Matt O'Keefe | Meet the Bike Builders | Seven Cycles skip to content
Current lead times: Unpainted bikes: 7 weeks. Painted bikes: 9 weeks.

U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix

Meet the Bike Builders

Matt O'Keefe: Industry Lifer

Biography

"I have been into bicycles my whole life, I can't think of a better place to be. We are doing what some bike industry insiders said was not possible."

I've been in the bicycle industry for 25 years. That's 64% of my life—you do the math. I think of myself as a bike industry major, and a photography minor.

At the start of my career, I worked as a mechanic in a local bike shop to support my BMX habit. Later, I landed a sweet job at Merlin Metalworks—this is where my life in the bike industry really began. At Merlin, I learned finishing, fabrication, customer service, and management skills.

Being asked by Rob Vandermark to be part of the founding team at Seven was an honor, and has been a highlight of my career. As a start-up, we all did a little or a lot of everything. Early on, my role was more focused on fabrication and designing customers' bikes. As Seven grew, I started to manage people. My role at Seven shifted toward production management and process improvement, which is still my focus today.

Bicycles have played a big role in my life, from modifying Schwinn Stingrays in the 1970's, to epic rides with my wife on our Seven tandem. I have raced BMX, road, and mountain bikes.

Through my work in the industry, I have been fortunate enough to travel and ride a lot of the mountain bike hot spots around the country. My cycling today consists of my 18-mile round trip, daily commute, and as much technical trail riding as I can fit into my schedule. A mountain bike race here and there is also something I like to do, just for kicks.

I try to make at least one trip per year for tandem bike riding. In the past couple of years, my wife and I have traveled to Australia and Chile.

My Role at Seven

Production Manager, Process Improvement, Floor Sweeper

Why I work With Seven

I love the challenge of doing more with less.

signed, Matt O'keefe

My Sevens

Ti Tandem with couplers

Matt and Suzi's titanium tandem loaded up for touring leans against a brick wall Matt and Suzi's titanium tandem with even more gear leans against a slatted red wall of a quaint country store Matt and Suzi's titanium with more gear than ever attracts the attention of a sheep who peeks his head into one of the open bags The sheep has left the picture and the tandem leans against the wall alone.

Verve Commuter

the original MoKeefe commuter bike. the original MoKeefe commuter bike with a rusty cruiser bicycle frame across its built in open front rack.

Sola Singlespeed

Matt's Sola singlespeed among many other bicycles

Duo 5.0

fisheye photo of a person's feet in front of a dual-suspension titanium mountain bike leaning against a truck

Mini 20" Wheel Tandem

a fisheye photo of an orange tandem bicycle with 20-inch wheels