We were thrilled, but not surprised, to see three of our retailers named to the “Top Ten Best Bike Shops in America,†by Complex website.
Cascade Bicycle Studio
Cascade Bicycle Studio in Seattle was lauded for its ability to custom build a bicycle for any customer. CBS aims to create a rider-centric atmosphere, as evidenced by their dedication to working with each cyclist on a one-on-one, appointment-only basis. This level of customer service creates a shop that the Seattle cycling community has come to trust as one of the most reliable and highest quality bike studios in the city.
Boulder Cycle Sport in Boulder, Colorado had a podium finish!Complex.com gave BCS high marks for its “dedication to finding the perfect ‘body-to-bike’ connection†and excellent repair service that the shop offers. Their efforts are paying off, as they have sold more Seven’s this year than ever before.
How did Bespoke Cycles in San Francisco improve the customer experience when they already had forty-eight years of combined fitting experience, customer first mentality, and an incredible selection of custom bikes, apparel, and gear? By moving into a beautiful new studio on Clay Street! We had a chance to check out the new digs a few weeks back and thoroughly impressed with the lay out and charm. We suspect Bespoke will be part of the top ten for many years to come.
Each of these Seven retailers shares a common trait: focus on the customer experience. A trait that, when embraced, has some profound effects. Making a top ten list is great press, but the real benefit is more happy customers, more evangelism, and of course, more sales. We’re privileged to work with retailers that set the bar so high.
A Seven Cycles Photo Essay by Jeremy Jo, Embrocation Cycling Journal
Embrocation Cycling Journal’s Jeremy Jo recently published a behind-the-scenes photo editorial of Seven.With a friendly demeanor and disarming grin Jeremy captured images of many aspects of our factory: he dug into every corner of Seven and took photos of things we didn’t even know we had. It was great to talk with him about Seven and what we’re up to. His photos and prose provide a wonderful illustration of what we do and how we do it.
“The idea of American manufacturing often conjures up images of assembly line production, where parts by the thousands pass from worker to worker as they are transformed into uninspired, mass-produced goods. This type of manufacturing once defined American industry, and it’s hard to imagine that there are still companies out there who define themselves by giving individual attention to everything they make. Enter: Seven Cycles.”
“Starting out as raw tubing, the pieces of each bicycle go through the bending, machining, welding and paint process entirely within the confines of Seven’s 9,000 square foot manufacturing floor. Each frame is often in the hands of the same person through the entire process, bringing an unparalleled sense of ownership and pride to the final product. This type of work flow is only fitting for a company whose motto is, ‘One bike. Yours.'”
The Berliner Bike
We’d like to thank Jeremy for visiting our shop and documenting what we do. You’re welcome anytime!
Patrick Brady wrote a brief history of New England bicycle manufacturing in the latest issue of Peloton Magazine, “New England Genesis”, and Seven was lucky enough to be included in it. In his (now defunct) blog, Red Kite Prayer, Patrick elaborates on the interconnectedness of the region’s bike building companies, and created a family tree to illustrate some of the relationships.
We are honored to be a part of this thriving and expanding community, and we wanted to clarify a few aspects of Patrick’s illustration that might be confusing to readers. Here is a list of framebuilders and bike-building industry people of which we’re aware that started businesses after working with local – primarily Massachusetts – framebuilders. For example, King Cage is not a framebuilder, but Ron worked at Fat City Cycles so we included him on this list.
A Long History of Photo-Taking
Each company mentioned is a framebuilder, unless otherwise indicated:
Updated 3 June 2015
Seven Cycles
In addition to Red Kite Prayer’s list, here are some companies started by Seven Cycles employees and alumnae, and clarification regarding some of the companies relationships to Seven:
Zanconato, Mike Z. was building frames before working at Seven and continues to build frames since his tenure at Seven.
SCUL, Skunk. SCUL is more of a chopper gang than a framebuilder. Currently works with Seven.
Sketchy Cycles, Mike Salvatore. Currently works with Seven.
Banjo Cycles, Ahren Rogers.
Rack Lady, Leah Stargardter. She builds custom bike racks.
Here are some additional companies – beyond what’s mentioned on Red Kite Prayer – started by Fat City Cycles alumnae:
Independent Fabrication. See below for more details.
King Cage, Ron Andrews – he makes water bottle cages.
Igleheart, Chris Igleheart.
Bomber Cycles, Dave Blakney.
S.R.P., Jeff Federson – no longer in business; he used to make small parts for the bike industry.
Janeware, Jane Hayes. Maker of clothing for cyclists.
Merlin Metalworks
A couple of additional companies not mentioned in the Peleton article:
Arctos Machine, Gary Helfrich – no longer in business; Arctos was based on the west coast.
One-Off Titanium, Mike Augsburger – he used to make custom bicycles.
Independent Fabrication
Additional companies started by Independent Fabrication alumnae:
A.N.T., Mike Flanagan. See below for more details. Closed shop on 2015; currently works with Seven Cycles.
Sputnik Metalworks, Jeff Buckles – he makes framebuilding tooling for the bike industry.
FireflyBicycle. The cool kids!
Alternative Needs Transportation – A.N.T
Mike Flanigan closed up shop in 2015. His storied past includes teaching framebuilding classes. The most notable is:
Geekhouse, Marty Walsh. In the article, it may come across that Geekhouse was born out of Marty Walsh’s work with Seven. Marty started Geekhouse prior to working with us, ran Geekhouse while he was working with Seven, and continues to operate Geekhouse today.
Serotta Competition Cycles
Yes, we know that New York is not in New England, but Serotta and the Boston bike building scene are connected – at the very least by Whitcomb. Here are a few additional companies started by Serotta alumnae:
Kirk Frameworks, Dave Kirk-Bozeman, Montana
K. Bedford Customs, Kelly Bedford
Ellis Cycles, Dave Wages
Local Builders
Here are a few framebuilders that didn’t start at a local bike company, as far as we know:
Peter Mooney Cycles
Hot Tubes, Toby Stanton.
Circle A Cycles, Chris Bull.
Maietta Cycles, Tony Maietta.
Dave Weagle
E.thirteen
Evil
Ted Wojcik Custom Bicycles
Rhygin Cycles, Christian Jones – no longer in business.
Parlee Bicycles, Bob Parlee.
October Hand Made Bikes – no longer in business.
We’re sure we’re forgetting a bunch of people, so please let us know whom we’ve left out! We thank Patrick for including us in this terrific article. We hope that after reading Patrick’s work you’ll have a better understanding of the unique history of New England that helped launch so many amazing and innovative companies.
A bicycle built for two and weighing just 7.7 pounds without couplers, the Axiom 007 SL by Seven Cycles features their exclusive Argen™ butted titanium tubeset and a host of tandem-specific features, like an eccentric bottom bracket and a lateral tube design for torsional rigidity and light weight.
“I was not planning to buy a Seven when I toured the company’s Massachusetts’s factory for research, but once I saw how beautiful the welds were, how perfectly and lovingly the frames were made, I had to have one.”– Larry Olmsted, Forbes
We were excited to read Larry Olmsted’s The Great Life article on Forbes.com, extolling the benefits and advantages of his Seven, and of custom-built bikes in general. We felt he had some good insights and wanted to share a few points that Larry made about why buying a custom-made bike is really to any rider’s advantage.
