My new Seven Axiom SL :)

[nscrbug]

Just picked up my new Seven Axiom SL last Saturday. I'm loving this bike...it has such a smooth and silky ride. I opted for the new Ultegra electronic shifting (Ui2), and although I've only ridden 37 miles on it...I am SO happy I went with electronic. My hands are so much happier from not having to move the Ultegra 6700 levers on my Synapse anymore. However, I have decided to keep my Synapse as a back-up bike. ;)

For anyone interested in the details - my wheels are HED Belgiums with Chris King R45 hubs in Mango Orange. My headset and bottom bracket are also Chris King in Mango. My handlebars, stem and seatpost are Seven-branded (not sure what they use). Pedals are Ultegra in the new Stealth Gray to match the Ui2 components. They used Lizard Skins DSP handlebar tape on my bars (LOVE that tape!). My saddle is my old Specialized Ruby SL that I took off my Cannondale Synapse.

Here are some pics of my new "baby":

http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/9085/20120219132700.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9465/20120219132617.jpg

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/6696/20120219132501.jpg

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/1776/20120219132445.jpg

http://img837.imageshack.us/img837/5554/20120219132240.jpg

http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/8596/20120219132326.jpg

[ultraviolet]

Gorgeous! :D

[indysteel]

She's a beauty, Linda. Congrats on your new baby. I know you're going to enjoy many, many miles on that bike. I sincerely hope it's the answer to your various fit issues. Give us a full report after you have some more miles on her.

[CAL]

WOW...love it! Sounds like you're off to a great start together :D

[redrhodie]

Gorgeous indeed! Congratulations!

[zoom-zoom]

*fans self* That is simply gorgeous! My MIL has a Seven, but hers is butt ugly, because she is very tall and likes to sit REALLY upright, so it has a super tall head-tube and just looks super awkward...like a Frankenbike, heh. If you ever see photos of Conan O'Brien's Seven you have a good idea of what my MIL's bike looks like.

[Chile Pepper]

Sweet! What a gorgeous bike!

[Owlie]

Gorgeous bike! I love the orange.

[7rider]

Very nice. I like the orange details.
I also like how the new Seven forks have the decal on the front. They got a little heavy-handed with the decals there for a while.
Speaking of....do you even have a decal on the downtube? Is it a subtle one or none at all?
I read on Seven's custom kit that they can do internally routed cables for Di2 (saw your other posts) for an upcharge. Otherwise, the standard is external routing.
Congrats on the new ride - and wishing you many many happy miles.


BTW..."zooming" off topic...Zoom-Zoom - you got me curious, so I Googled "Conan O'Brien's bike" - and got this (http://velochimp.com/2009/05/conan-obrien-out-for-a-ride/). He's actually on a Serotta. An equally drool-worthy bike, but yeah, it does look freaky.

[zoom-zoom]

BTW..."zooming" off topic...Zoom-Zoom - you got me curious, so I Googled "Conan O'Brien's bike" - and got this (http://velochimp.com/2009/05/conan-obrien-out-for-a-ride/). He's actually on a Serotta. An equally drool-worthy bike, but yeah, it does look freaky.

Somewhere I swear there was a story about him having a Seven, but I can't recall where I saw it. It was probably 2-3 years ago. It looked just as whacko as that Serotta.

[zoom-zoom]

Ahh...you know what, I blame that blog. They actually refer to the bike in that photo as a Seven. I don't think I looked close enough at the badging to notice their error.

[Catrin]

Lovely, lovely, lovely! Those hubs are beautiful - of course the entire bike is! May you have many miles and smiles...

Darn you, I am now remembering what it is like to have a new bike...(step away from the computer... :cool:

Seriously, I hope you've solved your fit problems and looking forward to your ride reports on her!

[pll]

Stunning!

[nscrbug]

Thanks all! I can't wait to get my next ride in...after the 3-5 inches of snow we're getting tonight melts, of course. ;)

@7rider - Actually the "decals" are blasted into the frame. It has a very stealth and understated look to it. "Axiom SL" is blasted onto the top tube, and "SEVEN" is blasted onto the downtube. At certain angles in the pics, you can barely see it. When my LBS presented this as an option to the regular decals, and then showed me his own bike (a Serotta) with this technique done on it...I was sold. I did have to pay an extra charge for it ($150), but I'm completely happy with how it turned out.

