BMC Teammachine on test
Michelle Arthurs-brennan finds out if the latest fourth-generation Teammachine improves on the Swiss brand’s existing race bike
The Teammachine is the road race rouleur of BMC’S stable, it’s the bike all the GC players will be on and it’s designed to perform in the mountains. But in keeping with almost every launch of its kind this year, it’s had an aero update seeking to make it faster as well as lighter.
Our test model Teammachine SLR01 ONE sits at the very top of the tree, featuring the top tier frame which is lighter and stiffer than the SLR options (once called the SLR02 family), which start from £2,700.
For 2021, BMC has sought to improve the aerodynamics of the bike, decrease the weight and increase the stiffness. Aerodynamically, it’s a reported six per cent faster. The six per cent is an average of how much faster a group of pro riders were when lapping the velodrome at 45kph – some were only two per cent faster, others nine – but they all went faster.
Updates include an increase in the surface area of the down tube, which has a redesigned profile, aero-ised fork legs
(with notes taken from the Timemachine) and stealth thru-axles. Reportedly, pro team mechanics also wanted the wheels to be easier to remove and refit. Having punctured on a ride,
I can attest that the system worked well.
The SLR 01 ONE model also sports the ICS handlebar and stem duo. It’s an integrated system, which spells more aero savings, but it can also spell trouble for home mechanics. However, in true Swiss style, the cable routing is very well designed – it’s a bit like fitting a jigsaw together, as long as you know where the right bits go and you have the patience to put them there, you’re OK – just don’t expect it to be a quick job.
It’s quite easy to twist the bars for travel, with the stem bolts easy to access underneath a flippable cover, although I’m not sure how healthy cables would be after twisting the bars over long durations.
The bars come in widths of 40cm and 42cm – that sounds wide to me – but mine measured 38cm from centre to centre, and felt in-keeping with my preferences. As ever, with an integrated set up, it’s worth checking if your dealer will swap the bar width free of charge should you need it.
More aero nods come from the Aerocore bottle cages – these look a bit funky but worked well, and they make sense – why make the down tube aero then stick a less unoptimised bottle cage on it?
This Teammachine SLR 01 is a reported nine per cent lighter than the model it replaces. Weight has been shaved off, primarily at the fork legs, handlebar/stem duo and D-shaped seatpost. The claimed weight of a 54 is 6.5kg, though I have the 47 on test and got 6.61kg (it’s possible BMC weighed the bikes without cages, bar tape, etc). Focusing on the frame, a 54 is a claimed 820g with a 345g fork and 185g seatpost.
“It’s a bit like fitting a jigsaw together, as long as you know where the right bits go, you’re OK”