Seven Customers – Page 18

A Month with the Lake

We recently received this story from our friends at Velosmith. Two Seven riders, whose bikes we built just last year, are headed out for a month-long trip round Lake Michigan. See the story below:

Ask Suzie LaBelle about her Seven and she will tell you about its geometry and handling. She understands how the weight of the bike and the material used affects her performance and feel of the ride. And she knows that it feels stable on climbs, descents, and around corners.

Sounds like a hardcore, performance-minded racer, right?

In this case, you’d be incorrect. You won’t find Suzie on the local race circuit. Rather, you’ll find her in the midst of a month-long, fully self-supported, 1,400-mile bike trip around Lake Michigan.

The Adventure

The trip around Lake Michigan began May 17 and will take 30 days in total: 25 days of riding and five rest days. Suzie and her riding partner Will – also a Seven rider – met through the Evanston Bicycle Club, a local group of cyclists who ride together several times a week.

They soon discovered they both had a taste for adventure, and started to plan this tour. It will be self-supported; both Sevens are equipped with racks and they will carry only what they need.

“Will is a stronger rider than I am so he gets to pull in the wind,” she says with a chuckle. In addition to their own personal items, they’ve compromised on who carries what on their bikes. “He gets to carry the tools and I carry the first aid kit.”

The Training

Suzie and Will are both in their 60s, but don’t let their age fool you. These are two strong and experienced riders, and preparing for the trip meant many hours in the saddle.

Their typical week consisted of a moderate ride of 40-50 miles on Tuesday, a hard 40 miles on Wednesday, a fast 50 miles on Friday, and about 60 miles on one or both days over the weekend.

“For me this is more than an athletic undertaking. This is a journey – a pilgrimage – and I want time to stop and see the sites around Lake Michigan.”

The Best (and Possible Worst)

Suzie did most of the route planning and is most looking forward to discovering what she calls the “reality under the maps.”

“I love making the routes, visualizing what it will be like. I look forward to being in that environment day after day. And when we get there, discovering hidden meadows, hills, and lakes that maps don’t always show. “

She’s most concerned about the weather, especially as they get up towards the Upper Peninsula – which can still include very cold temps and snow at this time of year.

“Through our club contacts, we’ve been able to line up emergency people along the way in case we encounter extreme weather or a mechanical issue we can’t resolve ourselves.”

For more, follow along on their Seven.

Nick’s 622 SLX

This is Nick’s 622 SLX. We built it with our friends at the Red Bicycle Studio in Red Bank, NJ. Nick took our Lug Deluxe paint scheme and went a step further. We think it came out great, and the matching white and red pedals are a nice touch.

Nick's 622 SLX

There Are No Bikes

There are no bikes, but only riders, more than 30,000 of them. They came to us and told us about their riding, the roads and trails they wanted to ride, and we gave them a way to get there. It’s true that, in some ways, it was the bikes that took them where they wanted to go, but without the riders, there was nothing.

This is an important distinction to make. We have never built a bike with the express purpose of convincing someone to buy it. We have only ever built the bikes that people asked us to build. The rider comes first, always.

We get somewhat regular calls from people who ask something like, “Hi, I wonder if you have a 56cm road bike in stock that I can just buy.” And we say, “Sorry, we don’t actually have any bikes in inventory,” which is true.

There are no bikes until there are riders who want them, and what they want is very specific. We wouldn’t build the same bike for you, because you are different. We have built more than 30,000 bikes, and never two the same in a row. It is a lot more fun to do it this way.

Russ’s Airheart SL

This is Russ and his Airheart SL. When we started building the Airheart line, the idea was to build the ultimate travel bike, easy to break down, pack and put on an airplane. Russ took this idea to its logical conclusion by having us build this bike to match his plane, which he flies to places he wants to ride. It’s so staggeringly brilliant, we had to share. We’re not all lucky enough to know how to fly, but we like to think that, if we weren’t so busy building bikes, we’d be doing exactly what Russ does.

Road Closed

Russ says:

LOVE my new bike. Rode it this morning…..first split dialing it in, then joined our Saturday group and kicked it in for rest of ride. Thought I might struggle with the pace given I put a compact crank on it but I was off the front a couple of times! Now I’m going to take it apart and pack it up for trip.

Thanks again!

Russ

Robert’s Elium SL

You don’t imagine what people will do with your bikes when you build them, or if you do try and envision what life the bike will live, you don’t dare to think it will carry people as far as it sometimes does. We build lifetime bikes, but it’s the rider that gives the bike that lifetime. We got this photo and note from Robert, down in Florida where he has put his Elium SL (an Elium SG when he bought it) to very good use.

I found it timely to receive this recent newsletter from Seven Cycles. My Seven Elium just reached a milestone. As of today, it has 50,030 miles on it. Twice around the world.

This bicycle has been a joy to ride since the first day. Even at 50,000 miles, it has almost all the original Ultegra components. Shifters, brakes, crankset, derailleurs, and bottom bracket are all original. The headset is original. I have replaced the chain 4 times, the cassette twice, and the shifter cables several times.

The next 50,000 may take longer, but I hope to see this bicycle reach 100,000. Thank you for building such a fine bicycle.

Robert