This is Ambi’s new 622 SLX with integrated seat post (ISP), 44mm headtube, and Di2 shifting perched against a guard rail in the Marin headlands looking down over the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. We built it with our friends at City Cycle.

Ambi says:

My bike is finally completed and she had her first 40+miles today up and down SF hills and the Marin Headlands, even saw family of deers too. She rides as mean as she looks, and as good, as fast…super stiff, awesome downhill, uphill, cutting corners..you name it! That over-sized head tube looks insane!

Effortless! Now i need to be in shape all the time to keep up with this bike.

Thanks again for all your help and please thank Jordan and all Seven crew who helped made my dream bike. Can’t wait to ride again. You guys are awesome! I am eyeing a Ti Axiom or Cafe Racer in the future. But in the meantime this bike is so awesome!

Every year, for more than a decade now, Neil Mansfield – a very longtime friend of Seven –brings his metal working students from Assabet Valley Technical School for a day in our shop. At this point, Neil can usually conjure up stories about the start of Seven and his old friends here better than we can.

A group of about 20 13-15 year-olds joined us for a Q&A with shop manager Matt O’Keefe, lead welder Tim Delaney, head machinist Skip Brown, and our graphic designer Skunk who talked about the intersection between welding and art. We followed that with an extensive factory tour.

It’s always a joy for us to see young people getting excited and curious about what we do. Hearing Neil talk to his students about a possible future where you can have a job that allows you to work in a field creating something you love reminds us that we are doing something not everyone gets to do.

Seven is lucky to send bikes all over the globe. Our international family is one we grow and make connections with, despite culture and language barriers. Recently, our Philippine partner, George Carag from VeloCity Cartimar/DaDa Sports, sent us a series of photos from the Fondo Manilla Anniversary Ride.

The Fondo Manila Team has been hosting rides and tours throughout the Alabang, Cavite, and Tagaytay areas. The team is always searching for new and innovative ways to spread the joy of cycling to revive the camaraderie and bonding brought by the collective passion of its enthusiasts. All riders are welcome to these fully supported rides.

In early March of this year, the team commemorated its one-year anniversary by hosting a weekend of cycling on the best roads of Baguio: the Fondo Manila Baguio Series. Baguio was the chosen venue for having the highest point in the Philippine highway system, making it a befitting location to literally celebrate Fondo’s “A Higher State of Cycling.”

A group of Seven Cycles bikes were present and participated on this beautiful three day journey. Seeing the bond that this ride created between people proud to ride our bikes makes an impression on us here in snowy Watertown, MA. The places our bikes get to see is a testament to our philosophy that custom is possibility: bikes have no barriers or borders.

To correspond with journalist and author Graeme Fife is pretty special, not only because of his gorgeous prose and encyclopedic knowledge of this cycling universe we live in, but also because he cares so much about the stories he tells. You might be familiar with some of his work including Rapha’s  Great Road Climbs,  The Tour de France: The History, The Legend, The Riders, and The Beautiful Machine, or his features for Rouleur magazine.

Lately, we have been in touch with him because he is planning on including Seven Cycles in his new book titled The Elite Bicycle, with photos by the inimitable Gerard Brown. We had Gerard here in the Spring, when we had a long, rambling conversation about what it means to make things.

Graeme told us just recently, “I love New England – I had three great rides on Cape Cod when I first came to New England in 2003 – I’d seen the beach from an aircraft flying into NY and decided that I would swim there one day. The friends in RI who loaned me bike and motor for my trip have a condo up in NH and we rode the Kanc one day, next day past where Robert Frost lived – glorious roads. First ride we did, we stopped at a cafe somewhere in the loom of Mt Washington and the guy at the counter asked me where we’d come from. I said I don’t know. So where are you going? I don’t know. It was a bit queer but expressive of the sense of complete freedom, somehow.”

Be on the lookout for The Elite Bicycle and check out his blog for more great writing from one of cycling’s literary legends.

Many thanks to Mark Pasnik and the folks at over,under for putting on the incredible, “Let’s Talk About Bikes” exhibit at the Boston Society of Architects Space.  We were honored to be included in such a thoughtful way, and we were floored when we walked into the massive exhibit space.

There were bikes displayed along the entire perimeter of the second floor, with bigger-than-life photographs papering the walls behind each bike.  We were excited to see that the exhibit designers used a photo of Seven’s own Staci Sommers as the backdrop for the Seven Cycles Berlin Bike display.  Staci painted the Berlin Bike, and over,under conducted an extensive interview with her about the development of the Berlin Bike’s unique paint scheme, which is published in the “Let’s Talk About Bikes” brochure.

