Bike Build – Page 9 – Seven Cycles

Project Bike: Nella Neve – Winter Randonneur

Mid-winter, Rob built himself a unique rando bike. This was one in a long list of Seven project randonneuring bikes that we took on in 2012, an internal project to test a couple ideas. Due to the above-average snowfall here in New England, we did this as a speed project, one week from design to build.

This video was, in part, the inspiration for the design, hence the name Nella Neve.

Highlights of the project included:

Hot swappable between drop bar and Tiberius bar – actually a Stylerius™ bar
Accommodate tires from 23c up to 2.3″ 29er. Ideally designed around 33c tires.
Race-worthy geometry, handling, and performance.
Big fenders for optimized protection in the wettest and snowiest of days. No ice buildup on theses beauts.
Disc brakes for icy weather and easy wheel swap.
Hot swapping studded tires for 28c tires depending on the weather

: Hanging and waiting for assembly

: Stylerius bars straight and true

: Seven and Seven

: Stylerius bar close-up

: Bar quick connects

Ambi’s 622 SLX

This is Ambi’s new 622 SLX with integrated seat post (ISP), 44mm headtube, and Di2 shifting perched against a guard rail in the Marin headlands looking down over the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. We built it with our friends at City Cycle.

Ambi says:

My bike is finally completed and she had her first 40+miles today up and down SF hills and the Marin Headlands, even saw family of deers too. She rides as mean as she looks, and as good, as fast…super stiff, awesome downhill, uphill, cutting corners..you name it! That over-sized head tube looks insane!

Effortless! Now i need to be in shape all the time to keep up with this bike.

Thanks again for all your help and please thank Jordan and all Seven crew who helped made my dream bike. Can’t wait to ride again. You guys are awesome! I am eyeing a Ti Axiom or Cafe Racer in the future. But in the meantime this bike is so awesome!

Melinda’s 650C Axiom S

This is Melinda’s brand new 650c Axiom S. We built it in partnership with our friends at Podium Multisport in Atlanta. The challenge here was to find a good, balanced design and fit for Melinda, who is both diminutive in stature and aggressive in riding style. Working around a 650c wheel size, Podium gave us positionals to work from, and we came up with this bike, which seems to be just what Melinda was looking for…

She reports:

My first real ride didn’t occur until yesterday! We went about 53 miles, and I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Here is my first impression: All the the ‘hot spots’ where I felt uncomfortable on my other bike were nonexistant..The pinch at the ankles, tweak in the knee, hip; ache in the back, etc….all gone. It felt like I could be on the bike and actually relax my entire body. Like sitting in a “stressless” chair (if you know what those are).

From a power perspective, on my old bike I always felt that I couldn’t pull up on the pedal stroke efficiently and I was correct! I was missing about half my power in the stroke because I couldn’t get the pull. On this bike I felt like I could utilize muscles and power that I never had access to. Rather than feeling the crunch at mile 20 and hanging off the back and thinking I couldn’t possibly go another 30+miles, I stayed toward the front most of the time, was able to fly up the hills, and even had energy left over at the end of the ride. It was beyond anything that I could have imagined!

Needless to say, I am pleased! I felt the road but not all of the bad things that come from the road like uncomfortable bumps, etc. It absorbed those nicely. It was incredibly responsive and ZIPPY! There is no better term for it! I don’t think Alan is very happy though because I smoked him up the big hills and had to hold back to fetch his sorry ass at the end of the ride. Oh well, can’t please them all!

Titanium/Carbon Mixes – The Best of Both Worlds

If you were to take a carbon fiber tube and wrap it against the wall, then hold your ear to it, there would be little if any sound emanating from the tube. If you did the same test with metal, it would sing like a tuning fork. The same holds true for frames, metal sings and carbon whispers. These two qualities make for very different experiences on the road. Carbon bikes, like our Diamas line, make pitted and potholed roads feel like you are pedaling over wall to wall carpeting; smooth, with very little feedback. Metal bikes, like the Axiom, Resolute, Sola, and Mudhoney, on the other hand, provide constant feedback keeping you in tune with the surface of the road. Once we start customizing and manipulating tube sets, we can alter how compliant or how stout the frames will be, but the material dictates how the road’s vibrations will be relayed to the rider.

There is a gap between whispering and singing, and to some, that’s where the perfect bike resides. By adding carbon tubes to a titanium frame, or vice versa, we can fabricate a bike that hums, bridging the gap between the two materials.

The idea of a titanium frame paired with carbon seat stays for the intended purpose of soaking up road vibrations was a notion that Seven pioneered and first implemented with the Odonata back in 1997, and though there have been some updates and improvements the same basic model exists today, now known as the Elium SL.

The ride of a ti/carbon bike is so pleasant, that we offer them in road, cross, and mountain bike disciplines.

Belgianwerkx – Signature Mudhoney Cross Racer

New Seven partner shop, Belgianwerkx in Mequon, WI (just north of Milwaukee), wanted to do something special for their first floor demo bike. We think they succeeded. A steel Mudhoney, painted in their colors with Belgian flag accents, new HED Belgium rims, Cannondale crank, ENVE cockpit, the works. Nick Moroder, shop manager, said, “The handling is spot-on. SO responsive. And it’s unbelievably stiff for any bike, let alone just steel.”