BMC Roadmachine X One

£5,700 Everything you need to know about the endurance bike that ventures beyond the road

While it’s not designed for full-on gravel riding, the brand new BMC Roadmachine X One is definitely equipped to deal with time away from perfectly finished tarmac. Here are five key reasons why this bike matters in 2022...

Need for speed

Swiss brand BMC (short for Bicycle Manufacturing Company) has been on a mission to produce super-fast bikes since its launch in 1994. The Roadmachine X One follows on from the brand's 2015 award-winning GF01, which was designed to deal with the rigours of racing the classics and cobbles of Europe’s toughest one-day events (the GF stands for Gran Fondo).

In the frame

The Roadmachine X is still built for big days out thanks to its slightly more relaxed geometry, but the endurance-focused TCC (tuned compliance concept) carbon construction now focuses in on the seatstays, forks and seatpost. The aim is to create stiffness where it’s needed for responsiveness yet still to allow vertical compliance to cushion the rider from the rougher stuff.

Clean machine

The compliant yet aero D-shaped seatpost you see on all BMC drop-bar bikes is also in place here, as is the slick integrated bar and stem that’s inspired by BMC’s pro-tour-proven Teammachine bikes. The bar comes with an ergonomically optimised drop and the matching ICS1 stem has a clean clamp system and internal routing for gear wires.

Fast yet forgiving

The geometry is fast endurance-bike with a 72° head angle (a little more relaxed than a race bike) and racy, steep 74.2° seatpost (like a race bike). The rider position gives you a sporty, aero ride position, but with added comfort and more stable steering.

All-rounder

You'll get generous tyre clearances and SRAM’s new gravel/adventurefocused XPLR gearing (the Force AXS XPLR). The bike also comes with an un-road-bike simple 1x drivetrain set-up, using a 44-tooth chainring and a 10-44 tooth cassette which, over the 12 gears, gives you plenty of range and keeps the chain stable. Look out for a review next issue...

“The frame design’s aim is to create stiffness where it’s needed for responsiveness yet still to allow vertical compliance to cushion the rider from the rougher stuff”

32mm Tyre width A big surface area plus grippy edges help deal with uneven terrain Weight 8.13kg (58cm) Frameset TCC Endurance Carbon Gears SRAM Force eTap AXS XPLR (44/10-44) Brakes SRAM Force hydraulic disc Wheels BMC CRD-321 carbon tubeless ready Tyres WTB Expanse 32mm tyres

8.13kg Overall weight ● The carbon frame and fork are built for comfort as well as speed 35mm Rim depth ● You’ll experience a bit of aero gain with these practical, middepth rims