{"id":2646,"date":"2013-11-04T15:38:49","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T20:38:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sevencycles.com\/blog\/?p=2646"},"modified":"2025-11-05T18:04:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T23:04:16","slug":"stephens-mudhoney-sl-a-love-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/stephens-mudhoney-sl-a-love-letter\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen’s Mudhoney SL – A Love Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stephen's<\/a><\/p>\n

This is Stephen’s Mudhoney SL<\/a>, built with our friends at Sigma Sport<\/a> in Surrey, UK. We might tell you more about the bike, but Stephen has done that for us. There is no better email to get from a rider than one like this.<\/p>\n

Stephen says:<\/p>\n

Hello Seven,<\/em><\/p>\n

I promised myself a Seven for my 60th to keep me fit into my dotage.\u00a0I needed a performance\u00a0bike; one\u00a0suited to my advancing years\u00a0but\u00a0capable of going anywhere. It’d have to be versatile, comfortable, tough, low maintenance and reliable. Thus, the Mudhoney SL<\/a>\u00a0stood out and, with the expert guidance of Mick Silles at Sigma Sport\u00a0of Kingston Upon Thames in\u00a0UK,\u00a0my bespoke\u00a0Seven took shape.<\/em><\/p>\n

Getting the specification just right took several months, but throughout, Mick was the very best adviser. He listened carefully and accurately translated\u00a0desires into\u00a0needs (both frame and components).\u00a0Mostly this was happening at\u00a0a distance, because though\u00a0I’m a Brit,\u00a0I live\u00a0in Vienna, Austria. I visited Sigma just\u00a0three times, first\u00a0to spec’ the bike, then for very thorough\u00a0fittings and finally to take delivery. In between there were lots of emails!\u00a0 You surely know it already, but in Mick you have an excellent UK representative, advocate and enthusiast.<\/em><\/p>\n

So now I’ve been riding the bike for a couple of weeks since delivery. With true good fortune, this Austrian October has been unseasonably warm and sunny – in fact, perfect cycling weather. I’ve taken advantage of that and taken off into the Wienerwald<\/a> at every opportunity. On road and trail the bike is a revelation!<\/em><\/p>\n

In climbs I’ve become instantly fitter (or just maybe, the Seven\u00a0frame transmits way more energy to the road). The bike\u00a0is comfortable and assured. I get no pins and needles in my hands, nor tired shoulders. Everything just falls to hand and I’m perfectly positioned to ride for hours on end. I corner confidently, everything feels taut and\u00a0I know exactly what’s going on where tyres hit road. \u00a0Nothing creaks or flexes, even when I’m pedaling out of the saddle.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Stephen's<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Then there’s the aesthetics. I wanted an understated look. No paint, no discs, no suspension, no accessories. Avid Shorty canti’s, Chris King ‘Sotto Voce’ components, ENVE CX forks …. everything bare\u00a0titanium or plain black. It looks fantastic\u00a0but rides even better!\u00a0 Incidentally, for the record, I’m now\u00a0a convert and consequent zealot for Shimano’s amazing\u00a0Ui2 gearset – beautifully integrated into the Mudhoney frame, battery and all.<\/em><\/p>\n

In summary, I got the bike I desired and, thanks to Sigma Sport’s good advice and the skills of the Seven Team (especially\u00a0Lauren Trout and Stef Adams – oh God, those welds)\u00a0I ended up with\u00a0every machine I needed for fitness, sport and fun. I’m in love!<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m\u00a0so impressed with the craftsmanship, the attention to detail (like the inspired chain hanger and the rear canti’ cable post) and above all, with the way you’ve\u00a0served your motto – I got my<\/strong> one bike and mine alone.<\/em><\/p>\n

I’m motivated alright – next spring I’ll try the Grossglockner<\/a> …. <\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you for making me a very happy customer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stephen<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is Stephen’s Mudhoney SL, built with our friends at Sigma Sport in Surrey, UK. We might tell you more about the bike, but Stephen has done that for us. There is no better email to get from a rider than one like this. Stephen says: Hello Seven, I promised myself a Seven for my … Continue reading “Stephen’s Mudhoney SL – A Love Letter”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[37,1166,1165,182,104,6,22,195,255],"class_list":["post-2646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-cross-bikes","tag-custom-cyclocross-bicyle","tag-custom-titanium-bicycle","tag-di2","tag-mudhoney-sl","tag-seven-customers","tag-seven-retailers","tag-sigma-sport","tag-wienerwald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2646"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11678,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2646\/revisions\/11678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sevencycles.com\/7\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}