Seven Evergreen SL - dropped chainstay

The way bikes are being used has changed quite a lot recently and cyclists are looking for a bicycle that can serve them well on the road and if they take the fancy it can also be used on trails and gravel.

The Evergreen is Seven's wide clearance gravel bike the Axiom their road bike with tighter clearances for narrower tyres but now the lines are blurring and tyres are getting wider; we should call this bike an Axiom All-roads SL for its intended use isn't quite certain but the option is there for the owner to decide on a whim.

So this bike uses the Matador fork that has enough space for a 50mm tyre or a 38mm with mudguards. The rear end of the frame is designed to fit up to a 32mm tyre with a mudguard or a 35mm gravel tyre. To increase the space between the chainring and tyre Seven use their 'dropped one inch chainstay' a wonderful example of titanium engineering; this helps keep the chainstays shorter and the ride responsive. This frame also utilises a T47 bottom bracket shell and has mudguard braze-ons installed.

The grouspet is Shimano'sGRX Di2 'gravel' groupset that has a lower gearing option than its road cousin Ultegra using a 31/48 chainset and an 11-36 cassette. It should be considered as an all-roads groupset as the gearing is much more suitable for many cyclists as it makes riding up hills easier and the 48T chainring means you can ride in the middle of the cassette more and not be over geared at lower speeds. The brake levers are different, longer and flatter and the brake lever is more angled (probably to work better with flared handlebars) and they have a different feel to the road version; the rear mech has a clutch in it to maintain chain tension and accurate shifting over rough surfaces. The Di2 shifters have a more positive click too.

The handlebars are Zipp's Xplr Service Course SL model that have a short and shallow reach and a slight flare that makes riding in the drops very comfortable, an option to be considered for the road also.

The wheels are Bontrager's Elite 35 carbon with DT Swiss internals, at £799.00 they are excellent value and a good option when two wheel sets are being used. They also have a two year crash replacement cover from Trek which is comforting.

This is a great bike for road rides and off-road exploration, it keeps your options open and will last a lifetime.