I've been throught the fit process for the Axiom I'm looking to order and had a few questions for some of you Seven junkies.

I've setup my current Klein with the specs the fitter came back with and I've been riding it on the rollers for a few weeks. It seems to be a very upright body position relative to what I am used to. My leg extension also feels someone what short. I really don't feel like I'm getting the full extension. Is this typical of a Seven fit. I'm convinced it's wrong, but I'm concerned that it might get on my nerves post purchase if I'm not happy with the fit. Maybe there's a good reason behind it and I've just been riding a terrible fit for too long. My previous setup was based on the Wobble-Naught system if that matters.

If you want the gory details on the numbers let me know, but I won't waste your time with them now. Just generally curious about Seven Fits right now.

Give your fit guy a call... talk to him about your flexibility. Maybe they made the wrong choice for you in that department. (ie: upright riding position) That's what they're there for, so talk to him. Don't just say, "Oh, that's typical of a Seven fit." Sevens are built for YOU, so if it's not right for YOU, then say something.

If you're convinced the fit is wrong, then go back and get everything remeasured. My seat height was about 3cm short. It felt wrong, it looked wrong, and we were convinced it was wrong. We remeasured the inseam and got a different measurement. The seat went back up and I was happy.

Still waiting for the finished product, though...

Yes, please call Seven back and speak to them, but I have to say that I also had the same situation after my fitting. I came from the wobble naught as well and that was an extremely comfortable riding position. Once fitted to my Seven, all of a sudden I felt short in the cockpit and lower on the saddle. It took all of three weeks of riding before the new position felt comfortable and now 5 months later I feel more centered on the bike.

For what it's worth, I still sometimes feel cramped up on the bike and I think that Seven's fitting system is geared towards a more neutral positioning, but I'm also relearning this new position without any performance drawbacks.

Yes, please call Seven back and speak to them, but I have to say that I also had the same situation after my fitting.

You know I called my guy (Fred), over a week ago (left a voicemail) and sent him an email 2 days ago and have gotten no response. I'm starting to get a little concerned. I know this is their busy time of the year, but I was hoping for a little better service for a $2700 custom frame. I guess I'll just call him again.

On a related subject. My dealer doesn't have a fit cycle. Do you think this is a big detriment? I have basically been setting up my current bike with the recommended setup and riding that to feel out the fit. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?

The entire custom built process is about getting onto your new bike and having it feel as though it were made for you. (Which it was, right?) You need to make a decision: is the fit as they have determined correct for you and you have been wrong all these years, or are they smokin' dope and nobody knows what's right for you more than yourself.

I went through a couple of fit processes, found their recommended position not stretched out enough for me. I spoke to them, agreed the position I would be happy with (1cm added to top tube), and now I am happier than a pig in sh*t.

It's your money, you should get precisely what you want.

And I would venture to say that Seven will respect your opinion/decision.

You know I called my guy (Fred), over a week ago (left a voicemail) and sent him an email 2 days ago and have gotten no response. I'm starting to get a little concerned. I know this is their busy time of the year, but I was hoping for a little better service for a $2700 custom frame. I guess I'll just call him again.

On a related subject. My dealer doesn't have a fit cycle. Do you think this is a big detriment? I have basically been setting up my current bike with the recommended setup and riding that to feel out the fit. Am I setting myself up for disappointment?

Yeah, I think it's Seven's busy season. Call Fred back. He did my fit, too. And two of my teammates... I'm beginning to think Fred's the only guy working there! ;)

My dealer doesn't have a fit cycle either. All of their Seven customers have been very happy with their new bikes. If the guy setting up your current ride to match is any good (even if it's you that's doing it), then he'll be able to make it feel pretty darn close. That's what they did for me. So far no complaints on the new setup... well, except that it's not my new bike. :D

OK Fred got back to me via email today and straightened out a few things for me. I'm going to try them out and talk to him again on Thursday. I still have a few questions I probably need to verbalize before I lock and load on this baby.

Just wanted to make sure to let anyone reading this know they didn't totally drop the ball. It's just their busy season and they are short handed.

So I talked with Fred at length and he straightened out a bunch of things for me. Turns out a lot of measurements weren't done exactly correctly on my body. The main guy at my dealer was out the day I went in so another guy did the measurements and he didn't do them right. I'm going to remeasure tonigth and get the new numbers back to Fred to rerun the design geometry. Just the one that I did check was off by 2 cm (inseam). So that will explain the leg extension issue.

He also talked me through the logic on the body position and it really made sense. I think I've just been riding in way too low of a body position for too long. Makes sense since I've never been comfortable in the drops. With this body position that they have me in, the drops are far more usable and my climbing position on the hoods is much more effective.

Dealer: -1
Seven: +1

Good! I'm glad you're happy.

I think they try to make the customer happy if they can. In my experience, they will try to talk you out of something only if they really think you won't be happy with the end product, because they really do want a satisfied customer that loves their new Seven. It's not good for their brand or for the customer if the bike doesn't fit perfectly.

Some of the suggested measurements from Seven seemed funky to me, but much of our difference in expectations came from different ways of measuring the same thing. I had much discussion with my Seven guy, my shop guy, and a frame builder. Once we were on the same page of what was being measured, all was agreed upon.

Now that I've had the bike a couple months, I am very happy with the positioning they suggested. It was different than what I "wanted" initially, and I would say they were right based on how I'm riding. I'm climbing more consistently, cornering WAY better, and probably equal on flats. But most importantly, very comfortable on the bike on drops or hoods. By changing a couple of millimeters on seat position and stem length, I can honestly say it is dialed just right. My front to rear weighting is much better, thus the better cornering. The climbing....who knows why, but I'm climbing a gear or two higher with no change in perceived effort.

Since having the bike built, I changed from my Mavic Open Pros on DA hubs to Ksyrium SSC's. Two reasons for the change....one was that under hard pedaling, the wheels felt sort of spongy, especially at high speed. two was that the Ksyriums just look too cool. The Mavic's definitely eliminated the spongy feel without hurting the ride at all. Very stiff and predictable wheel under stress, and weight about the same as what I have.

I'm a CPA in a very heavy tax season, and that bike has kept me riding whenever possible, despite the work load. I'm tired, mentally and physically, but when I hop on that bike, my worries are gone. And that's a big reason why I ride.

Mark