BMC Roadmachine
As chosen by deputy editor James Spender
Ihave ridden 250km sportives on aero bikes, and 160km gran fondos on custom tube-to-tube bikes, and commute thousands of kilometres a year on a piece of aluminium from the early 2000s, and ultimately I have found them all palatable. But they are not endurance bikes, says the industry. And I guess the industry is right, since the aero bike needed wider tyres, the custom bike warranted kid gloves and my commuter? Well that just requires wings, prayers and the odd new bottom bracket.
Endurance bikes exist because they come predisposed to long miles and crap surfaces. You don’t have to hold their hand as you walk into a shop to buy their first 11-32t cassette. So after much deliberating I plumped for the BMC Roadmachine.
For me, BMC has always held serious appeal. Despite the fact that the initials stand for Bicycle Manufacturing Company – could you get more uninspiring or more Swiss? – BMC the company stands for sharp geometry, light weight and ass-kicking stiffness. An endurance bike made by BMC? You’d have better luck upholstering a pub bench.
But bless BMC, it tried. The Granfondo GF01 (clue’s in the name) set out the original stall back in 2012, and with some success. It looked like a BMC, it got raced at the right races – namely that year’s Roubaix when the cameras were looking – and it was one of the early pioneers of the dropped seatstays now ubiquitous from aero to gravel. The GF01 was good but it failed to find much traction alongside the lauded Teammachine, and when the disc update came in 2015 it fared no better. That bike was heavy, its geometry stately and the stiffness manifested less in buzz kill than buzz kill. But just like how your first pet slowly grew older then conked out while you were busy playing with the new kitten, the GF01 slipped quietly away when the bombastic Roadmachine entered.
The original top-spec Roadmachines were only available in primary-colour yellow or green, cost the earth – nearly nine grand in 2016 anyone? – and punched like Tysons. Goodness they were stiff. I remember nabbing Stu’s test bike one weekend and ended up grateful to be on a Wilier Cento10 Air that month instead – an aero bike that was actually more comfortable.
But the Roadmachine was also great fun and did have all the endurance bike traits: a go-anywhere feel and the more upright position that debuted on the GF01. There was still something missing compared to other hitters in the category, but it charmed me.
Coming of age
It’s now July 2019. Grumpy Cat has died, Brexit is in full swing and Boris is on track with his plans to destroy Britain. And BMC has released its updated Roadmachine, and the endurance gods are pleased with all they have made. The top-spec 01 models are lighter but just as stiff in the right departments, boast 33mm tyre clearances, fully integrated cockpit, hidden cables and finally a decent amount of flex thanks to a retuned rear end and D-shaped seatpost. There’s even a set of mounting points on the top tube for a bag.
Swing a leg over and smash it across a rutted surface and this bike feels robust and stable, but alive like a road bike should. Yes, that longer wheelbase and low BB tells out, but the geometry is surprisingly similar to the Teammachine. It’s a touch longer, a touch taller and has a slightly lower centre of gravity, but the Teammachine’s assured descending is present, if not quite the same level of responsiveness through quick turns.
The flipside is that the Roadmachine tanks along in the way the Teammachine can’t, the refined layup and the redesigned fork with its spindly legs smoothing the road while offering responsiveness and feedback. There’s lots of grip too. In these things the Roadmachine fulfils the brief, and offers a bike that is both different to, and more capable in certain areas than its siblings.
But then – and this is the thing I love about all BMCS – everything just feels premium and well put together. It feels lean yet strong, like it wants to go for miles. It feels like you could never break it. But crucially, it finally feels pretty comfortable.
Smash it across a rutted surface and this bike feels robust and stable, but alive like a road bike should