When you can’t find a product that does exactly what you want, what do you do? Well if you’re Rob Vandermark, Head of R&D at Seven Cycles, you just make it. When building its bikes, Rob and his team wanted to use a front fork that could ride any road, but there wasn’t anything that quite fit the bill and the core feature that they felt many were lacking was? The option for mudguards.
‘There was a limited choice of high quality lightweight forks with a central fender mounting system,’ he said. ‘We looked to integrate a mount with more clearance.’
As the bicycling world slowly transitions into disc brakes, you may have noticed that very few offer mudguard mounting and if you ask a road cyclist what they want from a carbon fork, very few will say a mudguard mounting system. However with more and more of us training through winter and the UCI’s dream of disc braking road bikes edging closer, we may find ourselves contemplating over an espresso which mudguards to use.
'The new fork, called the Max 45, has clearance for a 45c tire and incorporates much of the research behind Seven’s 5E road fork while accounting for the increased torsional stiffness necessary for long-term performance on disc brake bikes.'
'Aimed at the gravel grinder/mixed-terrain market, Seven envisions the Max 45 being an attractive option for randonneurs who include dirt roads in their rides, commuters who want a weather proof option for rain, snow and ice, and the legions of riders who are riding everything from unimproved, Class IV roads to single-track on their drop bar bikes.'
Like ENVE, the brand is looking to incorporate its fork with other frame builders and has decided to stick with a 9mm quick release axle as opposed to the newer thru-axle. Plans for future models see a thru-axle being incorporated but much like its developed bike design, it wanted to play it out.
‘Thru-axle will dominate very shortly; with the 9mm you are seeing a lot of people drop it in favour of a thru-axle. We wanted to start with 9mm and develop it.’ It was clear that Rob and his team wanted to make a product that would get it right.
Being a medium sized bike company based in America you can be forgiven if you have not heard of Seven, but this company has got some experience. I wondered though, did it collaborate with anyone when it came to developing the MAX 45? ‘We have worked with people on things in the past but a lot the work was done internally. You know, we’ve made road forks for almost 20 years,’ Rob told me. It’s safe to say the guys there know their stuff.
Seven Cycles is an American bike manufacturer that specialises in creating high-end bicycle frames using titanium, filament-wound carbon fibre, and steel.
The fork is priced at $545 with the UK price to follow.
Contact: Seven Cycles