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After years of experimenting with N+1 (and then some!), I am back where I started. A Seven titanium road bike and (as of yesterday) this beauty. My bike finally matches my forum name again after nearly 20 years since my first 26 inch V brake fully rigid Sola!
It has been fun, I have tried a lot of brands, materials and travel, but I have come to the conclusion that these 2 meet my riding needs best. There is nothing like a well fitted titanium frame decked out with decent parts and as ever Seven came up trumps.
My Cotic Solaris convinced me that nothing beats a decent 29er hardtail for the kind of riding that I do and although I was tempted by the new Soda, since this will be my forever (ish) bike I went with another Seven. The ability to customise, the build quality and the ride quality are unmatched (but I might be a little biased)
I based it on the latest progressive geometry (long, low and slack with a steep seat tube), stubby stem, added in a Boost rear end and in a real leap of faith had it made for 1 x AXS, so no dropper routing and no rear mech routing. I already had the Cane Creek chainset, and I really didn’t want to buy a complete AXS groupset so until the individual components become available I will run a fixed Thomson seatpost and have tacked a full length gear outer to the brake hose.
Hopefully ready for many years of fun to come!
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Stunning, absolutely stunning. Well done
That wall paint looks good. What brand?
Nice bike.
Mmmmm, nice!! Even nicer with the trick AXS stuff!!
Bet it doesn't weigh much either! 😀
Ha ha! Sandtex 365 All weather since you ask. Finished the new bike cave right in the middle of winter and it’s the only thing that would stick. I hate painting at the best of times and this sucked up 4 coats. Replaced a 1940s prefab with somewhere I can live when my wife throws me out for spending too much on bikes!
Stunning, absolutely stunning. Well done
Yep. Really bright white looking clean as. Lawn looks good too but new, so we'll need follow up pic in a few years.
Grass is a labour of love. Not new, but subject to a rigorous scarify/feed/topdress/seed regime. Solarider Jnr just got a football goal for his 4th Birthday however and I am nervous about my lawn. Very nervous.......
Lovely bike. Your lawn is doomed
Nice bike👌 ...if i hadn't read your description though, I'd have guessed it was 27.5 from the pics!
Stunning bike, great lawn.
So is 26" not dead then ?
Is that gravel between the lawn & the wall??? If so, won't it bugger the lawn mower blade? Can be dangerous if flung too.
Not a fan of this trend for low/long/slack at all, but blimey that bike looks stunning.
What's it ride like, and when will it get dirty...??
The lawn gets cut by nail scissors!
I am a big chap and my 26 and even 27.5 bikes always looked a bit like a gate. I am quite pleased with how the long, low, slack and 29er thing works for larger bikes.
Bedding in ride last night. So far so good. Light, geometry works, good fit, lively steering. 1st ride in anger due tomorrow. Can’t wait!
What's wrong with 26inch wheels & V brakes? Still kicking it today.
But that does look mint.
I didn’t remember 26 bikes being so small! Or is that beer ENORMOUS?!!!!
Really, really nice that. You've got a lovely crisp line between the black and white sections on the wall. Excellent work. 👌
The only thing I can think to constructively criticise is that ideally, your driveside crank arm should be horizontal in photographs, usually towards the front of the bike but if graphics do not allow this, aligned with the chainstay is fine.
Is that mushrooms coming through in the grass in places?
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I didn’t remember 26 bikes being so small! Or is that beer ENORMOUS?!!!!
I needed to take the edge off the arm pump.
Magnolia petals. Maintaining that lawn is a constant battle with nature!!!!!!
Tempted to dig it up and install a pump track.
The Seven looks fantastic...still got the Cotic?
Sweetwings?
Sweet ride.
I remember dreaming about getting a Sola way back in 1999. I went off them a bit with the curved downtube, but it looks really good on your bike. Maybe the length of the bike fits the aesthetic better.
Okay, I'm just really jealous!
That is very lovely indeed, congratulations!
I thought twice about the aesthetic of the curved downtime myself, and they will still happily build a bike without it. Practically, it does offer enhanced fork crown clearance, but it isn't absolutely necessary. It also makes for a slightly stronger head tube to down tube intersection as the tube joins at a higher angle, meaning less need for a down tube gusset. In the end I went with their recommendation and it is a bit of an acquired taste that I happen to quite like in the flesh. I do draw the line at the Moots approach of curving the down tube and the top tube though.
Don't get me wrong, I think the curved down tube works well on a bike of your bike's proportions! And those cranks...beautiful on that frame. It's a pity dropper posts make such a difference because a ti seat post would also look great. I imagine the bike will ride every bit as good as it looks.
Well what can I say...?
Nothing apart from that is a stunning bike. Gorgeous indeed!
There are two bikes in my ultimate wish list. One of them is a Funk La Ruta, the other is a Seven Sola, either Ti or skinny steel. I admire your choice and wish you many happy trails. 😁
There is something really pleasing about a well proportioned hardtail set up, your chosen ‘colour’ scheme really emphasises this. Nice work!
so is your new bike 26inch or 27.5 inch. I couldn't work it out from the OP's post?
Looks real nice btw.
Wow, very pretty. Think I'm adding those cranks to my build.
what width rear tyre? much clearance?
It's built for 29 x 2.6 max, but running 29 x 2.3 for the moment. Plenty of mud clearance.
During the build process it came to light that the Cane Creek cranks are particularly narrow. I originally wanted to have clearance for 27.5 x 3.0, but because of the diameter of the chainstays and the narrowness of the chainset it just wouldn't work. In reality I will probably only ever run it 29er anyway.
1st ride this lunchtime. Some thoughts:
1) Cy does an amazing job with Cotic, and I loved my Solaris but comparing a £600 frame with a £4,000 frame isn’t a fair comparison. Thankfully you can tangibly tell the difference (phew!). This is like a rocket ship! The weight, the balance, the ride quality is sublime. And, oh those welds!
2) I had a set of Fox Rhythm 34s on the Cotic, and honestly I can’t tell much improvement from the Pike. Confirmed my appreciation for those forks at any price.
3) The chainset is a lovely thing and very stiff. The jury is out on the oval chainring. I felt fast, but not sure if that was new bike placebo, dry sunny trails, or maybe the oval thing works.
4) There is definitely something in the long, low, slack thing. The stubby stem makes for fantastic response, but the bike is still comfortable. It’s quite revelation.
5) I do miss a dropper. That will have to be a priority purchase I think.
6) SRAM GX Eagle might be tremendous value, but it works incredibly well. I am looking forward to fitting AXS, but just to satisfy a tech urge but I can’t see the shifting getting much better than this.
7) It is amazing what a difference new pads and a bleed make to an old set of brakes.
Some shots attached from today’s ride. The only thing you can’t appreciate is the gentle breeze, the warm sunshine and the birds singing. Is there any better place than Britain in the Spring?!
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And a gratuitous shot of the 2 siblings.
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Amazing bike, but I am really missing my Fox Rhythm. The build quality and feel of the adjustment was streets ahead of the Pike despite a massive gulf in price.
I can’t get the Pike anywhere near as plush and smooth, and because of the ramp up I am not reaching max travel. Think I might need to remove a volume spacer and lower the pressure which seems counter intuitive given my size. Any other tips?
Any other tips?
Sounds like a Vorsprung Luftkappe would help. I've just had one fitted and, although i need to maybe play around again with volume spacers (advice is to remove 2 when you fit it), the fork is definitely far easier to get moving at the start if the stroke. At £65 it's pretty much a no-brainer to give one a shot give the overall cost of bike!