My work here is done – New Seven

I am a big ti fan. In fact specifically I am a big Seven Cycles fan. On the eternally disappointing quest for the perfect bike, I have tried lots of other options over the last few years. Carbon, steel, ti from different manufacturers. I have tried mechanical and electronic shifting. I have tried rim and disc brakes. I have tried Campagnolo, Shimano and SRAM.

And after all of that, I have concluded that:

1) Discs have a place off road and on a winter/gravel (whatever that is!) bike. But there is still a place for rim brakes on my ‘road’ bike.

2) Electronic shifting rules the roost, and the future is wireless.

3) Carbon is OK but lacks soul. Steel is OK but Ti is better. There are many good ti manufacturers, but on balance Seven are the best (at least to me).

In short, after a long and expensive (but fun!) journey I have arrived pretty much back where I started. And with a 1 year old and a new house on the horizon, this might be it for a while at least.

A small but perfectly formed collection of ti bikes for every occasion. Based on all of the above, I have slimmed down the collection to a Jones Spaceframe off road, a Seven Evergreen for winter and dodgy road conditions, a Brompton just because and my new addition.

Perfect fit, light (6.9kgs including pedals, cages and Garmin), cutting edge and a ride that is simultaneously comfortable where it needs to be and stiff where is needs to be. I went for a bold move of making it wireless specific, so there’s no going back. I made a firm vote for rim braking on the basis that discs have their place, but not on a thoroughbred road bike.

A few initial conclusions:

SRAM eTap is amazingly simple and exquisitely elegant when coupled with a frame specifically designed not to have holes or cable stops in place. Any talk of it being slow to shift is ill informed. The hoods are just as comfortable as Campagnolo, and the whole groupset works beautifully.

The Obermayers are indeed nice, and certainly light, but it’s hard to beat a decent set of handbuilts in terms of feel and comfort. But they do make a huge difference to weight and are very stiff. Fitting more robust quick release skewers than the ones supplied with the wheels might seem anti-weenie, but they make a reassuring difference to stiffness and safety.

Seven’s build quality never disappoints.

So I am (finally) a very happy man. Just need to start on baby George’s collection………

Perfect fit

why all the headset spacers then?

Yep, perfect fit. I am a tall chap and after an injury need a fairly upright position. Aesthetically I prefer a few spacers to an overly long headtube or an upturned stem. If it helps to achieve a good fit it is a compromise worth making to me.

No doubt a slammed stem and a smaller frame always looks better, but I can’t help either my size or the necessity for my riding position. The beauty of Seven is that it is custom built for you, and I chose that particular way of achieving what I need.

I don’t really “get” roadying but if I did, I’d want one of those.

Very Nice!

rOcKeTdOg – Member

Perfect fit

why all the headset spacers then?

So in the future if you get more flexible or want to adjust your position you can. Slamming it now prevents that!

Lovely as ever.
Thanks for sharing your journey.
Saves me a lot of money from having to do similar.
Your bikes always look perfect, especially so given they are all my size.
Every time you have sold something, I have had to resist buying something I would not get enough use of to justify.
Now about that Jones space frame of yours…
Cheers
J.

I’m not sure there’s anything I like about it, but I’m glad you like it and can appreciate it’s a nice bike.

Looks really nice for a road bike.
Nice and simple.

Carbon is OK but lacks soul

While I generally dislike this sort of nonsense spouted about bikes, I can also appreciate nice looking bikes, and that up there is definitely a nice looking bike. 😀

I know it’s a very, very nice bike, and on paper there isn’t a single component I wouldn’t have in a flash (of my credit card) but I can’t say I like the bike I’m afraid, looks a little awkward, kinda tall. I’m sure it is perfect for purpose, and is an awesome machine, but it doesn’t set my heart aflutter.

Sorry!

I know what you mean nickc. Soul is hard to define, and certainly not a metaphor for performance. In that respect the Cervelo was lighter, stiffer and arguably more race ready. But the Seven has more of a human touch to it.

And yes tomhoward, I would never suggest that my bikes are aesthetically perfect, although the photos never do them justice somehow. I always take them at an awkward angle. But they fit me, they have a certain uniqueness about them and that’s why I love ’em! Now, in terms of aesthetics a 54cm carbon frame with a slammed stem will always look better, but unfortunately it just wouldn’t fit me.

I think it’s just the angle of the photos. That seat tube seems to be at a crazy angle in them.

So in the future if you get more flexible or want to adjust your position you can. Slamming it now prevents that!

adjust your position from a “perfect fit”?

looking at it again i now realise what feels wrong to me (which has no bearing on anything i know) but it’s the fact or illusion that the head tube is a larger diameter than the down tube

To be fair “perfect” isn’t permanent. I love the position on my bike, but I’m not going to pretend it’ll be right in 50 years!

