The Bespoke Cycles Blog: Stef's Seven Cycles Expat S Commuter Project

Project Commuter

I've been wanting to build a commuter bike for some time now that would be able to handle some off road excursions too. I figured there was no better company to work with than our friends at Seven Cycles. Besides building some of the finest custom bikes from steel, titanium, and carbon fiber in their own factory in Watertown MA. USA, they also make custom racks out of stainless steel and titanium.

The model I chose was the Expat S built around 29 inch wheels with room for fenders and knobby tires if desired. I made this decision because Seven's straight gauge titanium is very durable, light weight and corrosion resistant. I also chose to have Seven construct a custom titanium flatbed rack for the front. Living in San Francisco and not owning a car, I needed something I could load down while commuting or just running errands. The rack did require a fork that had lowrider rack mounts and I really wanted one made from quality steel. Seven currently doesn't make a steel fork so the gang at Independent Fabrications came through and supplied the fork for the project.

Bespoke's inside guy at Seven was kind enough to snap a few pictures of the build process for both the frame and rack. It's amazing to be able to talk to and include input with the people that are actually building your new bike.

For the drivetrain I decided to go with the Gates Centertrack Belt Drive combined with a Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub. The combination of the belt drive and the internal geared hub makes for an almost maintenance free, quiet drivetrain not to mention no more greasy chains. Seven does a really simple and clean frame coupler to allow the belt installation that doesn't pull your eye from the overall aesthetic of the frame.

Now that I had the drivetrain figured out, I needed to settle on a braking system. This would be especially important once extra weight is added to the front rack. I decided to go with Shimano XT Discs with Icetech Rotors. Icetech Rotors are basically a disc brake rotor constructed of aluminum sandwiched between two thin layers of stainless steel. This helps dissipate heat buildup that can cause brake fade under heavy braking or long descents. I've been absolutely impressed with this system and find them very powerful.

Although I've had this bike assembled for about a month and have been logging in the miles, it's still not finished. I had Seven design the frame and fork with front and rear fender eyelets that will in the next few months be equipped with some custom wood fenders from our friend Jeff Hantman . He does amazing custom wood fenders decorated with hand done “bespoke” artwork. Look for future blog posts about the fender project.

Build Specs

Frame: Custom Seven Cycles Expat S titanium 29er with eccentric bottom bracket and belt drive coupler

Fork: Independent Fabrications 29er steel disc fork with lowrider rack mounts and fender eyelets

Rack: Custom Seven Cycles titanium flatbed rack.

Wheels: Front: DT 240 Hub hand laced to a DT XR400 rim with DT Competition spokes

Rear: Shimano Alfine 11 speed hub hand laced to a DT XR400 Rim w/ DT Competition spokes

Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 29 x 2.0

Headset: Chris King

Stem: Thomson X4 100mm

Handlebar: Ritchey WCS 11 degree flat bar

Grips: ODI Xtrainer Lock On.

Seat Post: Thomson Elite