Suspension System Overview | Seven Cycles skip to content
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U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix

Why Choose Seven's Dual Suspension System?

Seven builds the some of the industry's most advanced cross-country, race, and trail suspension bikes. We offer designs in either 120 mm or 100 mm travel with either 27.5" or 29er wheel sizes to excel at nearly every kind of riding, from pro-level cross-country racing to all-day endurance adventures, and every trail in between.

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Why Seven Dual Suspension?

There are a lot of reasons to get a Seven suspension bike. Seven has a wider and deeper range of suspension bike offerings than most companies, large or small. A quick perusal of our suspension categories provides insight. Some key differentiators found on Seven's suspension designs include:

  1. Suspension Design Experience: Thousands of suspension bikes built over more than two decades. Seven's 4th generation suspension. Previously worked with the best suspension designers in the world including Dave Weagle and Paul Turner.
  2. True Custom: To your riding style. Any type of handling and geometry tuning. 29er and 27.5" wheels. Thoughtful parts compatibility.
  3. Progressive Suspension Design: This includes Seven's Balance Control System (BCS) and Virtual Pivot Track (VPT) designs. Both unique concepts that make for some of the best suspension performance possible.
  4. Titanium: Tough, durable, enhances suspension performance.

1) Seven's Experience with Suspension

Nearly every one of the 30,000-plus bikes we've built over the past two decades has been fully custom. This means that we've tested and built bikes with just about every geometry, design philosophy, and component. We bring this experience to every bike project. Whether we're designing the most stripped-down, single-purpose, race bike or a suspension rig designed for the toughest overland adventures, we've learned more about how to perfect the ride than most companies.

We've worked with the smartest suspension designers of the past two generations: Dave Weagle and Paul Turner. We've learned a lot from them. We've had Olympians, national champions, and other world-class athletes race our suspension designs to the podium over the past 15-years. We've learned a lot about what works and doesn't.

Seven's Balance Control System is our fourth generation suspension design. We've taken everything we've learned over the past two decades and put into this new chassis.

2) Customization

We design to enhance your riding style. We work with just about any type of handling and geometry tuning. 29er and 27.5" wheels. If you have clear preferences about how you want your Seven to ride, handle, and perform, we're listening. If you want to tell us how you ride and where, we'll design the bike to outperform anything you've previously ridden. Seven's customization is deep and broad.

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3) Advanced Suspension Design

We developed our newest suspension project — our fourth generation platform — from the trail up. We've optimized the suspension profiles for each discipline with the same custom geometry and legendary durability we're known for. With appearances at multiple Olympics and World Cups, as well as three previous generations of suspension bikes, Seven's titanium dual suspension mountain bikes represent the next step in ultimate off-road performance.

Balance Control System

Seven's Balance Control System (BCS) takes everything we've learned in our 20-plus years and applies it in some new ways. Seven's BCS platform incorporates that proven, classic, workhorse four-bar linkage system with our ability to customize and tailor bikes in unique ways.

Virtual Pivot Track

Seven's unique Virtual Pivot Track (VPT) is the arc through which the virtual pivot travels on our BCS bike platform. Basically it's the moving line of the rear wheel's pivot center. That moving line is more useful than the simple and popular Instant Center (IC), because the term 'instant' simply means that we're describing one specific point along the virtual pivot track throughout the bike's travel. There are infinite instant centers as the suspension engages.

The rear wheel's center line of movement, or VPT, is one of the most important elements of a contemporary suspension bike. There's a pretty well-regarded range of IC placements that result in good suspension characteristics, but the ideal vector path varies depending on the bike's purpose, suspension travel, gearing, and more. Typically, IC and the resulting VPT are determined by a series of design compromises that should result in a stable, controlled, balanced ride.

4) Titanium Frame Material

A well designed titanium suspension bike is about as good as it gets. The primary benefits of the 3-2.5 titanium alloy that Seven builds with include:

  • Super tough and strong: It can handle rough treatment. If you're hard on equipment, titanium is the right material.
  • Smooth ride: Titanium provides excellent vibration damping characteristics. While the shock system eats up the big hits, most suspension bikes still transmit excessive high-frequency vibration to the rider. This is fatiguing. Titanium, optimally designed, takes the edge off the roughest trails.
  • Impervious to weather: Titanium ignores environmental conditions, snow, rain, road salt, sea air, and rider sweat.
  • Light weight: Seven's suspension platform is lighter than just about any carbon frame in an equivalent class. Titanium certainly has the best strength-to-weight ratio of any material formed into frame tubes.

The folklore of titanium's "flexiness"

Titanium is a misunderstood material, if it's understood at all. Many believe that titanium frames are flexy, and this might have been true decades ago, however, because the material is so tunable and controllable, we can actually make a titanium frame extremely stiff if the rider desires that. We've built plenty of bikes for riders over 300 lbs. If you want stiff, titanium may actually be the ideal material.

Universal Design Elements of Seven's Suspension Systems

Every Seven is custom, but some of our suspension chassis features are universal. Here is a partial list of consistent attributes across Seven's suspension line:

  • Two Design Directions:
    • Seven's Curated Designs: Our 20+ years of experience get poured into the perfect suspension bike for you. Choose from 45 models in 18 sizes each. Size specific everything. Pre-tuned to the riding you do. Hand-built, one-at-a-time just for you. Choose your awesome bike and start riding within a few weeks.
    • Full Custom Design: We'll work with you, one-on-one, to design your dream bike from the trail up. We start with a blank slate and your ideas. Let's make an awesome bike together.
  • Suspension Travel:
    • Frame travel: 120 mm or 100 mm. Choose one, not both in one bike. A single optimized bike cannot reasonably accommodate both travels and still perform perfectly.
    • Fork travel: From 100 to 160 mm. Your choice. We design your bike geometry based on your preferred shock. The bike will handle ideally for whatever fork travel and handling you specify.
  • Wheel Sizes: Designed specifically for 27.5" or 29". We optimize your bike for either wheel size instead of compromising the design for two wheel sizes.
  • Handling: Fully customized. You name it and we do it. Or, we can design for the kind of riding you do and the terrain you ride. We're here to help.
  • Cable Routing: Fully custom routing. Except no internal mechanical shifter or derailleur routing. We can only offer a lifetime warranty when we work with proven designs.
  • Dropper Post Compatibility: Internal routing or wireless.
  • Boost or boost plus rear axle spacing.
  • Water Bottles: Depending on the frame size your bike can definitely fit two full-size bottles, and can usually accommodate three. You choose: zero, one, two, or three.
  • Bottom Bracket Options: 73mm, English, T47, PF30.
  • Full Titanium Chassis: Front end and rear end.
  • AwesommetricTM Rear-End: Including dropouts, chainstays, and seat stays. This feature makes the bike lighter, stiffer, and more awesome.
KellCat SL