Absolutely. A perfect fit for me as a 21 year old Cat 2 was very different to a 44 year old leisure rider with back and neck problems.

then it’s “current” fit then, so you might as well have off the peg, save some money and add or subtract some spacers?

Sound advice, and yes, if saving money was a priority I could have gone for a Sora equipped jelly mould.

But it’s my bike, and I love just the way it is!

I love the absence of cable stops. They were a never-ending source of creaking on my Merlin. Very nice. Now ride it!

And yes, I think wireless is the future too.

Love the look of the bike, but the stupid question i have is, how do you charge shifters, and mechs separately?

sweet ride mister, gizza go.

I look at the pictures and all that catches my eye is that big, gopping Enve graphic. I’d be removing that if possible as it ruins the look imo

Glad you’ve got out of the habit of those dreadful looking ti stems you had on all your bikes at one times. Stems should be black! Agreed with above re enve logo. Lightweight rims……gulp……they make my credit card nervous just looking at yours!

As a fellow 44yr old and an ex 2nd cat roadie in my youth, I have come to realise what you lust after changes with age. Would have turned my nose up at that even 10 years ago but it would look mighty fine in my shed now!

Forks may be off for a respray. Totally agree on the Enve graphic!

how do you charge shifters, and mechs separately

Left lever shifts up the cassette, right lever shifts down. Both levers together change the chainring.

Etap does look very good. Riding mate has done over 3000km on it with no issues. I’m going to see what the next incarnation beings though; I get the feeling it will have more functionality than they current model.

Sorry double post

Mechs have 1 battery each which takes 45 minutes to fully charge (need removing and placing in a cradle). The shifters use small batteries that last 2 years (apparently!) and don’t recharge. Great system actually.

Hah I misread charge as change, it is early!

1) Discs have a place off road and on a winter/gravel (whatever that is!) bike. But there is still a place for rim brakes on my ‘road’ bike.

would your decision have been swayed had HydroHC been available?

With the exception of the HT I really like the look of that.

IMHO a tapered rather than straight 44mm would have looked more in keeping – no idea if it would have been possible though!

The lack of cable guides, as above, does make for a very clean looking bike 8)

I will probably put HydroHC on the Evergreen to replace the EPS. eTap really is that good. But no, since I already have a disc bike I would still have gone for rim brakes on this one. It struck me yesterday out riding just how little you actually use the brakes on a road bike, and since I have the Evergreen for dirty wet days, I don’t care so much about the wet weather braking on carbon rims (which is OK but not brilliant). Discs have a place, but unlike off road I don’t see them becoming universal on the road.

Aesthetically I prefer a few spacers to an overly long headtube

…but the headtube is almost as long as the fork!

…but the headtube is almost as long as the fork!

And yet the saddle to bar drop looks pretty reasonable for a non racy bike for an old bloke. Bike fitting the human, rather than the human contorting to the bike – who would have thought it was a thing!

Looks perfect to me, nice job, glad you’ve found your sweet spot between comfort and performance

Lovely list of parts and I’m sure it rides beautifully.
Worth getting a carbon conical spacer to just smooth out the front front end as it looks a bit square at the mo.

Hmm… Have to say I preferred your Moots stable, soz.

But, you know what you want and what you like, and how you like to ride. I looks really nice, all we need are pics of it in nice places.

Ha ha. Yep, imagine the length of the headtube without spacers?!

Know what you mean about the Moots. Not a bad choice to make between them really, and the Moots was indeed lovely. More personal preference and brand allegiance that brought me back to Seven. Plenty of nice places coming up this summer for better photos than leaning up against a tree in my garden!

Ha ha. Yep, imagine the length of the headtube without spacers?!

You mean you no longer want to ‘get on board the road disc revolution’?!

I’m much as per NJee – not my cup of tea but the execution is, as always, amazing.

FWIW your Psycho was the best looking drop bar bike I’ve seen

I was in Sigma Sport this morning and they’ve got a Seven in there which makes the headtube on Solarider’s bike look short!
The one in Sigma looked like the headtube was about a foot long. It was possibly the ugliest bike I’ve ever seen. Looked like it might fit a rider who was about 7′ tall.

Ha ha. Nope, still onboard the disc brake revolution! Just horses for courses. Discs offer undoubtedly better braking in all conditions, but since this one will be used for dry days and the Evergreen for mucky days, I am lucky and can chose my horse accordingly.

The one in Sigma was indeed built for a tall chap, but after a mix up in communications over electronic vs mechanical shifting he ended up getting an identical bike made with electronic shifting. Expensive mistake and Sigma are therefore left waiting for a giant to walk in off the street. In the meantime it does demonstrate Seven’s range of sizing if nothing else! As I have said, there is no doubt that smaller bikes look nicer, but my photo skills don’t do the bike justice, and I would look and feel uncomfortable on a nicer looking bike that didn’t fit.