Wheel Werks – Seven Cycles

Seven at (Unofficial) Gravel Worlds

Gravel Worlds road sign

There is no UCI sanctioned gravel World Championship, but a hearty bunch of riders in Lincoln, Nebraska put on an event every year that stands in, a sort of not-all-the-way serious race that gets pretty serious and attracts a lot of fast riders.

One of those fast folks is Kae, for whom we built an Evergreen SL with our buddy Bob at Wheel Werks Custom Cycles in Crystal Lake, IL. Kae won the Open Women’s category and pulled on the striped jersey.

Here are some photos and a note from Kae:

Kae and her Evergreen SL

Gravel Worlds gear

Kae says:

Bob,

We were in Lincoln NE to compete in the (unofficial) Gravel Worlds Championship.

Rode with different packs, battled with high wind alone, crushed (and got crushed by) relentless hills (it’s not flat in NE!). After 9 hours of saddle time, I achieved my goal – the worlds jersey with champion stripes!!

For overall (men/women all categories included) 19th out of 300+.

My Seven really made a difference. Thank you SO much for your expert assembly and attention to details. No mechanical whatsoever, I am so comfortable on the bike, up, down or flat or HARD riding.

It’s done quite a few unpaved rides/races this year so far (KS, NE, UP Michigan, WV, PA) and more are to come. I have lots of stories to tell you …. including a HUGE moose encounter.

Hope to see you soon!

Kae

Ken’s Evergreen SL

This is Ken’s Evergreen SL, another great build from Bob at Wheel Werks in Crystal Lake, IL. It’s hard to tell how well the bike came out, because Ken more or less immediately put it through hell (see his comment below), and he sent pictures with it still covered in mud from one of the more intense editions of the Dirty Kanza in recent memory. We love it.

Ken says:

The bike is great, couldn’t be happier. Two days after I picked it up I did a 300k and if performed perfectly in terms of fit and performance. Also did Dirty Kanza 200 a few weeks later, same thing (rider, not so good…19hrs, 59 minutes).

See more of Ken’s photos here.

Robin’s Elium SL

This is one of those rider emails that makes your whole day. We built Robin’s Elium SL in 2010 with Bob Olsen at Wheel Werks in Crystal Lake, IL. You can’t tell from this photo, but it’s a beautiful bike. Five years later, she writes:

Hi Seven,

I ran across this old email and had to drop you a note. You helped me build my bike 5-years ago and I hope you’ll be happy to learn that it still is the best money I’ve ever spent. My Elium has traveled with me across the country (see it lounging in a hotel room bed below), participated in countless cycling events and logged thousands of miles, yet I never tire of it!

I appreciate the work you and the Seven team does to ensure every mm is spec’d and each detail closely tended to. I can truly say I LOVE my bike!

Continued success,

Robin

Williams Bay, WI

John C’s Expat S

We built this stealthy Expat S with our friends at Wheel Werks Custom Bikes in Crystal Lake, IL.

John says:

Wow – what a great bike you designed and built for me! I spent most of the weekend riding as much as possible! It’s solid, responsive, and comfortable to ride. I even got my first, “Hey, what kind of bike is that?”. It was fun explaining the frame and components!

And here is John with Bob Olsen, the man with the plan at Wheel Werks.