Love Baum is an interesting name for a bicycle company, but like other names before it the title stems from two individuals, Chad Lovings and Bryce Baumann. Together, the duo design and build bicycles in Denver, Colorado having met in Rifle, Colorado, while studying the art of frame building with Koichi Yamaguchi. Chad and Bryce shared a vision for creating meticulous, high quality steel frames and rather than compete against each other, they combined their talents to form Love Baum Bicycles. Their pairing has already paid off, with Love Baum Bicycles taking the NAHBS 2015 award for Best New Builder…
The NAHBS Love Baum Gravel Grinder is a customer’s bike, designed to be modern, while retaining a retro feel. The frame features a mixture of True Temper S3 tubing, with OX Platinum tubing for the seat tube, which has been carved into a bilaminate (visual effect), including the customer’s initials rear of the seat tube / top tube junction. Tubes are silver fillet brazed and paint is World War II era inspired.
Modern touches to the build include internally routed Shimano Di2 hydraulic brake drivetrain, with a Love Baum Di2 vented internal battery mount. Cables are kept neat with pro-mechanic inspired heatshrink tubing encasing the Di2 / hydraulic brake cabling.
Love Baum’s other NAHBS entry is a classically styled modern steel track bike, designed to be stiff and nimble, yet extremely stable at high speeds. The bike features clean lines, a minimalist aesthetic and iconic curved seat tube design, an homage to Koichi Yamaguchi.
The frame is fillet brazed with a mix of steel tubing; True Temper for the curved seat tube and top tube, and Columbus Life tubing for the aero down tube, seat stays, and chain stays. Completing the frame is the tapered head tube by Nova, which mates perfectly with the tapered Columbus carbon track fork. The integrated bar/stem began life as a Deda track bar, brazed to a custom stem clamp.
The seat mast clamp area is supported by the seat tube sleeve and made of stainless steel to prevent issues with paint chipping and rust. The seat mast topper is custom and utilizes ENVE clamp hardware. The stainless steel theme continues to the dropouts, made by Paragon.
Component highlights on the frame include a refurbished Dura Ace track crankset, and wheels built with White Industries Hubs and carbon tubular rims. Custom leather work extends to the saddle, perforated grips and top tube protector, all by Leh Saddles in Austin, Texas.
The bike was painted by Spectrum Powderworks, featuring an off white powdercoat with matte black logos, and finished with a liquid clear coat. Photographs kindly supplied by Scott Quinn Photography.
