Life is short. We all say the phrase, but going on a bike ride with a loved one is a fast way to feel it. So when a couple came to us looking to enjoy the miles side by side, we relished the opportunity to build them a pair of Baum Orbis road bikes to set them off in style.
As the couple would be traveling with their bikes, we opted for a measure of simplicity, doubling down on resilience. That approach is most evident at the wheels, which we built in-house with Duke rims, Sapim CX-Ray spokes and Chris King hubs. The same philosophy flowed to the groupset for both bikes, with SRAM’s well-proved Red EPS system augmented with a power meter and a Ceramicspeed bottom bracket completing a drivetrain that could cycle to Japan and back, should the couple so desire.
About the fuselage, as Baum calls it, the Orbis frameset, fork, headset, seatpost, and stem, the latter color-matched to the frameset. Baum says, “Orbis is our finest road disc offering, optimised around 28-32mm rubber for an unparalleled road experience.” If you’ve had the pleasure of meeting Baum’s namesake, Darren Baum, you’ll know he’s not one for wasted words or hyperbole. His bikes are an accurate representation of the clarity of his thoughts and the economy of his speech. A Baum is tasteful, precise, and high-performance, a flawless example of absolute mastery of craft, material, function and aesthetics. In short, Baums are sensational machines, and the Orbis, the ultimate expression of the Australian brand’s spirit.
As the Orbis can take up to a 34mm tire, measured, we fitted Rene Herse’s Stampede Pass 32 clinchers, partnered with Pirelli TPU tubes. Turning to touchpoints of a different nature, one bike features a Fizik 3D-printed saddle, and the other, a Form.
A custom-painted pump for each bike completes the builds.
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