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TECH NEWS

BMC TeamMachine SLR01 goes on a diet

UPDATED WITH PRICES: BMC’s flagship racer now weighs just 790g. Frame will cost £2,750

BMC have put their flagship TeamMachine SLR01 on a diet ahead of the Tour de France, where Cadel Evans will eyeing up a podium spot, and shaved the weight down to 790g for a size 56cm. That's a reduction from about 950g of the previous frame. Despite the weight it has lost, BMC reckon they've improved the stiffness by a whopping 25%. It's not as if the previous frame was that flexy. Prices will start from £2,750 for the frame and £4,000 for a Shimano Ultegra model

Frameset weight, including the fork, headset, seatpost, derailleur hanger, cable guides and seat clamp is 1,380g. That makes a build that easily dips under the UCI’s 6.8kg weight limit entirely possible with a Dura-Ace build. The days of needing exotic one-off machined parts to get such a light bike are firmly behind us; it’s now entirely possible with off-the-shelf components.

It's also getting harder for designers to trim weight off already very light frames, so BMC developed their own Accelerated Composites Evolution (ACE) Technology, computer modelling software that allowed them to very rapidly prototype the design of the frame.

The software is concerned with optimising the shape of every tube and junction and the layup of the carbon fibre. It allows the designers to model prototypes through the development phase and speed up the process, and should ensure they uncover every stone in the design process. BMC reckon they went through 34,000 possible designs before settling on this final one. 

The new SLR01 retains the same proven geometry as the previous frame, and visually it has a very close resemblance. They’ve retained the Tuned Compliance Concept (TCC), found in the stays and seatpost, to deliver a reasonable level of comfort, as they recognise the importance of racers arriving as fresh as possible to the finish line. With this ACE software they’ve been able to hone TCC and make it, they claim, even more comfortable.

A noticeable change is the internal cable routing. BMC have designed the frame to work with mechanical and electronic groupsets, with small panels to conceal the cable or wire entry points. The top tube is wider than before, and the down tube is more oversized.

There’s a BB86 Shimano Press-Fit bottom bracket at the bottom of the down tube and the head tube is tapered, 1-1/8in to 1-1/4in, with a 340g fork slotting into it. Their own seatpost, a full carbon design, weighs 180g and is available in 15 or 30mm setback options. There are six sizes on offer from 48 to 61cm.

At launch they’ll be offering a Shimano Dura-Ace Di2, Dura-Ace, SRAM Red 22 and Ultegra builds. We’re awaiting confirmation of the UK prices.

UK prices have been announced, expected availability is July at the earliest for the Dura-Ace models, and later in the year for the Di2 bikes.

SLR01 Shimano Dura Ace Di2 £8,500

SLR01 Shimano Dura Ace £6,000

SLR01 Sram Red £5,000

SLR01 Shimano Ultegra £4,000

SLR01 Frameset £2,750

More info at www.bmc-racing.com

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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11 comments

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sneakerfrfeak | 11 years ago
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£1,700 more than the better specced Canyon you tested earlier this week, i'm struggling to imagine why anyone would choose the BMC over the Canyon.

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mancsi | 11 years ago
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Bloody vague racists  39

Where was my Bianchi made? Surely not Italy.

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ridein | 11 years ago
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How does wanting a smaller sticker denigrate Taiwan, its people or bicycles?

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koko56 replied to ridein | 11 years ago
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ridein wrote:

How does wanting a smaller sticker denigrate Taiwan, its people or bicycles?

This is the internet!  4
_____________________________________

On price update - waaaaaaaaaaaaaaa????  13

That is a lot of moneys! Would not mind one though!

The insurance would be around £300 which is pretty much what it costs for entire cars! Crazy stuff  21

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Nick T | 11 years ago
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Still none the wiser about the point you were trying to make about the MIT sticker though.

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boardmanrider | 11 years ago
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A UK supplier would be even nicer, Evans doesn't have any available of their bikes for sale online.

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Dropped | 11 years ago
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Taiwan is technically far in advance of the UK and has a higher standard of living so ridein needs to keep his vaguely racist comments to himself.

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ridein replied to Dropped | 11 years ago
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So mentioning a sticker really means a lot in the forum world. That sure escalated quickly.

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Nick T | 11 years ago
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Yeah, there was me thinking the Taiwanese were the world leaders in bicycle frame manufacturing, didn't realise that it was a problem.

Shimano make their stuff in Malaysia, should we talk about that too?

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Tony Farrelly | 11 years ago
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What's wrong with Made in Taiwan?

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ridein | 11 years ago
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Still needs a Kristin Armstrong Chain Catcher and to minimize the "MADE IN TAIWAN" sticker. Wouldn't like having a proprietary seatpost either.

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