Riding a Baum comes with a curse. The taste of the Baum's incredible mannerisms takes over your mind. You need it, you can't stop thinking about it, and you start to strategize how to own one yourself. But, what happens when you've already got one? You'd think your problems would end there, but instead they multiply. After throwing a leg over a Baum day in and day out, you start to look at the rest of the bikes in your stable and realize they just don't measure up. The solution? Simple. You begin the process of ordering an Extensa hardtail to translate the bliss you feel when riding your Corretto on the road into a whole new experience when ripping on the dirt.
Our focus is on road bikes, so it's always a treat when we get to bring a big tire bike to life. Building a Baum Extensa is just as exciting to us here in the shop as it is for a client getting to ride it.
Enve M50s wrapped in a Conti Mountain King/X King combo keep things rolling and adhered to the trail. Light, stable, and plenty of traction for almost any trail.
Some details of that wonderful Baum front end. It's a nice touch seeing the entire front end match up so seamlessly. From the Enve stem, to the Baum head tube, to the custom-painted RS-1 fork, the continuation of colors through all the components are a rarity amongst most hand built bikes. Nobody executes at the level of Baum.
The SRAM cranks spin on a CeramicSpeed bottom bracket. The XX1 cassette is something we never seem to get tired of and fits so nicely in the titanium rear end.
The sliding dropouts allow the option to run the bike as a single speed. A well executed slider has much nicer execution than a clunky, finicky, eccentric BB. SRAM's latest Guide Ultimate brakes are impressive. The quad piston stopping power is incredible, along with an elegant, polished design. Paired with the Centerline rotors, they provide some of the best control out on the trail.
At its first release, the RockShox RS-1 fork turned a lot of heads. Time has proven it to be the pinnacle of mountain bike suspension. The huge carbon uppers match up perfectly to a 44mm heat tube and Baum truly did some magic getting it painted to match the frame.
It wasn't easy letting this one go out the door and out of our sight. Can't wait to get another one back in the queue. Hope you all enjoyed checking out this bike as much as we did!
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