skip to content
Current Lead Times: Simple-Custom Framesets: 1 week. Full Custom Bikes: 7 weeks.

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

Race Stays for Race Days

With road season on the horizon here in the Northern Hemisphere (they’re already racing Down Under), we are turning more of our attention to the growing list of road bikes on our build schedule. For riders who like to go fast, the go-to material of the last decade has been carbon fiber, and the reason given most is its inherent stiffness. Many of the race bikes we build incorporate carbon fiber in some way, either in the rear triangle, as in our Elium SL, or more extensively, as with our 622 SLX. Those frames can be lighter than a double-butted Ti frame, though much of that difference gets lost once the bike is completely built. Light wheels and/or components make a bigger difference to overall bike weight than the frame.

All of those bikes, the Elium SL, the 622 SLX and the double-butted Axiom SL, have titanium chain stays. We think they make for a smoother, more durable bike than carbon stays, but we have wanted to be able to make them stiffer for some time.

Now we are offering 1″ chain stays that will fit a tire as large as 28mm. These stays are more than 50% stiffer than a 7/8″ stay. That’s a big jump for a small gain in diameter. We are thinking of them as race stays for race days, for our riders who want all the stiffness and power transfer they can get out of their drivetrain, but also want the comfort and durability of a metal bike.

Editions of One: Project Pioneer

What are the Editions of One?

The Seven Cycles’ Editions of One bikes are special projects aimed at pushing the bounds of our creativity and ability. Like every Seven, built for the person who will ride it, each is one of a kind. Each is meant to inspire. Each is meant to celebrate the craft of bike building and the freedom cycling affords us all.

We will release three Editions of One this year. The first, built back in March was the Ever Changing Evergeen. The second is currently underway, and will be completed in time for an adventurous ride this weekend. We’re calling this second Edition of One, Project Pioneer.

Project Pioneer Design Details

Eugene Christophe was leading the 1913 Tour de France when his fork broke on the descent of the Tourmalet. Prohibited from accepting outside help, he hiked 10km to the village of Ste-Marie-de-Campan with his bike on his shoulder. Once there he repaired his own fork at the forge of Mssr. Lecomte and then continued on to the finish even though the entire field passed him while he toiled and the race was lost.

The Project Pioneer bike is a tribute not only to Christophe, but to the pioneer spirit of cycling’s early decades, to the self-sufficiency that cycling fosters and to the joy of building and riding your own bicycle.

Seven built this bike in collaboration with Rapha Performance Roadwear, the Rapha Continental Team and Ride Studio Cafe for the June 7th, 2014 Pioneers Ride, designed as a tribute to the pioneers of early cycling. Details on the ride can be found here. All are welcome!

Design Details: Paying homage to the cycling era from 1900 through 1940.

  • Frame: Carbon tubing with titanium lugs and chain stays.
  • Tubular Truss: harkens back to bikes of this period.
  • Derailleur: Three-speed, designed and built from scratch, in house. Inspired by the first derailleur ever allowed in the Tour de France, the Super Champion.
  • Chain tensioner: Customized, in house.
  • Shift lever: Modified in house for three-speed use.
  • Gearing: 42 front; 14-18-24t cluster.
  • Handlebar: Wide flare drop bar.
  • Stem: Adjustable – track style, built from scratch.
  • Wheels: Rims and hubs painted to match frameset.
  • Skewers: Modified wing nuts.
  • Paint: Logo designs and details based on the style of the era. Gold leaf logos – real gold leaf. Unpainted chainstay – reminiscent of chrome plating.

The Editions of One bikes are not for sale, but some design elements can be incorporated into our standard offerings. Each of these special bikes will remain in the Seven Cycles factory show room at the conclusion of their intended usage. For behind the scenes action of the creation of the bike, follow our Instagram feed, Twitter page or Tumblr.

pinstriping

titanium lug

lugs of the Pioneer bike

 

Seven in Flanders

rider and bike

This is Phil Cavell from Cyclefit in London. Phil is on our 622 SLX on the cobbles in Flanders, and this picture was taken on a trip to Belgium in advance of this year’s Tour of Flanders.

Phil, and his partner Julian Wall, do the fits for all of Trek Factory Racing, the team of this year’s Flanders winner, Fabian Cancellara. So, safe to say Phil knows of what he speaks, when he’s speaking about bikes.

He wrote a review of his experience on this bike for the Cyclefit site.

Here are a couple choice quotes from that review:

“Look closely at the dropouts or welds, or brake-bridge. Rob Vandermark has made Seven his life’s work and project. It is his entry into The Great Ledger. This is not a product or model or something stamped out of a mould in China. It is a mission that he judges himself upon every day.”

and…

“The ride is flawless and so it should be. Taut, responsive, nuanced and brimming with undertones of distinction.”

Thanks to Phil for bringing us along on your Flandrien escapade, for putting us through our paces, and also for making us look so good.

seven in front of a car

Raymond Z’s 622 SLX

Raymond says, “Greetings from Reno, NV! My Seven 622 SLX is the best bike I have ever ridden! She climbs up the steep hills of Reno and Lake Tahoe and is snappy on flat roads. Pictured is my Seven 622 SLX Ultegra Di2 in ‘Swimming Pool Blue’ decals and my Boston Terrier ‘Goliath.'”

bike with dog

Thanks to Raymond for the kind words, and to Paul Williams at Perfect Fit for making it happen!