BMC RoadMachine SLR 02 105

£2499

Switzerland’s BMC (Bicycle Manufacturing Company) has looked at today’s ever-growing genres of bike and created its ‘One-Bike Collection’ RoadMachine. The RoadMachine is a mélange of BMC’s award-winning Granfondo endurance bike and TeamMachine racer. Everything has been designed to hit the middle ground between those two platforms, with the added ability to raise the front end by 16mm using a neat headset top cone cover. This two-geometries-inone ability expands its go-anywhere credentials.

The RoadMachine has all the up-to-date features and usual quirky design touches you’d expect from BMC. These include 12mm thru-axles, a compliant D-shaped seatpost, a classy Fizik saddle, skinny-sculpted fork legs that resist twisting and BMC’s familiar – and now widely adopted – dropped seatstays, though BMC’s are still more radical than most, and have a double-kink to induce a little flex and reduce road noise. In spite of the average weight figures, the RoadMachine is a capable bike. It’s eager and capable on hills, with the compliance through both ends making it a highly confident descender, the hydraulic brakes offering great control. While £2500 looks a little expensive for a Shimano 105-equipped bike, the ride quality is superb, the handling is stunning and you can use it for pretty much anything from racing to gravel.