There are bikes that exist on the walls and in the minds of dreamers of all ages. These are the very best of what’s available today. We’ve got them on our list of the best road bikes and you see them in the WorldTour but what’s it like to ride one and how do they compare? I’ve been lucky enough to ride a few of them and, as the summer comes to a close, I’ve now added the BMC Teammachine R to the list.
Tech Specs: BMC Teammachine R 01 LTD
Price: €14999 / $14999
Frame: Teammachine R 01 Premium Carbon with Aerocore Design
Size: 54
Weight: Frame – 910 g, Fork – 395 g, Seatpost – 155 g, ICS Carbon Aero Cockpit – 315g
Groupset: SRAM RED AXS with power meter
Wheels: DT Swiss ARC 1100 62mm
Brakes: SRAM RED eTap AXS
Bar/stem: ICS Carbon Aero Cockpit (internal routing/integrated bar and stem)
Saddle: Fizik Argo Vento R1 (140mm)
The BMC offering is a bit different though. Unlike Cannondale with Lab71 or Specialized with S-Works, the Teammachine R isn’t just a top-spec build. The Teammachine R is a unique model in the BMC lineup with a range of builds at different price points. From afar it might look similar to the previous range topping Teammachine SLR but the two bikes will continue to exist in parallel. The SLR is now considered the altitude bike with a slight weight advantage while the Teammachine R gets the “ultimate race bike” tagline.
BMC also stands apart because the brand didn’t develop the bike alone. While you might think of BMC as a major brand, the resources BMC designers have at their disposal still pale in comparison to the budget of an F1 team. As a way to get access to those resources, and a different point of view, BMC partnered with the Red Bull Advanced Engineering Team. That means whatever you might think about the BMC Teammachine R, it’s unique.
Despite its reputation for being an engineering-forward company, there’s still a bit of an art to designing a bike worth riding. Did BMC hit the mark? How does the Teammachine R compare to other top shelf bikes? Those are the questions I put to the test while riding in Austin, Texas, on an F1 weekend and here’s what I found.
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Design and aesthetics
As I said up above, you might think of bike brands as being major companies but in…
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