Eurobike 2010: BMC revamps road range for 2011
Impec, Teammachine SLR01 steal the spotlight
BMC's newest Impec and Teammachine SLR01 have been garnering all the attention on the road side of things lately and perhaps for good reason: the Impec boasts unique two-piece 'shell nodes' that bond the robotically woven carbon tubes together for more consistent performance characteristics and the SLR01 is an easily the company's more refined machine yet with an enviably stiff-yet-comfortable ride.
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Even so, the mid-range is perhaps the most exciting place to be at BMC right now with the introduction of the carbon Racemachine RM01, a close cousin to the SLR01. Apparently some riders like the drivetrain and torsional stiffness of the SLR01 but not the plush ride so BMC carried over most of the tube shaping – including the tapered front end, BB30 bottom bracket, and compact rear triangle – but omitted the flattened Tuned Compliance Concept seat stays to give it a firmer and more communicative feel on the road.
TCC flex zones are still included in the carbon fork and seatpost, though, so we still don't expect the Roadmachine to be at all harsh – perhaps we'll be able to swing a test ride on one at the Interbike Outdoor Demo in a few weeks.
Other changes include a conventional seatpost clamp instead of the SLR01's slicker wedge-type locking mechanism and a less advanced carbon fiber blend, which also adds a bit of weight. Pricing is quite appealing, though, with the Racemachine undercutting the Teammachine by roughly 30 percent.
Further down the lineup, the Roadracer now gets a full carbon chassis instead of the aluminum-and-carbon mix that was used in last year's version, along with a tapered front end, the matching full-carbon fork, and the same cleverly designed teardrop-profile Streampost seatpost as before with its slick AngleLock clamp mechanism.
BMC has also made significant changes to its mountain bike line – in particular the 120mm-travel Speedfox trail bike and 150mm-travel Trailfox all-mountain rig.
The 2011 Speedfox sports a slimmed-down 120mm-travel chassis built with hydroformed aluminum tubing.
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The Speedfox now uses a hydroformed and triple-butted aluminum frame that's more streamlined than before with similarly pared-down upper and lower links that decrease weight and add tire clearance. BMC carries over last year's welded monocoque threaded bottom bracket shell and main pivot mount design to shed additional grams down below and the seat stays are now straight instead of curved for a more direct path from dropout to linkage pivot.
While the Speedfox slims down, the Trailfox beefs up with an extra 10mm of travel and newly tapered head tube for more precise handling in rough conditions. Likewise, the rear triangle is now fitted with the increasingly popular 142x12mm thru-axle standard to improve wheel tracking.