Along with the photographic backdrop were cool graphics that contained a description of the process that took the Berlin Bike from concept to build.  We’ve never before seen such an aesthetically sophisticated display of this bike.  Because of the layout of the exhibit, the guests were encouraged to ogle each detail of the bikes on display, but there was a flow to the space that kept everyone moving around from bike to bike, which actually encouraged conversation and resulted in a palpable excitement in the room.

Seven also had Mike Salvatore’s Elium track bike on display in the front window of the exhibit.  We were honored to have 2 bikes in this show.  There were bikes on display from SCUL, Saila,  Royal H, each of whom are Seveneers who also have their own brands.  There were also bikes from Boston-based bike builders Parlee and  Firefly.  We don’t usually get to see all of these bikes simultaneously, and it was a treat to get a closer look at the creativity and skill that each builder brings to their bikes.  It was also fun to see the reactions of the guests to the artisanship on display.

The exhibit also celebrated bike photography, and the myriad ways that riding has inspired photographers from all over the city.  Seveneers Matt O’Keefe and Jonathan Henig had photographs on display, and friends of Seven Susi Ecker and Natalia Boltukhova were also represented.

Giant video installations dotted the exhibit, with one featuring the experience of Team Greenline Velo, and another shot from the perspective of a commuter’s bike ride through downtown Boston.  The video installations, along with the variety of bikes around the gallery illustrated the mission of “Let’s Talk About Bikes”: to show the diversity of riding cultures and history in the Boston area, and to encourage discussion about how all of us as a community can make riding bikes more accessible and safe.  “Let’s Talk About Bikes” seeks to start a discussion among urban planners, architects, cyclists, and citizens about how the integration of a cycling-centric culture into an urban landscape can shape our cities in the 21^st century, and can have a positive impact on everything from the economy to the environment.

Along with the creativity and energy in the room, there was also amazing food and drink, generously donated by Trade Restaurant, which is located next door to the BSA.   This elegant touch lent the evening a note of  celebration and fun that made everyone feel like they were at the best party in Boston.  If you missed this event, do not despair!  The exhibit is up through August 31.  If you are in the Boston area this summer, we encourage you to make the “Let’s Talk About Bikes” exhibit at the BSA a must-see destination.

We are excited to participate in the “Let’s Talk About Bikes” exhibit at the Boston Society of Architects.  The exhibit opens on Tuesday, June 12, with a party at the BSA from 6-8pm.

“Let’s Talk About Bikes” was conceived by the folks at the design firm, over, under to celebrate the history of framebuilding in Boston, and to explore the role of the bicycle in an urban environment:

“The expansion of urban biking raises broader transit-related questions about the relationship of bicycles to urban and environmental public policy.  The exhibition examines this theme, from the Complete Streets movement to advocacy activism to concerns raised in Boston’s larger community about roadway use.  Let’s Talk About Bikes presents many stories and outlooks in order to raise awareness and questions about the role of the bicycle in cities today.”

Seven Cycles was asked to loan The Berlin Bike and Seveneer Mike Salvatore’s Elium to the exhibit.  Each bike represents a specific type of riding: the Berlin Bike is a commuter bike and Mike’s Elium was build specifically for track racing.  Parlee Cycles and Friefly Bicycles also have bikes in the exhibit.  In addition,  Rob V. conceptualized and edited a family tree of Boston bike building for the exhibit.  Many Seveneers are included in various aspects of the show: Matt O’Keefe‘s and Jonathan Henig‘s photographs will be displayed, and bikes built by Saila, Royal H., and the SCUL gang will also be part of the show.

We hope that if you’re in or around Boston over the summer, you’ll stop by the BSA to have a look at the craftsmanship on display.  “Let’s Talk About Bikes” runs from June 12-August 31, 2012.

The 622 SLX

At Seven, we are fortunate to have many friends, both around the world, and close to home in Boston.  One of our pals is world-renowned chef, and restauranteur, Jodie Adams.  Jodie is an avid cyclist, and so it comes as no surprise that Sean Griffing, one of her business partners in her new venture, Trade Restaurant, is also somewhat obsessed with riding.  Sean was among the Boston celebrities that was recently asked by The Boston Globe what his greatest wish was for the holidays.  We were extremely pleased, but not totally surprised, that Sean mentioned he’d owe Santa big-time is he found a 622 SLX road bike under his tree.

We hope to help make Sean’s wish come true in 2012.  In the meantime, we will give thanks for all of the great friends we’ve made during the 15 years we’ve been in business.  All the best to all of you in the new year!