Cyclefit – Seven Cycles

The Connaught 600

First the photo, this one worth 2,000 words, we think.

Connaught 600

Even without any context, we found ourselves wondering, if you could ride a bike there (where?) why would you ever ride anywhere else? If you’re looking for the spot, it’sat the Ceide Fields a Neolithic field system in Mayo, Ireland.

We met Noel, the rider, through our friends at Cyclefit in London. Noel is an accomplished audax rider from Ireland, and we painted his Axiom SL to match his favorite place to ride, as well as to honor Audax Ireland. The photo was taken during the Connaught 600, a 600k event by the organiser of the Wild Atlantic Way Randonee.

Rik’s Sola 29S Monster Cross

This is Rik’s Sola S 29er, built monster cross style. We partnered with our good friends at Cyclefit in London for this one.

Seven Monster cross Rik says:

Picked up Tuesday. Built Weds/Thurs. Ridden Saturday!!

Proper good. Def. not gravel, or road-plus, this is proper monster cross!! Very happy man!!

Cheers

Rik

Rik shreds some rough singletrack

Sean at the Cent Cols Challenge

This is Sean’s Axiom SL, cooked up with our good friends at Cyclefit in Covent Garden, London. We had a really nice note from him in the spring about his bike, and here is an end-of-summer follow up. This one was too good not to post:

Hi Jimmy, Neil and John.

I hope you’ve all had as good a summer as I have. As per Jimmy’s request below, I just wanted to let you know that my Axiom SL continues to fulfill my every wish – I take back nothing of what I wrote in May.

My main goal this year was the Cent Cols Challenge, Cevennes edition. I’m 1 week back from it, and I can say that the bike performed beautifully – the roads were often harsh and broken, and the days were long, and while I was generally pretty shattered at the end of a day, I’m more than pleased with how the frame rode. Stiff, yes, but that’s what it’s supposed to be. Next time I’ll probably put 25/28c tyres on it, but that’s a learning experience. It really is everything I wanted in a bike, and I have to say that amongst the sea of off the peg carbon bikes, it really stood out – I lost count of the number of times people said “What sort of bike is that? … Man, that’s a really nice frame”

As is customary, I thought I’d attach a photograph – well, 80 photographs, actually. 80 of the 100 cols climbed over the 10 days, with the bike against each col marker sign.

Again, massive thanks to all you guys, and the teams at Seven and Cyclefit… So very happy with my ride.

Quick stats:

10 days of riding
1800km distance (give or take)
36000m of climbing (give or take)

Sean

Seven at the Paris-Roubaix Challenge

When we walked into Cyclefit in Covent Garden, London last week, we were greeted by this filthy Axiom SL. Closer inspection revealed it had been ridden by resident physiotherapist and fit analyst Morgan Lloyd in April’s Paris-Roubaix Challenge, a ride that takes in all of the cobbled sections of the pro race along the 170km route.

Morgan hadn’t cleaned the bike. He was keeping all that dust and grime as a sort of trophy.

He reported that the bike performed superbly with no mechanicals or punctures. He also said, “I could not wish for a better bike, everything felt solid and it gave me the confidence to ride the sections hard despite it being my first time on pave. The frame absorbed some of the vibration protecting me a little from the punishing terrain and when I got my technique and line right I felt as if I was flying along! Is there a better frame for this event or a better test for a bike?! Brilliant.”

We are, of course, grateful to him for bringing us along.

Seven in Flanders

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.