skip to content
Current Lead Times: Rider-Ready Framesets: 3 weeks. Full Custom Bikes: 7 weeks.

U.S. Built Bicycles in Titanium and Carbon-Titanium Mix

Summer Miles

two bikes against a tree with blurry rider in the background

Summer miles happen on the road. The early roll out catches the crickets and the heavy dew that settles just before dawn. Voices seem loud before cars join the party.

We meet at the coffee shop, as if there is any other place to meet, warm light spilling from the windows. And we mill in the parking lot and adjust our sleeves, retighten our shoes. Continue reading “Summer Miles”

The Axiom

If you fly over New England in an airplane, it looks like a patchwork of farm, forest and town, irregular and haphazard. Our roads are very much the same way. Stretches of smooth pavement are rare. Potholes, patches and gravelly shoulders more or less define the riding here. So when we’re designing a road bike, we often start there, at the road surface, and we think about what kind of a bike will work best.

An Axiom is a starting point, an idea that leads to other ideas.

Continue reading “The Axiom”

Seven Cycles’ 24th Anniversary

Twenty-four years ago today, on January 7, 1997, four bike industry veterans launched the foolish idea of building custom bikes for everyone.  The industry called us crazy – and worse.

More than 30,000 custom bikes later, we haven’t yet accomplished that goal, but we think we’re well on the way. We will make it so long as we keep listening, learning, riding, working with our hands, and innovating.

So much has changed over the years.  Unfortunately, we rarely look back at how Seven has evolved.  But even a quick sideways glance shows us that our first bikes have little in common with our latest designs.

new-vs-old-hightail-and-first-seven-ever-built
Seven’s first bike next to our latest model. Seven’s original steel mountain bike and our 2021 Hightail XX mountain race bike.

Well, not everything has changed. Three of the original four founders are still “leading” the company.  In fact, seven of the first ten full-time employees still work with Seven.  Sometimes it feels more like a family than a business.

Pictured from 1997 are Kirk, Mike, Tim, Bernard, Skip, Maxwell, and Lisa. Not pictured are Jennifer, Matt, and Rob. Photo: Matt O’Keefe

When asked about the anniversary, Seven’s first founder, Rob Vandermark, looked up from his latest pile of prototype parts and sketches and said, “What?  Who’s anniversary?”

Regardless of Rob’s confusion, we’ve had an unbelievable journey so far. We might share some of the less embarrassing memories throughout this season.  For better or worse, we’re still crazy after all these years because we’re pretty certain we’ll accomplish our original goal within the next 24.

Stay tuned.

Your Seveneers