Looks good mate. Great paint colour

It was great working with Jared & Darren at Baum. My brief was build a no compromises race bike. I asked them to match the performance of my Time vxr.... IMO, they exceeded it. Handles beautifully whether riding tempo, sprinting or in the hills (read custom fit, considered geometry, the edge fork & outstanding build quality). With the 404s on it weighs in at 7.3 kg. Steel has springiness that propels you forward.. reminds me of a stiff slalom ski, that propels you out of turns.. this bike responds when you put the hammer down. It's most noticeable when you're out of the saddle.

So I traded stiff, light and off the shelf for stiffness with spring, a slight weight gain and a custom build and I'm a better rider for it.

Mine was modelled in a similar manner, in that I wanted Darren to have a bike for me that would fit and race in the same manner that my 595 does. I too would agree that Darren has exceeded my expectations, as there is a softness to the ride that I noticed as soon as I turned the pedals for the first time.

Then in its baptism of fire (the Melbourne to Warrnambool) on the weekend it was flawless. Felt like I'd done 10,000 instead of 100km on it. And after stepping off it there was not a single part of me that was sore from the bike. Not that I was ever 'beaten up' by the 595, but I certainly thought there would be more overall pain than what I had due simply to 6 hours in the saddle. There was none of that. I actually 'forgot' (so to speak) that the bike was even there, it felt more like an extension of the body. And I'm not sure I could ask more than that from any bike really.

I now feel steel is so criminally under rated for what it offers. Cannot wait to get the Merckx done, as Darren said the ride will be even softer Yum!


btw Poignant, that is one great looking machine! Love the scheme, esp on the fork!

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

i have nothing to add!

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sorry vor mai bed englisch!

looks sweet

i like how the 3t fork has a matching colour with the frame

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Join the light side

a light bike does make you go faster unless you are slow

Thanks guys, she's amazing to ride and race. Did my first crit on it this morning and was perfect! Just a pity on the rider that was pushing the pedals

Gets a few surprised remarks from the other riders/racers that it's steel. Which I love, sort of gives it an old school and unique vibe.
I'll pop some more pics up soon.

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Nice, really nice. Is the fork carbon fibre?

How is that Merckx coming? I can't believe that you have two stunning purple bikes!

Can't believe I missed this! Tinea Pedis, that is absolutely beautiful. Superb!

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Too old to be fast, too young to be this slow!

At 7.3 kg, it was probably in the lighter than most of the carbon bikes there.

Good stuff: I think steel is way under-rated. I really like my steel Ritchey Breakaway.

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http://djconnel.blogspot.com/
Fuji SL/1
Send your data to Weight Weenie listings!

As long as the wife didn't find out

On a serious note, awesome bike, I love it

Raced against a guy a couple of weeks back riding one as well. Almost identical to yours except wheels were different.
I was half expecting it to be you TP out to check if I was wearing my WW Kit

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Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story......
Argon
CAAD9 6.78Kg
Supersix 6.78Kg

Same colour too??

As far as I know, there's only one other been done in this so far. And it's still in the factory as of last Thursday.....

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis

Yes his was very similar - deep maroon. He bought his in 2006 he said so a bit older than yours but still a beautiful looking thing. I can't remember the wheelset but he was also running Chorus. Next time I see him I'll ferret a bit more info for you

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Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story......
Argon
CAAD9 6.78Kg
Supersix 6.78Kg

Fantastic looking bike!

Very happy to hear that you noticed the softness without any real reduction in performance!
I currently ride a Colnago EPS, its great for about 60km, then after that kills me (just so stiff, for me anyway).

So I am looking at retiring it to racing (mainly crit or short rr) and getting a custom Baum for everyday training and riding.

I have always liked steel, but was thinking a corretto in titanium, what made you chose steel?

Thanks mate!

Why I chose steel? I'm a little old school in my manner, I've ridden a long board (surf board) for years, love vinyl and the drive in so racing on steel like the 'good old days' really appealed to that part of me also a lot of the races that I'm going to be using it for do not have any significant amounts of climbing - however are hammering along at quite a rate or are over some big distances. So I would rather the smoother ride quality of steel over the reduced weight of carbon fiber. Not that the weight is holding me back climbing, times are improving as opposed to staying put or going backwards.

I will get a ti one some day though....

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Baum Ristretto, Baum Mondrian Corretto & the '89 Merckx! | "If you could eat it in one sitting, hold your line." | twitter.com/Tinea_Pedis