Eric Baar gets me. If I could, I would live in his world of high-polish, glittered, and expertly crafted hot rod track and BMX bikes forever. His new personal track bike, one we discussed in depth at the Philadephia Bike Expo, was back with fresh styling. His 1000th welded frame, which we saw at his shop, was also in attendance with new lines. Those two would have been show-stoppers alone. But the clear attention-getters were his muscly pink glitter track bike, the pinnacle of years of testing and iterative development in aluminum as well as a freshly made BMX speed machine…
Aluminum track frames are what Eric Baar takes very seriously. He’s been developing his frame construction for years, with a compound aero mast, muscular front triangle tubing, and chainstays with ministays to help transfer the power of the fastest sprinters around. This bike is stiff and was begging to be sprinted all show long.
This frame was a double whammy, with styling also off of the charts. The stays were polished, and there were the most minimal of tire clearances. The whole front triangle had been done in 13 different colors of metal flake on a red base. “I wanted to go really flashy.”
The downtube as well as the matching, mass-start legal, painted to match aero helmet had gold leaf logos and extra striping for good measure. If you’re a frequenter of track events, keep your eyes out for this one. It will be raced this season- and hopefully it will bring a few more wins for Eric.
In a show with few BMX bikes, Eric was showing this little fella in titanium. The stripe theme is applied abrasively to the tubing prior to welding to bring some flash to the bare metal and is meant to mimic his cat’s tail.
It comes complete with a gold number plate and metal flake bars.
As Eric is simultaneously upping his game in finish effects and welding, it was cool to see this specific frame get an update. As we’ve noted in other pieces, bikes for Eric are never really completed. The finish evolves with his relationship to the bike. For the show, Eric experimented on some localized glitter application on the frame, as well as a fun, hand painted, colorful stripe theme.
Why he brought the bike, however, was in order to discuss the fork. He’s been refining his process so he can offer it as a payable service through his shop. What, is your fork not sparkly enough? Eric could be your guy. So you know, though, Eric will only be offering this service to Ground Up Speed Shop customers.
Eric’s track bike from Philly Bike Expo made an encore performance, with new striping and a race number. He intends to travel to different velodromes around the US with this hot rod this Summer. Keep an ear out so you can see it in person.
Once again, the real star of the show was Eric himself, who was sitting in the back of the booth with his brush box, named “Love Letters,” painting things by request, as per usual, to demonstrate that fine motor control. He happened to be working on this track disc wheel when we stopped by.
