The Radavist

For it being LoveBaum Bicycles‘ first year at NAHBS, I’d say it was a successful one. Winning the “Rookie” award is quite the honor for the framebuilding pairing from Denver. While their curved seat tube track machine was very much about performance and style this bike is all about customization. Chad Lovings, the other half of LoveBaum, recently completed this build, an all-road bike that oozes that ever-present NAHBS panaché.

For starters, the client’s initials have been carved from the seat tube cluster lug. A bold, cursive KP with crisp lug lining is the highlight of the frame, while other details like the internal routing and custom stem are equally as pristine, yet flow so well, they disappear in the overall package.

Built from a True Temper S3 and Nova, Chad used Fillet Pro to create smooth transitions, tube to tube. Finally, a rust orange and forest green sparkle paint job makes this bike pop with gold lug lining and dropout cell fill. For the build kit, the client went with Ultegra Di2, ENVE, Challenge Almanzo tires and Chris King.

Does this bike deserve the “Rookie of the Year” award? Oh yeah…

LoveBaum is a framebuilder pairing from Denver, Colorado started by Chad Lovings and Bryce Baumann. The two initially met in Rifle, Colorado at Yamaguchi’s framebuilding school. Shortly after leaving, they decided to begin building together under the name LoveBaum.

The two bikes at NAHBS bearing the LoveBaum name immediately caught my attention in the rookie builder hallway. The first being this curved seat tube track bike. Made from a mix of True Temper and Columbus Life tubing, Bryce intends to put its stiffness and design to the boards at his local velodrome.

White Industries hubs laced to no-name carbon rims and Challenge Pista tires are powered by the AARN chainring and Dura Ace cranks, polished to a shine. With custom leather work by Carson Leh, the contact points on this bike are different than your average track bike.

A Leh top tube protector keeps the custom fillet brazed bar and stem from chipping the top tube’s beautiful pearlescent paint. This is probably one of the most elegant track bikes at the show and has won me over.