamental to building a strong straight frame. Equally important, these obscured cornerstones provide the beginnings of Seven’s legendary ride.

Stef understands these nuances better than most. She is part of our Special Projects Team. With nearly 30 years of frame welding experience, she is one of Seven’s Master Welders. Here Stef works through the tack welding procedure for our SOURCE Endurance Race Gravel project bike.

Stef tack welds the seat tube and bottom bracket assembly, the first phase of frame tacking. A tack is a small weld that holds the tubes together. These steps allow her to remove the assembly from the frame jig and weld the frame without fixture hindrance.

Stef checks the accuracy and alignment of this seat tube assembly. The bottom bracket is the foundation of the frame. If, after welding, the seat tube is not perfectly aligned to the bottom bracket, the frame will not be straight and will not ride true. Working precisely now and at every step makes perfect finished frame alignment possible.

Stef welds the internal guides and ports. Some internal housing routing welds are done before tacking and some after. It’s complicated.

Stef modifies each of her welding helmets and shields, making them as light as possible. This subtle mod allows her to work faster and with higher precision. Make no mistake: Stef’s weld quality is second to none. Regardless, even after 30 years, she constantly refines her craft.

Stef tacks the down tube in place. The coped tube fits its mating tube within a few thousandths of an inch — about the thickness of a human hair. This invisible accuracy helps us build straighter frames that roll faster and live longer.

Stef tack welds the top tube and seat tube. The titanium weld area is cleaned and prepared in a four-step process. This is yet another unseen tedious procedure that set the stage for the strongest, most durable welds possible.

Handcrafted: One Frame At A Time

Skip is part of our Special Projects Team. He is Seven’s most Master Framebuilder, with more than 30 years of custom machining experience. Here he completes a one-off project code named SOURCE Endurance Race Gravel. The SOURCE integrates a number of details and advanced features in a new combination we’ve not yet offered publicly. Details to follow. And available soon for all.

Skip machines the down tube of a custom frame. Our proprietary coping system ensures tube length accuracy to within 0.003″ — the thickness of a piece of paper.

Skip machines the head tube; preparing the frame for Seven’s innovative internal housing routing system.

Skip bends Seven’s ultra-thin Moto seat stays in three dimensions for improved ride flow.

The tubeset is ready for welding. Each part of this frame kit was custom-machined by one master framebuilder. Each frame tube in this kit is unique when compared to any other frame we’ve ever built. More custom than necessary? Maybe, but it’s what we do.

Framebuilding: Special Projects Team

We’ve been working on a new project bike code named SOURCE. It’ll be public soon. In the meantime, here are a few images of Skip working on the frame’s rear triangle.