Even if you’re not a self proclaimed ‘weight weenie’, as a cyclist you still probably care about weight. Right? While it’s common to mind the grams, it’s also common for modern frames to add a bit of weight as they transition to disc brakes, thru axles, tapered steerers, etc. That seems to be the inspiration behind Seven’s latest upgrade package called the XX.
Offered on titanium bikes like their Evergreen gravel build, the XX package claims to drop 170-255g from the weight of the frame without sacrificing durability or making it too flexy.
To get there, Seven’s engineers looked at nearly every design feature of the bike and picked off gram by gram. Asymmetric dropouts save about 60g and increase drivetrain stiffness. Asymmetric chainstays save another 6g and again increase drivetrain stiffness. Moving to an internal seatpost binder saves 33-45g and the 30.9mm titanium seatpost saves another 30g+ over a 27.2mm post. Inside the frame, 14g were removed from additional bottom bracket shell machining and 12g were shaved by enlarging the frame’s breather holes inside the tubes. A new flat mount brake caliper drops 13g, and the frame itself is slightly more compact with new tube butting and a modified tube profile section to take care of the rest.
Seven calls it the ‘apex of cycling weight reduction’ which can be added to any SL or SLX disc brake titanium frame for $995 starting immediately.
