Bah Humbug

It's going to be redone in my tri position, mechanical 11-speed, no brakes, no brake levers, would go 1x if it were actually cheaper, and will be permanently bolted to my trainer. The R2 and P2 will be the outdoor bikes; the R2 is going to need to be rebuilt in all likelihood because of the gallons of sweat I've poured into it during lockdown. The rear brake is stiff, and I assume the BB is in sorry shape. The FD might not be happy either. No more of that, and the S1 can continue contributing to my success.

indyfabz

Frame-wise, it’s just a Seven that looks a lot like other Sevens I’ve seen. Not like it’s a one-of-kind Engin or something.

WhyFi

A what? I don't think that I've ever heard of such a thing.

AlmostTrick

Well, if this is the OP just having fun with us then I applaud him! Not that I'd ever start a misleading but fun thread...

The pricey box pretty much proves the OP is serious. If he's never going to sell the bike (stated in the OP) a fancy protective box will come in handy many times.

Litespud

Nice welds indeed. When it comes to Ti construction, I imagine that welds are the most common point of failure, given the technical difficulties in welding Ti, so as I see it, the more experience the welder has, the better (ie, high volume isn't necessarily a vice). My bog standard mass-produced Litespeed has pretty decent welds too. I think the point others are making is that, at the end of the day, your Seven is a mass-produced (albeit very well-made - I'm not denigrating Seven at all) consumer item that anyone with a few grand to spend on a frame can buy - it's not the Mona Lisa.

SethAZ 

OP: that bike really is beautiful. I just wanted to say that. I've got my own "trophy" ti bike that I'm into for probably as much as yours, and mine doesn't look half as nice, though I value mine for other reasons that make it extremely well suited to me. To my particular aesthetic sensibility I think your bike is stunning. As much as I recognize the human tendency to personify inanimate objects as objectively ridiculous, I find myself shedding a metaphorical tear for your bike to imagine it locked away like this. If a bike can be personified in some way above just being a collection of inanimate molecules, I'd say your bike "deserves" to be ridden and enjoyed, not locked up in some gilded cage.

There are many ways you could upgrade your bike to deal with different terrain, such as changing your chainrings to compact size (assuming your crank spider will support that, otherwise you could change the crankset). If you're into personification of inanimate objects it may feel like a personal betrayal of parts that have served you well so far, but if you need to take a moment of silence while swapping parts to thank them for their service, you'll get over it. The new parts will become a part of that bike's identity and history, and you can continue to enjoy riding that bike.

Oh, and with well over 5000 miles on that original chain, you should really measure it and see how much it's "stretched" due to wear. I'd say there's a 99.9% chance your chain has already stretched to the point where it's now actively wearing out the teeth of your chainrings and cassette. If those parts could speak, they'd be begging you for a new chain. Don't let them down!

fuji_owner

Oh, the many "one-of-kind" Engin frames with round tubes and 3 triangles? It's just an Engin than looks "a lot" like other Engins.

indyfabz

wut

BTW... Your welds remind me of a woman in a beautiful, right dress with bulging panty lines showing.

noodle soup

Have you seen many Engin frames? I've never seen one "in the wild".

I've seen dozens of Sevens at my shop, and demoed several.

noodle soup

I like the file marks on the welds. I guess the imperfections make it unique.

fuji_owner

Are you missing my point on purpose? Anyone can call and have one built for them, but no two of those will be identical even in fundamental frame geometry. That's what makes a custom frame one-of-a-kind.

When I first got the frame, I took really high res pics that show facets of the frame that are hard to see even for the naked eye.

fuji_owner

Yeah, the supply matches the demand. Must be something special if there's so much demand.

fuji_owner

LOL, you got fooled by high res visual perspective and light. If you actually see the frame in person, you'll know how minimal and subtle the welds are.

big john

I don't understand. I ride my Seven everywhere, mountains, city, even some dirt.

noodle soup

Some people buy items they can’t really afford, and then spend a lifetime worrying about damaging it while it’s being used.

noodle soup

Engin has a long waiting list. The demand is high, but they aren’t looking to churn out 100s of bikes every Quarter.

Your Seven is a nice bike, but it shouldn’t be packed away for safe keeping, unless storage space is at a premium.

big john

It's a tool, not a jewel. I do have a couple bikes in the garage I haven't ridden in a long time. I would give them away to the right person, I've given bikes away before or sold them cheap. If I got a new road bike I would try to sell my Seven.

noodle soup

FTR, I keep a classic Italian bike in my home office/man cave, because I really love the bike, and want to see it regularly. I also have a couple of framsets in boxes because I tend to collect bike parts. I might use some of them again, but I don’t have the space to keep all the bikes I own assembled.

indyfabz

A. You’re not fooling me.

B. I see mediocre every day, so no loss.

Litespud

You should see the high end watch crowd - I dip into a few forums 'cos I like mechanical watches, but I'm no collector - I own one $350 well-patina'd watch. People there spend thousands/tens of thousands on uber-watches, freak out at any flaws visible only through a high-power loupe, spend their lives walking sideways through doorways to avoid the risk if knocking their watch off the doorframe, or laying napkins or cloths under their left wrists when they're eating or typing, to avoid scuffing the bracelets, and obsessing about the accuracy, when the irony is that a $10 Casio is inherently more accurate than a $10,000 Rolex. And don't even start on the obsessing about not getting built-like-a-brick-sh1thouse diving watches wet.....

fuji_owner

No, you don't need any help from me getting fooled.

fuji_owner

You don't have to understand. To each his own.

noodle soup

I’m not disputing the fact that it’s a really nice bike, I just don’t understand why you would bubble wrap it, and hide it away in a box.

It’s not a priceless show bike, that was blessed by the Pope.

fuji_owner

So you're saying they are psychotic? They have the demand, but they want to keep people waiting? Seven started small and got bigger and so they are meeting the demand and keeping the wait times reasonably small. This is typical growth of free enterprise.

There is nothing to gain from dissing Seven just because someone picked a lesser-known builder because that would make them think they have a "special" bike.

noodle soup

I guess you’ve never heard of Vanilla Bikes.