I Have a Confession…

…I’ve got another Baum on the way. Ooops.

It’s their fault, they contacted me first and once the seed was planted… I don’t think I need to explain much further really do I?!

It’s all because of my awkward dimensions. I was beginning to eye up Colnagos and was even considering trying their ‘Tailor Made’ custom option – given what that would have cost it was actually stupid of me not to consider my other full custom options anyway, so when Baum approached me it was a real lightbulb (well, more of a “duh, of course”) moment.

Why did they approach me? Well, on their part it was actually an incredibly kind and unexpected offer, seemingly prompted by twitter ramblings and my article about my need for freaky geometry, and as a thank you for the coverage I’ve given them through my Corretto build. It’s also, in part, a bit of a ‘safety net’ of sorts as it’s a bike that’s being built to display at NAHBS – meaning that whilst they’re building a show bike they know it will be bought and paid for after the show is done and dusted. And why not?!

So what am I having? No titanium this time around – it’s going to be the latest version of their steel Ristretto. The geometry will be the same as my Corretto, and I’m actually even going to increase the head tube height by 5mm so that I have a greater range of movement without hampering the look of the bike should my own flexibility either improve or decline.  It’ll be a standard seatpost, and a standard cable drivetrain.  There will also be a few features I’m not allowed to talk about.  I think it’s going to be a cracking companion to my dream bike, just without having to worry so much about it!

Fear not though, as not only is the paint design already sorted but the groupset and finishing kit is too – all of which should make life much less painful than the whole ‘Lugs to Lightweights’ episodes where I was fretting over BBs, cranks and all manner of other details. The plan for this one is PressFit30 BB and full SRAM Red, including brakes and cranks.  If Baum can get it in time (and at the last time of asking they believed they would) it’ll hopefully be the new 2012 version of SRAM Red too.

The only thing that isn’t sorted is the wheels. I have a few ideas, and they’ll most likely be deep-ish carbon. I’ll probably go tubular this time as – unlike my Corretto – this Ristretto will be raced when the season starts in Sydney. Besides, I already have both my Lightweights and my R-SYS SLRs to run if and when I want to run clinchers. Given that I can’t work in Sydney until my visa gets approved I need to keep the price in check a bit on the wheel front too so (as long as I can reign myself in) they probably won’t be anything special.  That said, those damn Mad Fibers are calling my name again…

There’s just a few details to sort and the deposit to pay, but essentially the bike is go and will be displayed at NAHBS in early March. This time around there’s no smoke and mirrors, and many of you may even see it before I do.  You’ll know it’s mine when you do see it though, believe me (although it might have some display wheels in it, rather than what I actually intend to run).

I’ll probably book a flight down from Sydney to Melbourne in early April to collect my new toy.  Expect constant raving, pictures and waffle as soon as it’s in my possession.

Don’t expect the Corretto to be forgotten though – trust me, it won’t be.