I have recently become obsessed with these chunky, industrial looking bikes made by Eric Baar of Colorado Springs.



"The tools i now make just happen to have two wheels."

These bikes are a mix between utilitarian and post appocalyptic. This one, recently mentioned elsewhere on the forum, is copper-plated steel.




Modeled after a se assassin bmx bike:



In action, pedaled by pro racer Joanne Kiesanowski:



All of his bikes have amazing paint jobs.



I want one really bad. I think that if I ever get a custom track frame, it will be from this guy.

It looks like a mountain bike to me?

[QUOTE=Ira in Chi][URL=https://www.groundupdesigns.com]I have recently become obsessed with these chunky, industrial looking bikes made by Eric Baar of Colorado Springs.[

In action, pedaled by pro racer Joanne Kiesanowski:



QUOTE]

i am obsessing about those nice thighs

Yeah, I'm probably going to get a custom from this guy.

Amazing frames.

That site has some awesome pictures.

It makes me want to try my hand on a trials bike.

If I ever get a custom built track bike, everything will be all offset and jagged. Like in your third pic where the top tube runs longer than the down tube, and I also like this picture (from groundup) where the downtube is offset from the bottom bracket:

I like this one.

for some reason industrial like bikes dont really do it for me. I respect the difficulty that goes into building them and the art and simplicity they represent. I even feel many of them are beautiful just not my style.

Wow....this is nice stuff !
Hes got some unique ideas about rear tiangles !

Eric makes some badass bikes. If I get a chance to have one built someday I would be so lucky


This is one of his own track bikes - copper plated madness

Here is yet another of his great rides. This was on FGG a while back.



More detail

I love the fact that none of his bikes are identical.

I like this one a lot. Very Lemond-inspired paint scheme, which is my favorite part of their bikes.

He's pretty genius

i'm not really into the chunky looking ones, but i love this one. the curved seat tube is hot.

Ewww--that seattube is awful. Reminds me of the Alpha. Most of the bikes are nice tho

Sliding dropouts are not uncommon on ss mtbs, but look how nice these ones look:

My favorite is the daisy paint job SS mtb. You can thank Spectrum for the above paint jobs!

both scott's light blue track bike and eric's copper plated one are sooo amazingly stiff, due to the square tubing used in the chainstays. they are incredible sprinting machines.

i also love how each bike he builds is so unique. i love his uncompromised creativity.

another thing i think is so cool about eric is that he loves and encourages people to help or just hang out during the build process of their frames. i appreciate the intimacy of that...

anyone have an idea how much he charges? we talking one grand? or two? or more?

Yup. I like the industrial-esque designs- about as far as you can get from the super-classic track bike look as possible.

I'd love to see one of those copper-plated bikes after a few years of use- i think the verdigris will look really excellent, but i wonder about the durability of the finish.

i'm not completely sure if he's changed his prices, but i believe a fillet brazed steel track frame and fork is around 1400. eric's forks are terrific. he'll do tig welded stuff too for much less. i believe his prices include the spectrum paintjob as well... as long as you're not doing anything too fancy.

can anyone comment on the durability of the copper plating?

oh god, and better yet, will it turn green as it ages?

thus far, i think the copper is holding up really well and i don't think it was too expensive. this guy in denver did it for him and has done several of his own frames too. it should eventually turn green. i think watching the copper develop patina and age and change is what excited eric about the idea the most.

surely he isn't the first one to have done it though...there has to be an example of this thats already 20+ years old.

i also highly doubt he's the first one to do it. aaron is the name of the guy who plated the frames... i know he did it at 'work', but i don't think he works specifically at a plating shop. i think he welds at a machine shop or a job shop. i think it's also more of a chemical reaction, than a plating process. i'll tell him and eric about this thread and see if we can get some direct answers, rather me trying to remember and speculate.