Chicago – Seven Cycles

Brian’s 622 SLX

This is Brian’s new 622 SLX, built with our good friends at Get-a-Grip Cycles in Chicago. Brian was going for a very refined look, so he painted the 622’s carbon tubes Platinum to match the titanium lugs and added a Ti post and stem. The result is pretty stunning, we think. Some kind words from Brian also, below.

622 SLX painted platinum and graphite

Dear Seven,

…………….it is EXTRORDINARY.

It really is a work of art.

Thanks for putting up with me — I was stressed about dropping so much dough on a bike, but seeing the end product I have absolutely NO regrets.

Looking forward to the inaugural ride tomorrow morning (I’m a bit giddy at the thought of it!). So far I’ve just spun around the block to test the saddle and eTap which were also both amazing.

Anyway, enjoy the pics and let me know what you think.

All my best,

Brian

Seven in Chicago Magazine

We were fortunate to be featured in Chicago Magazine this last month, with a little help from our friends at Get-a-Grip Cycles. With a two-page spread of our (actually rider Shawn Briggs’) 622 SLX, the piece does a nice job of quickly dissecting what goes into a bike customized to the nines. Many potential riders can by put off by a price tag, without considering all the components that go into it, and the long term value you get from designing and building the right thing the first time.

Detail of a spread titled the making of a $13,000 bike

The making of a $13,000 bike - Here's what goes into building a masterpiece on two wheels

Chicago to Boston – Tom Schneider’s TRUE Fit

Tom Schneider is coming to Boston, by bike, from Chicago. There is a reason for this, but we should back up a little first. Schneider grew up in Rockland, MA on the south side of metro-Boston. Tom’s parents didn’t have a car, so he and his family rode bikes to get around. At an early age, he fell in love with physical activity, eventually doing undergrad work in Exercise and Health Sciences at UMass-Boston and then a Master’s in Sports Administration at Northwestern.

After working with kids during recess at several different Chicago Public Schools, he realized what direction he wanted his career to take.

“I saw the activity level of the kids during recess, and it’s definitely not that same as when I was their age. Most kids favor technology over movement, and they’re neglecting the activity they need every day,” he says.

Now, Tom coaches basketball and trains the athletes at one of Chicago’s college prep schools. He’s a personal trainer at the Wilmette Park District. He runs fitness clinics – both pay and pro bono – for kids throughout the city. And he spends a fair amount of time developing TRUE Fit, his education and fitness program aimed at kids of all ages.

The idea of the Chicago to Boston ride came when he and his father took a bike trip from their home in Rockland to the Martha’s Vineyard ferry and back. In total, they rode about 200 miles in 24 hours. Tom knew then that riding and conducting TRUE Fit clinics along the way would be a great way to inspire kids across the country.

That’s when our friends Tony and Julia at Velosmith stepped in to sponsor Tom, providing him a Seven to ride and some much needed expertise in long-distance riding.

Julia said, “Tom’s mission to teach kids about health and fitness is indisputable, and we’re excited to support his commitment to ride from Chicago to Boston,” said Julia. “Kids need to be active and get off their devices. Tony and I battle this with our two kids daily and we stand by Tom in his efforts to teach kids to make good decisions about food, move their bodies often, and get them pumping their muscles along the way! Tom is a motivator and mentor to adults and kids alike.”

Donate to the cause here.

On the Road: Tony B Evergreens Chicagoland

We built this Evergreen SL (with S&S Couplers) for our good friend Tony at Velosmith Bicycle Studio on Chicago’s north shore. Tony wanted it for an annual ride he does with some friends. That ride involves a pre-dawn alarm clock, a train trip and a long, rambling food-filled ride back home.

On the Road – Velosmith Bicycle Studio

Partnerships are important. We do our best work with shops we work with a lot. On Saturday we were at Velosmith Bicycle Studio for the launch of a special collaboration, the Moselle. Tony Bustamante, of Velosmith, once worked here at Seven. When he opened his studio, we immediately began working together on gorgeous custom bikes for his customers. It is a partnership in the truest sense of the word where we use our shared experience to do increasingly difficult, but gratifying, work.

And now the culmination of all that effort arrives in the form of the Moselle, a bike Tony designed specifically for Velosmith and only available there. The Moselle is a straight gauge titanium Swiss Army knife of a bike, disc-equipped and set up for wide tires. It can group ride on the road. It can explore double track. It can happily roll down the trail, and it can commute in all weather. The finish is a subtle, bead-blasted river theme that mixes shine with matte to create a signature look.

For the launch, our friends from SRAM came out. The Moselle features their new CX1 drivetrain and Force 22 hydraulic brakes. The first bike was built for Velosmith team racer Eric Drummer, who will mix cyclocross with longer gravel events, like Dirty Kanza, to showcase everything the Moselle can do. At the end of the night we sat with Tony’s father Alberto, a legend of the Chicago bike world, and he shook his head wistfully looking at his son’s creation. “We can do anything now, can’t we?” and he smiled, and that alone made our visit to Chicago worth making.