U.S. Built Bicycles in Titanium and Carbon-Titanium Mix
U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix
Custom is a bad word, not like the ones that get a ten-year-old sent to the principle’s office, but one that can mean too many things, or not enough. The common perception is that a custom bike has custom tube lengths and angles, that a good fit is the primary benefit. But we do so much more to personalize a bike for a Seven rider. Maybe the most important custom element in a Seven is the rider-specific tubeset.
We have riders who are 6 feet tall and weigh 150lbs, and we have riders who are the same height and weigh 250lbs. Each of them wants a comfortable ride that performs well. To achieve similar ride characteristics for each rider we pick a tubeset that accounts for their differences. This seems obvious to us. A custom bike should fit perfectly, of course, but it should also feel perfect, and that means selecting the right tubes for wall thickness and diameter.
With our double and ultra-butted frames, we can go even further in personalizing ride feel for the individual, refining the tubes to make them more compliant and lighter. This is three steps of refinement beyond geometry, and we feel these steps are integral to delivering a real custom bike. Rider-specific is core to our philosophy, an extension of what we wrote about last week regarding women’s specific bikes.
We built this Axiom SL in our original 1,000 sq ft space back in 1997, the first year of our existence. It is serial number 158 (before we developed our current serial numbering system). It originally had a 1″ headtube, as most road bikes did at that time. The bike’s owner, Greg, decided this was the year to upgrade his bike, so he sent it to us to put on a new 44mm headtube.
Greg wrote to us, after getting his new/old bike back:
To All Those at Seven,
WOW!!!
Great Bike!! Frame #158 runs like a Dream!!
Took it out to Ocotillio CA for the Stagecoach Century, it was a Blast.
Simply cannot say enough, the difference is astounding!!
Thank you all So Much!!
Greg
We have always aimed to build bikes that last, that riders will come back to year-after-year, ride-after-ride. It is extremely gratifying to work with riders who have the same aims.
An earlier version of this post stated erroneously that Greg had added an 1 1/8″ headtube instead of 44mm.
Who is the specific woman? We see a lot of “women’s specific” bikes out in the world, but we have yet to meet any specific women. In all the fittings and all the designs we have done, what is resoundingly clear is that women’s bodies are pretty non-specific. In fact, women’s bodies vary more than men’s do, in proportion, so it’s a hard task to design something that will fit most women, even of the same height, in any more than a cursory way. Making a man’s bike smaller doesn’t get at the half of it.
So we consider what makes women different than men. For example, women generally (but not always) have a wider pelvic arch than men, greater pelvic tilt also. These things affect saddle position and saddle height. Generally speaking (but not always) women have longer legs relative to their height than men do. Their weight is lower and farther back, which affects the center of gravity, handling and reach. Their shoulders are usually (but not always) narrower, and they have smaller hands (sometimes), all of which impacts front-end geometry and handling.
The generalized differences are informative, but really, when it comes right down to it, every rider, male or female, is an individual, with specific geometric needs, with a tubeset that matches their riding preferences, with their own aesthetic sense and ideas for their bike. That’s why we make rider-specific bikes.
As far as we can tell, there is no specific woman, but there might be a specific bike for every woman (or man), who wants one.
OK. so it was 24F when we met at the shop, and ok, it was still dark, but it was Lily’s last day, so we pulled on our warmers and shoe covers and rolled out 13 strong. It’s not often we get that many of us out together on one ride, and it’s too bad that it took Lily leaving to bring us all together, but it was a solid reminder why we do what we do. Having this be a part of our work indicates that, somewhere along the line, we’ve made good life choices.
The Union Square Donuts that arrived just before 9am (thanks, Heather!!), when we rolled back into the parking lot, and the two vats of coffee that came along with them just stoked the joy of a Friday morning ride with friends. And ok, we’re all at our various machines and desks now. We’re working. But we know WHY we’re working, and it is good.
It’s sad to lose Lily to the Pacific Northwest, where she will no doubt thrive on the many trails, in the many donut shops and cafes, but we’re all grateful for the time we got to spend with her, and for the way she brought us together this morning to do what we do.