And I do have the Ui2 cables internally wired. But the brake cables are not...which is what I was referencing to.

Linda

[jyyanks]

What a beauty! Congrats!

[Anelia]

Soooo beautiful!

[murielalex]

Beautiful!!

[7rider]

@7rider - Actually the "decals" are blasted into the frame. It has a very stealth and understated look to it. "Axiom SL" is blasted onto the top tube, and "SEVEN" is blasted onto the downtube. At certain angles in the pics, you can barely see it. When my LBS presented this as an option to the regular decals, and then showed me his own bike (a Serotta) with this technique done on it...I was sold. I did have to pay an extra charge for it ($150), but I'm completely happy with how it turned out.


I was wondering if that was the case. Sweet.

Someone on this forum (can't remember who) has it on a Lynsky and I thought it looked totally cool. I wish that were an option when I got my bike - especially my commuter. I really don't like have a big white "SEVEN" showing on that bike - and might even remove the decals.


And I do have the Ui2 cables internally wired. But the brake cables are not...which is what I was referencing to.


Oh. Okay.

[Seajay]

Looks great! From a fitter's perspective it also looks very neutral. Lots of room to tweak without doing anything extreme. Which is fantastic. You, your shop and Seven all did a nice job.
My Di2 shows up soon. Glad to hear another A report card.

Regarding comments about other Sevens with "freaky long headtubes" Remember that Seven was doing long headtubes long before the masses figured out that long head tubes work. They just don't have the ability with titanium to blend (read hide) in the headtube with wide carbon top tubes and downtubes...so they tend to look longer.

[zoom-zoom]

Regarding comments about other Sevens with "freaky long headtubes" Remember that Seven was doing long headtubes long before the masses figured out that long head tubes work. They just don't have the ability with titanium to blend (read hide) in the headtube with wide carbon top tubes and downtubes...so they tend to look longer.

In my MIL's case she just plain wanted to be REALLY upright, but still have drop bars (which I don't understand, since I have never once seen her ride in the drops). She has a wide, spongey saddle, too. To be honest, I think she would have been just as comfortable on a relaxed geometry hybrid for a lot less money, but she LOVES to name drop and tell everyone she owns a custom Seven...it's just how she is. She name drops about anything and everything she can. If she is 3-4 degrees away from someone with even the slightest bit of fame she will make sure to tell ya' all about it... :rolleyes:

[nscrbug]

@Seajay - Yes, the fitter/shop I worked with made sure that there was plenty of "tweaking" room...in case, something needed to be adjusted later on. ;) He really emphasized that because of the myriad of fit/pain issues I had on my previous bikes. I've only logged about 63 miles on it so far, so still too soon to tell if any tweaking is needed at this time. But I am loving the smoothness of Ti...it's a very different road feel than my full-carbon Cannondale.

Linda

[Maye]

Beautiful bike! Enjoy it!

[zoom-zoom]

But I am loving the smoothness of Ti...it's a very different road feel than my full-carbon Cannondale.

Linda

Someday I'd love to ride a Ti bike. A friend of ours has a Ti Seven Mudhoney that she uses as a road bike, too (she's a major fan of Ti. When she bought her Mukluk she went all out for the Ti option, too). I think she simply swaps out a 2nd set of wheels to make it easy to go back and forth from road to CX. I think my dream bike would maybe be a CX bike with disc brakes that I could do something like that with. Cantilevers scare me trying to stop from any speed, especially once they get wet or icy.

How would you say it feels different? I was shocked by how smooth both steel and carbon feel vs. my aluminum bike on our chipsealed roads. That's where I'd really like to test Ti. My MIL's Seven is steel.

[Bike Chick]

I missed this post the first time around. What a beautiful bike!

[OakLeaf]

drooooooooooool. The orange is just perfect.

[Miranda]

Beautiful... Congrats! :)

[WindingRoad]

Orange Zest! Saaaaweeet! LOVE IT!