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Reader’s Rides: Sven Cycles 14lb Reynolds 953 Rocketship

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Sven-Front

Handbuilt in Weymouth Dorset, Sven Cycles creates dream rides from high-end steel. Owner Darron Sven built this black beauty for himself, fitting it in over time between customer’s builds.

Black paint with polished stainless stays, paired with black components from Campagnolo, EE Cycle Works and Fast Forward make it look stealthy.

Darron is a reader of Bikerumor.com, and like a proud papa, sent in some pictures of this new ride.  Jump past the break to see the glamour shots…

Sven-Main

FROM SVEN CYCLES –

Finally finished my new bike its taken time to fit it in , and get the components together at under 14lb its nice and light , the frame is a mix of 953 and 921 back end with an XCR head tube , I had a spare one in the workshop or it would have been all Reynolds. I have tried to keep the bike clean and simple with direct mount EE Cycle Works rear break and carefully selecting components for the whole build. The Fast Forward Wheels finish the bike of , they are very smooth and fast must be something to do the with the lovely DT Swiss Ceramic hubs .

Sven-Cycles-1 Sven-Cycles-2 Sven-Cycles-3

www.svencycles.com

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24 Comments
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pile-on
pile-on
9 years ago

Very nice, well done Darron.

Steel is real
Steel is real
9 years ago

I could really use some more photos of this beauty and a full spec rundown of components… Beautiful bike.

Will
Will
9 years ago

Why mount the brakes under the chainstays on a bike like this? It’s not like a round-tubed steel frame is particularly aerodynamic. It looks clean, and I expect the lack of a bridge on the seat stays might make the ride a little more “compliant”, but a 14lb steel bike is going to be pretty flexy already…
At least it’s not another $10k+ carbon bike!

Seth
9 years ago

Will, I wouldn’t place any bets on a steel bike being flexy with modern tubing.

marc
marc
9 years ago

What’s that crankset?

Will
Will
9 years ago

All my bikes are steel.
I know modern steel isn’t whippy like the old 5 series reynolds stuff, but still. Only place I can see chainstay-mounted brakes making any sense is TT bikes, and even then, I can’t see how it would make much difference in terms of aerodynamics. Not worth the headache, but clearly this guy likes him. More power to ’em…

Nic
Nic
9 years ago

Alloy tubing, carbon chainring. Makes perfect sense right?

Chris
Chris
9 years ago

Will. The brake is probably underneath, just because it makes it that much more bad ass. It’s not a performance thing.

mudrock
9 years ago

Direct mount brake – or break as Sven calls it – would be a greater benefit in front. Surprised he didn’t do that.

h
h
9 years ago

Brakes are probably mounted on the chain stays so the seat stays don’t have to deal with braking forces or have a brake bridge. It allows the seat stays to be tuned more for ride quality.

Slone
Slone
9 years ago

Crankset looks to be a Rotor 3D- based on what looks like standard bcd CarbonTi rings (not proprietary EECycleworks/Pacenti/Fairwheel/whoever the hell may bring that crank to market bcd, and the crank fixing bolt and spider machining.

http://tfe.me/image/480_345/CK5101.jpg

Z.
Z.
9 years ago

Actually, Nic, it makes perfect sense to me. Use tough steel for the structural parts, and composite for light weight where avoiding brittle fracture isn’t as crucial.

Will, the strength of the steel alloy has no effect on stiffness. That is 100% controlled by geometry. A hi-ten frame with the same shape tubing would be just as stiff. Whether it would be strong enough is a different question.

In material science, toughness strength stiffness.

Marin
Marin
9 years ago

It it had to make sense, it wouldn’t be made of steel. Still, nice bike. Could lose a few spacers under the stem.

James
James
9 years ago

Ruined by bar angle, get a different shaped bar if you want that drop into the hoods.

Carlos
Carlos
9 years ago

Nice stack of spacers under the stem there……

matt
matt
9 years ago

I could be wrong, but I think the chain-stay brake is utilized to reduce the weight of the bike in marginal manner. Its a feature the trek madone 5 series (and up) implemented. seat-stay breaks require extra material=mass. That is my thought.

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
9 years ago

Finally someone chimed in with the ever so important spacer comment. It just wouldn’t be right to not have the spacer police present.

mudrock
9 years ago

Commenters who are bothered by spacers under the stem should look at some old racing pics from the Merckx era: plenty of stem showing, almost no bar drop from the saddle.

FrenchPress
FrenchPress
9 years ago

That’s a Rotor crank…with carbon rings….

Champs
Champs
9 years ago

More power to ’em? Not with whippy steel they won’t.

All seriousness, though, has anyone seen Jan Heine’s take on the effect of stiffness on climbing? The guy selectively publishes the stuff that supports his retrogrouchy POV, but it’s an interesting read.

Ol' Shel'
Ol' Shel'
9 years ago

First there was Seven Cycles. Then came Sven Cycles.

I’m about to start a new brand called Svn Cycles.

JBikes
JBikes
9 years ago

Ol Shel – I’ll beat you: 7 Cycles

Mr. Subjective
Mr. Subjective
9 years ago

Let’s see. He built this for himself. He likes rear brakes under the chainstays for nothing more than the look and he’s the one who looks at it. He used the spacers under the stem to dial in the fit for the guy who will ride it – him. If you want one with the rear brakes up top, no spacers, and a Hello Kitty paint job too, maybe he’ll build one exactly like that for you. It’s all about pleasing the customer.

Neil Foddering
Neil Foddering
9 years ago

His company name, Sven Cycles, is chosen from his own name, which happens to be Darron Sven.

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