Ride HQ’s Founder, Patria, recently worked with Jay Petervary on this new Evergreen XX gravel bike. Jay is a legend in the gravel, endurance, and bikepacking world, winning numerous summer and winter endurance events. He’s ridden a lot of performance carbon and titanium bikes. Of his Seven Evergreen, he says: “It’s the nicest bike and nicest riding bike I have ever owned.
He also frequently mentions how much the bike makes him smile when he’s riding it.
Photo by @dhughes101
Riding a well-built bike, made for the riding you want to do, built out of the right materials and the right size is not a luxury, it’s important to allow you to get what you want out of the time you spend riding. In most cases, safety and health are at the heart of the conversation also.
Safety comes in many forms. A safe bike is one that offers the lowest risk of leaving you by the side of the trail needing to call for a ride. It offers control in all situations from descending to staying upright when accidentally hitting a pothole.
Health comes in many forms. When your bike wants you to ride it, you ride it. A comfortable ride encourages longer rides. A bike that keeps up with friends encourages you to get out there on the group rides. Riding translates to physical well being. Riding is also mental health and a social outlet for many. Riding a bike that is harsh, too stiff, makes noises, isn’t confidence inspiring, is the wrong size or fit means you’re less likely to want to ride.
“I love this bike so much.” -EK on his Seven Evergreen. He’s put a year of hard gravel and mixed terrain riding on this bike.
There are the obvious things people come to us saying they want such as:
I want a road bike with disc brakes and new components (such as electronic shifting).
I want to get into gravel.
It’s time to upgrade my gravel bike, I’ve proven to myself that I want to spend more time riding gravel/mixed terrain.
I want to travel with my bike and need something I can depend on and something that will hold up to the rigors of travel, TSA, and have parts accessible in other corners of the world.
I want to get a bike that fits right/want to alleviate some obvious discomfort.
I want to gift my loved one a bike that I know they’ll enjoy.
I want a bike that will do everything from road riding to gravel riding.
Insert event name here, I want a bike for this event. More than once, we’ve heard: I am doing Leadville, I want the best mountain bike for this race. I am doing Unbound, I want the best gravel bike for this race.
Being able to forget about your bike and just know that it’ll work and feel good under you allows you to focus on where you’re at, the nature you’re traversing, the people you’re riding with. Photo by NEER.
Then there are the things people don’t ask for since they don’t know to ask, but probably should:
I want to be able to ride a bike that doesn’t require proprietary parts to keep it running.
I want to know my frame will withstand all of my riding and not have anything happen mid-ride such as the derailleur hanger bending/breaking, front derailleur mount pulling out, frame wearing a hole if the bike is ridden in thick mud.
I want to be able to service my bike myself or have it done quickly & inexpensively at a local shop.
I want the bike to ride quietly and smoothly.
I want the bike to fit right now, and I want to be able to modify my position as I ride and need a different position (older riders need a less aggressive position, less experienced riders often need a more aggressive position).
I want to be able to standover the bike comfortably and/or I don’t want toe overlap.
I want to get rid of hand numbness (it’s amazing how many people think that numb hands is just something they need to contend with).
I want to be able to keep up with my friends.
A road rider came to us looking for a bike that would allow her the ability to keep up on climbs with her friends. Once in awhile, she’d like to do some gravel riding as well. She says of her bike: “[It] is fast, easy to pick up the pace on the hills and feels well balanced and safe. I am so grateful to your team.”
We discuss what you want, how your friends ride, where you ride, and what you think is holding you back.
We look at the gearing you have on your current bike and suggest gearing that makes sense for your riding. Most people need lower gearing (for easier spinning on hills). We do the math from what you’re riding now to what you’re searching for in terms of higher, lower, or a wider range of gears.
Seven Cycles builds frames that offer some of the very best power transfer from pedals to the rear wheel on the market. Need to go super fast? We’ll spec stiff chainstays to translate your power directly to the rear wheel.
We discuss the terrain and what you’re riding with your friends. Your tires might need to be wider, knobbier, tire pressure different than what you’re running. We figure this out with you.
Every bike we sell includes a professional fitting at no charge. To be riding your fastest, you need to be sitting on the bike in an optimal position.
I want to be more confident on gravel rides.
After 3 months of owning this Axiom built for road and gravel, EC says of her bike: “I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE MY BIKE!!!! You guys are genius!
I look forward to every ride watching the weather, juggling my work schedule, moving meeting times ... oh, it's definitely an addiction!
I am getting faster, stronger, even younger and enjoying each ride.”
We discuss what about your current bike is keeping you from being confident.
A frame that allows the wheels to stick to the ground is a bike that feels more sure-footed and is confidence inspiring. Bikes that are too stiff not only aren’t comfortable to ride on rough surfaces, they also aren’t confidence inspiring to their riders.
A frame that is properly designed with you being centered over both wheels is going to handle more predictably than one that has the wrong length/angle stem or saddle in the wrong location (too far back or too far forward).
We figure out what size tires will help you navigate where you ride. Seven Cycles will build your frame with the tire clearances you desire, no compromises are necessary.
You might be reaching too far to your brake levers, there are other component factors that could be at play that are keeping you from feeling confident. We look at all of these.
I want to have a fun new gravel bike and I might bikepack or do a big trip on this bike someday.
YM knew bikepacking and big, gravel adventure rides were in store for this Evergreen! It’s S&S coupled so it goes on vacations out of the area too.
We’ll discuss your future plans and keep the door open for the tires you’re likely to want to ride when bikepacking, if different from your gravel riding.
We’ll likely spec your bike to carry fork cages and/or hold a rear rack. You’ll get to see what the options are on this front.
We’ll discuss handlebar real estate and discuss using a frame bag, and see what might be right (or very wrong) for you. Some solutions are good for big people that might not be good at all for smaller people. Frame bags are a good example of something that are good for some and not good for others.
I want to be more comfortable when I ride. And I still want to be fast!
This Axiom XX road bike resulted from a rider coming to us saying his very high-end carbon bike was just harsh and he wanted better ride qualities for his fast 30-mile solo and group rides.
His response to this bike, HH says: “[…it’s] everything I would expect with one major surprise. Boom 1 inch chain stays, power transfer is just awesome. Road feel is smooooth!!! So as advertised compliant but stiff where it needs to be.
Raw speed comes from power transfer, your position, weight of the bike when going up steep hills (weight has little to do with speed on flats and helps on descents), and aerodynamics.
It’s not necessary to trade speed for comfort on a well-built bike as long as we leave aerodynamics out of the equation. The biggest aerodynamic gains come with the use of aerobars, aero helmet, aero position, and rider profile. Most cyclists would much prefer to be in a comfortable position and wear comfortable clothes, rather than be in the most aerodynamic position with skin-tight clothes.
Seven manages this better than most any other bike on the market. The lighter the tubeset and the more aggressively each tube is butted, the more plushness and smoothness the rider will feel the ride to be. With each tubeset selected for each rider’s desire for smoothness and the rider’s weight, every person receives the best ride qualities. Seven Cycles is able to achieve the lightest frames for the expected length of use (many years). Most other frames on the market - the very lightest ones - trade frame longevity for maybe ~500 grams of weight savings. With this weight savings often translating to a harsh ride that leaves riders feeling disconnected with the road and feeling less confidence on all but the smoothest roads.