U.S. Built Custom Bicycles in Titanium and Titanium-Carbon Mix
I started at Seven in 2000 as a welder, after a very long stint in art school, a year of welding for Merlin, and a short inspirational trip to Graceland. I have a funny story about the Graceland gate, but I only tell it over drinks. Suffice to say it involves Albert Paley, The Killer, and booze.
From welded steel sculpture to welding Sevens wasn't a big leap, and the best thing about it was that I could do it all day. I very happily traded art openings for concerns about tungsten sharpness and public radio reception at my bench, plus the luxury of making something fantastic all day and then riding away on my own version of it each night. I think of welding like I think of art history: from the outside, it looks repetitive and maybe a little boring, but once you're in it there's so many little details that it becomes completely engrossing. Welding is like the eternal search for perfection, if you want to sound all high-falutin' about it.
After 5 years of welding, I started our paint department and learned to paint. From there I split my time between welding and paint until 2008, when I transferred to the Fit Department while I was expecting my son. After he was born I went right back into welding, because it is my favorite. These days I work mainly in welding, with the occasional guest spot in paint as needed.
My favorite thing about Seven is that it encourages curiosity and exploration. since I started at Seven, I've amassed an amazing collection of welding burns and obscure paint factoids, learned how to paint and design bikes, learned how to play the marimba; ridden motorcycles in New Zealand and New England, become fairly computer literate, talked to people from all over the world about bikes and Sevens in particular, and found the best way to pull tungsten out of my leg. If I happen to run into you on a bike path, I'll tell you all about it.
Welder!
My coworkers make me laugh, and there is a steady supply of doughnuts.
How did you get such a cool job?
Truly, I was in the right place at the right time, i.e. a bike path in downtown Boston on a ti bike where I ran into Bernard, another hipster on ti, who just happened to weld for Seven and know that they were looking for another one—and the rest is history. But I like to think that since I love welding and I love bikes and I love my mom, well, that had to be worth something like this.
Can I get a bike for free?
I don't even bother answering this one anymore.
movies, motorcycling, Guinness, and making large amounts of cookies
For solo riding around town, I have a fixed gear Alaris with a sweet red "Bubbles" paint job. It's my first Seven, and I adore it. I am constantly devising new paint schemes for it, which I will never actually carry out.
My husband John and I ride a single speed Sola cruiser tandem with custom headbadge when we go to bars & BBQs.
Clem's Trike (now outgrown)