In the few years of its existence since 1994, the Swiss bike manufacturer BMC has already experienced extreme highs and lows. The steep rise began in 2001, when the brand, which at the time was threatened with bankruptcy and only operated in Switzerland, was taken over by Andy Rihs, the owner of hearing aid manufacturer Phonak. The multimillionaire reorganised the company and brought BMC worldwide attention by having the professionals of the Phonak team he financed ride BMC bikes. Spectacular successes by riders such as Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis made the brand famous within a very short space of time. This was followed by a deep fall when the Phonak team closed down at the end of 2006 after numerous doping cases, including that of Floyd Landis, which subsequently cost him his Tour de France victory. In 2007, as bike supplier to the Astana team around Alexandre Vinokourov, things did not go any better for BMC. The Kazakh was exposed as a doper at the Tour and the co-operation between the Swiss and Astana ended after one season.
After that, things quietened down around BMC, but owner Rihs still hadn't had enough of professional cycling. Since 2008, he has sponsored a Continental team, which for the sake of simplicity is called the same as the bikes the pros ride: BMC Racing Team. However, the high profile that BMC has achieved in just a few years is not only due to Rihs' sponsorship activities. No less important is the unmistakable look of the bikes, to which the Swiss attach great importance. Unique solutions such as the "Crosslock Skeleton", a special connection between the top tube, seat tube and seat stays, as well as unusual tube profiles and internal brake and gear cables characterise the brand image and make BMC bikes into character actors of the racing bike genre.
Our test bike "Racemaster SLX 01" is a good example of this. As with the frame of their successful "Team Machine" model, the Swiss company relies on a combination of aluminium and carbon. The down tube, head tube and chain stays of the frame are made of hydroformed aluminium tubes. The top tube and head tube as well as the low-set monostay seat stays are made of carbon fibre.
The "Crosslock Skeleton", which the BMC designers have reinterpreted for the "Racemaster SLX 01", can be found at the junction of the top tube and seat tube. The top tube forks just before the seat tube, creating a broadly supported adhesive surface between the tubes to improve the stability of the connection. Another eye-catching feature is the drop-shaped seat tube, which houses a special carbon seatpost.
Special highlightThe seatpost is fixed in place with a segment clamp via an internal clamping device just below the saddle. A quarter turn with the hexagon socket is followed by a clear snapping sound - and the 200 gram support is already firmly in place. Precise manufacturing is required to ensure that the connection between the frame and the seat post holds. The "Racemaster SLX 01" fulfils the expectations of a Swiss product - which, like all BMC frames, is built in Taiwan.
Incidentally, the bike is only available in Switzerland in the configuration shown with the new Dura-Ace groupset from Shimano. For the German market, importer GROFA only supplies the frame set for 1,999 euros.
Mounting for the driving testThe first impression is determined by the sporty, race-like riding position. Although the frame set is quite heavy at 2,200 grams, the 7.5-kilo racer accelerates light-footedly - a result of the lightweight DT-Swiss wheels, which with 28 filigree spokes each, tensioned with aluminium nipples, are only likely to give lasting pleasure to light riders. The steering is emphatically directional, and thanks to the sufficiently stiff frame and laterally stiff fork, no unsteadiness was noticeable at high speeds or on descents. The seat post, although its teardrop shape actually speaks against it, noticeably absorbs bumps, unlike the fork.
ConclusionThe appeal of the "Racemaster SLX 01" lies in its unique look - the bike is definitely a face in the crowd. Although there are no clear technical advantages to the mix of aluminium and carbon, this does not detract from the riding pleasure. Thanks to the high-quality, lightweight equipment, the bike conveys a great road bike feeling despite the heavy frame.
Web: www.bmc-racing.com
Test bike frame size greased; **projected measurement from centre of bottom bracket to upper edge of head tube/seat tube height at 75 cm seat height (centre of saddle frame-upper edge of headset cover); ***adjusted weight for frame size 57 and fork steerer length 225 mm; ****The grade includes further individual grades that we cannot print for reasons of space. In the case of complete bikes, 60 per cent of the final grade is given to the componentry.
