25Seven

Seven Is So Specialized

What's new is old.

Flattered that Specialized mentioned a Seven as inspiration for their Roubaix.  From a recent piece in Bicycle Retailer and Industry News:

Berlin Show Bike: Letzter Teil

Okay, a day late and a Euro short; as always.  Here is the final installment about the Berlin bike.  Basically, studio photos.

Thanks to everyone that's been following and commenting on the project.  It has been gratifying and maybe it'll get me to post about some of the other projects on which we're working.

Thanks, also to everyone at Seven Cycles for pitching in to make such a fun and unusual bike.  And I mean everyone; each person at Seven had an impact on the project and helped make it what it was--directly and indirectly.

If you'd like to see some better fabrication photos, visit Matt O'Keefe's Flickr page.  It's definitely worth a long look.

Finally, thanks to Ingo Rohm who originally invited Seven to the show, and our German distributor Mario Sillack and his very capable sidekick Bea Bastian:  The Girl That Does All Things--that's what they call her.  They pulled off a few miracles.

On to the studio images:

Berlin Show Bike: Teil Sechs

First day of the two day show.  It's been great.  The bike arrived; no major damage to the many bike parts; and I was able to assemble it in my extra-small hotel room:  had to assemble it standing on it's rear wheel because the room is so small.  

Fantastic feedback on the bike.  The presenter is really happy and many people said it was the best bike at the show.  Lots of photos taken by viewers.

Also, did the first presentation today; lots of technology troubles.  Ended up doing a free-form conversation that was crazy because the hall was so loud and the crowd was so big.  A tad strange but the bike spoke for itself.  People seemed happy with the outcome.

Here is the bike in the show environment:

Project Berlin Bike: Teil Funf

In Berlin now.  The bike is suppose to show up today.  Show starts tomorrow--Saturday.

We wrapped up the documentation for the bike; packed it up--took a couple hours because of the internal wiring, the endless extraneous parts, and the large number of fairly fragile painted parts.  Dan and Matt O. got everything in hand and in two boxes well in time for FedEx international to pick up.  Should be at the hotel before I arrive.

Assuming the bike shows up tomorrow, I'll post final assembled images.  See you then--or there?  Here are the last of the pre-assemblage photos:

Project Berlin Bike: Teil Vier

The Berlin show begins on Saturday--I'll post complete bike photos then.  In the meantime, here are a few more shots of the process--primarily paint work now.

I don't want to share some of the design aspects until the bike is at the show.  Then, given time, I'll post more information about behind the scenes on the Berlin Bike.

We had a large group of Seveneers working on this project, including:  Matt O., Staci, Yoshi, Skip, Tim, Stef, Mike S., Karl, Graham, Neil, and some others that helped out in various ways.  This was truly a group project in every sense.  Thanks to everyone that helpled make this project happen.  It was better because of everyone's involvement and teamwork.

And a special thanks to Jim at Harris Cyclery, who built the wheels for the bike.  They are crazy--the wheels, I mean.

Following are a few of the paint textual templates we used for the bike.

Project Berlin Bike: Teil Drei

The first two posts showed concept and component.  Now, the Berlin Bike is starting to look sort of like an actual bike.  This next step in the process is to build the frame.  This is the "easy" part for Seven. 

This first photo is proof that Seven is hip--or at least, "on a hip".  Yes, I know that puns are the lowest form of humor.

This is Staci's key chain.  Staci did a lot of the paintwork on this project.  You'll soon get to see how skilled she is.

However, today, I'll post a few details of the framebuilding process.  We've shown framebuilding at Seven many times so I'll try to show work that we wouldn't normally show.  Not the same old welding photos.

Project Berlin Bike: The Far Ride - Teil Zwei

In the last post I showed some of the conceptual and colorways studies. 

Now we move onto choosing the frame design.  For the show bike we decided on a frame that is a mix of titanium and carbon fiber.  We wanted to find a way to bring two materials together to reflect a reunification or a joining together of disparate parts—east and west together.  It may seem a bit obvious as a representation of Berlin but I thought it would be a good beginning; a good base from which to start.

Next we focused on one of the more unusual design aspects of the bike:  the bar/stem/lighting system integration.  The headlight and taillight are designed into the frame and parts so that they are part of the bike and cannot be removed—or stolen—when the bike is locked on the street.  The lights are also run on a front hub dynamo so that they don’t require recharging.  In other words, they do not need to be removed and there is no battery to carry around.

Project Berlin Bike: The Far Ride

About six months ago I was invited to a design show in Berlin.  Seven was asked to design a limited edition bike that represented the Spirit of Berlin.  I was also asked to give a presentation on design.  How could I and Seven refuse such a great opportunity.

We're finally just about ready to head to the Show--one of the many projects we took on instead of going to NAHBS this year.  Maybe I'll find 30-seconds somewhere to post about some of the other projects we're doing at Seven.

Seven Cycles Collaborative

During the past couple months, 25Seven has been fairly quiet, to say the least.  I have lots of reasons—as always.  Fortunately, the primary reason for this radio silence is a positive one; recently I’ve been focused on another blog.  That blog just went live a couple days ago—although I’ve been posting there since September.  The blog is called the Seven Cycles Collaborative. 

 

A few people have already been checking out the CoLab; we’ve received a lot of interest and enthusiasm about the Collaborative project, and some confusion about what we’re hoping to accomplish.

 

Outcome:  Product or Process?

 

As with so many projects on which I participate, the product is rarely the only important focus.  Often times, as is the case with the Seven Collaborative, the process is the point.  The product’s primary purpose is to bring focus to the process, and to get our employees excited about the process; tactile items are often more fun and engaging than process charts and boring conversations with me.  And as a great storyteller once said:   

 

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”  - Ursula LeGuin

 

True that.

 

The Collaborative’s focus on the process as our primary measure of success has been confusing for some.  Spectator confusion is probably caused by a cursory glance at the CoLab blog, or from reading just one or two journal entries.  Unfortunately, it’s a bit difficult to get a complete picture of the Collaborative’s mission by a brief perusal because the project is large—probably too large, moving fast, and we’re making a couple posts a day recently—weekdays at least.  Because of all this, I think it’s easy to lose sight of the overall project purpose.  I’m here to try and explain:

 

Aldrich Museum: New Technology in Bike Design

Just a quick note that I’ll be speaking—along side Bob Parlee—at the Aldrich Museum on Sunday, November 15.

The museum writes:  “Join cutting-edge American bicycle designers Bob Parlee of Parlee Cycles and Rob Vandermark of Seven Cycles as Aldrich curator Mónica Ramírez-Montagut moderates a discussion on new technology in bike design, with an emphasis on frame materials such as carbon fiber and titanium.”

If you’re in town, I think it’s going to be an interesting session.  Bob is always worth talking with, and the Aldrich Museum’s current bike exhibit is really well designed.

About the exhibit: