This is John and his Seven Airheart. We built this one with our friend Eric at Pleasant Hill Cyclery. John went with a simple matte black paint job over his steel frame, then built the bike out with wide range Shimano Ultegra cassette and a set of Rolf Prima Elan wheels.
He says:
Hi Seven,
I hope all is well with you… apologies for my delay, I built out my Airheart in March. Since then I’ve done a number of short to long, easy to tough rides and throughout the Airheart performed much better than originally anticipated. I cannot detect any difference in performance from having frame couplers and not. As far as where my Airheart fits in my ‘bike’ world… right between my Merckx and Parlee. I would have no issue if I my Airheart was my ‘only’ bike but I’m glad I have all three !!
I‘ve included a few pics of the final build and from my first [airline] trip to Maui and Haleakala Crater. Jeez, packing the Airheart was so much easier with the Rolf Prima wheels as the cassette, shaft and free-hub easily come off.
The total bike weight less water bottles and saddle bag is 18 LB., just a half pound heavier than my Merckx EMX-5 and 2 LB’s heavier than my Parlee Z5.
Many thanks to you and Seven Cycles !!
Sincerely,
John