Seven Cafe Racer in the wild

Seven Cycles makes a bike called a Cafe Racer and they have a demo bike at Ride Studio Cafe in Lexington.  That Cafe Racer is a single speed with a Gates belt drive.  And Rob Vandermark even let me take it out of the shop overnight.  Unfortunately, because of my schedule, I was able to take it for only one ride but it was great fun to ride it.  These are very comfortable bikes and can be fast over long distances, if the right person is riding it.  Pamela Blalock rode one for 70 miles the Ride Studio Cafe Pioneer ride last weekend.  I couldn't do that but it does say a lot about the bikes and Pamela.

I haven't seen any other Cafe Racers on the rode until yesterday.  I came across Aaron on a Cafe Racer, coaching his friend on bike commuting in the city.  BTW Aaron was a great teacher and is a conservative and safe rider in much the same way that I think of myself.  He was prudent is his thinking on when to take the lane but he did take the lane when necessary.  My only criticism, is that his friend was riding a Hubway bike, which I know to be an exhausting experience but that was an easily available bike for his friend.

Aaron has a great version of the Cafe Racer.  His bike is equipped with a Rolhoff Speed Hub, which I understand to be much more efficient than the Shimano models - I believe at least 7 of the speeds are direct drive.  He also has the same, or similar handlebars as the RSC demo model.  And well designed racks, lots of them.  They look like all custom titanium racks from Seven.  Overall it has a very nice look and the single rear pannier he carried was well secured on struts set below the deck of the rear rack.

He didn't opt for generator lighting but he does have lights.  He had these bar end lights welded onto the deck rear rack, just below the deck of the rack.

He also has a tube for mounting a front light on the left side of his front rack, also almost certainly custom.

It was great meeting Aaron and enjoyed checking out his bike and watching his careful mentoring of his friend, who is new to Boston.  Bike commuting around here is challenging but Aaron's friend is getting a good start.