FAST BIKE FRIDAY – BMC TEAMMACHINE SLR01 ONE LTD

This week our Fast Bike Friday feature is taking a closer look at the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD – BMC’s stunning all-round road bike which is a lightweight & spritely climber that also happens to be brilliantly aerodynamic with a beautifully shaped frame-profile featuring a fully integrated cockpit that includes an aero bar & stem combo and internal cable routing. Sitting very near the top of the Teammachine SLR range the SLR01 One LTD is packed full of cutting-edge technology; while the aerodynamic fully-integrated frame and fork stands out for all its innovation and aesthetic qualities there’s also SRAM’s brilliant 12-Speed wireless Red eTap AXS groupset and some fantastically lightweight, aero carbon wheels from Zipp.

This newest iteration of the BMC Teammachine SLR is born out of over ten years of evolution and racing experience at the highest levels of professional road racing. As you’d expect, the constant performance demands of pro-cycling have pushed the BMC designers and engineers to continuously innovate and refine their highest-performing road bikes to gain every competitive edge possible; the Teammachine SLR represents that rich racing and testing heritage. The Teammachine SLR, has won every major title that a bike can win including Monuments, World Championships, Olympic Games and the Tour de France with Australian pro cyclist Cadel Evans; most recently another plucky Australian Ben O’Connor of the AG2R Citroen team took an impressive solo victory at the mountain-top finish in Tignes in the 2021 Tour De France onboard his Teammachine SLR01.

Ben O’Connor took an impressive solo mountain-top win onboard his BMC Teammachine at the 2021 Tour De France…

Let’s take a minute to give the Teammachine a little context within the larger BMC road bike range; BMC describe the Teammachine as the ultimate lightweight race bike, a road bike that does everything very well and excels on the climbs. The BMC Timemachine Road is their out-and-out aero road bike which is ideal for fast flat road races where aerodynamic gains can make all the difference; the Roadmachine is their ‘One Bike Collection’ a true all-rounder built for all-day adventures with a frame that’s been developed to provide more compliance putting the rider in a comfortable, neutral position. So if you’re looking for a modern disc-brake-equipped high-performance road bike that is super-lightweight and flies up the hills but is aerodynamically efficient too and puts you in a nice racey position then the BMC Teammachine is the perfect option for you, helping you to dance up the climbs and efficiently cut through the air during daring breakaways. Want to find out more about the Timemachine Road and the Roadmachine? You can see a full breakdown of the BMC road range in our recent Brand spotlight here.

There’s a really uniform look to all of BMC’s carbon road bikes in their range, and it’s quite a unique look too; that clean, uncluttered, angular silhouette is striking and catches the eye straight away. We’ve got a number of BMC road bikes on our shop floors at the moment, including the Teammachine and they garner a lot of attention simply because of their good looks. We’re big fans here; there’s a similar aesthetic feel to the design-continuity of Apple products; take away that large logo on the downtube and we’d still be able to tell it’s a Swiss-made BMC.

It’s not just about good looks though, the BMC Teammachine is a brilliant example of the ‘form follows function’ principle which states that an object’s shape should primarily relate to its intended function or purpose. All of those great looking angular and truncated aerofoil frame tubing profiles help to make the Teammachine more aerodynamically efficient, as do those dropped seatstays and that fully-integrated cockpit. With some clever engineering and sensitive carbon layup the BMC designers have not only created an aero-efficient frame and fork, they’ve produced a super-light stiff chassis that excels when the roads point upwards.

BMC’s angular silhouettes reflect a design-continuity similar to that of Apple products; take away that large logo on the downtube and we’d still be able to tell that it’s a Swiss-made BMC…

A clean, uncluttered front end with no exposed cables for ultimate aero-efficiency…

That cockpit is something to behold – a smooth integration of handle bar, stem, frame and fork with no exposed cables…

Viewed from the front it’s clear there’s very little potential for unwanted drag…

Dropped seatstays are aerodynamic AND add compliance for enhanced comfort…

It’s all about the details – BMC’s Aerocore design principal sees integration of key components, in this case their own bottle cages…

As I’ve already briefly mentioned, the Teammachine SLR01 ONE LTD features SRAM’s brilliant 12 speed wireless Red eTap AXS groupset. Red sits at the top of the Sram groupset tree and is fantastically simple to use with intuitive gear-shifting that can even be customised to suit exactly how you want to use it. With tiny motors on both the front and rear derailleurs which are powered by simple clip-on rechargeable batteries this intuitive wireless gear shifting is activated by ergonomic gear shifters that are powered by small button batteries. Shifting gears up and down the cassette is done by pressing either the left or right shifter; right to move up the block, left to move down the block (or vice-versa if you prefer, remember you can customise them via their App). The front derailleur is activated by pressing both the front and left gear levers together at the same time, shifting from the small ring to the big ring with one activation and then back from the big ring to the small ring the next time you press both gear levers together at the same time. This becomes pretty intuitive pretty quickly!

SRAM’S brilliant Red eTap AXS wireless groupset is fantastically simple to use…

The SRAM Red 12xSpeed rear derailleur provides enhanced chain security thanks to its Orbit fluid clutch…

The front derailleur is activated by pressing both the front and left gear levers together at the same time…

The Red 12-speed wireless groupset features SRAM’s unique approach to gear ratios, created in an effort to decrease the size and weight of the drivetrain while making the jump between each gear ratio smaller for an overall more user-friendly riding experience. For the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD BMC have spec’d a 48T/35T chainset combined with a 10-28T cassette to ensure that you’ll always be able to select the appropriate gear for every riding scenario.

SRAM’s unique gear ratios work well in practice…

The Teammachine SLR01 One LTD comes spec’d with a pair of super-fast, lightweight Zipp 202 Firecrest Tubeless disc-brake carbon wheels. The development of modern road bikes and the universal move to disc brakes has seen a change in attitude towards how we all run our road bike tyres. Wider rim profiles and increased spacing between wheel and frame have opened up the possibility of running wider road tyres at lower pressures; it’s now not uncommon to see pro riders running 28mm wide tyres (while the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD comes spec’d with 25mm tyres it has clearance for 28mm tyres). These tubeless-ready Zipp 202 Firecrest wheels feature a 32mm rim depth for a classic feel and real aero benefits while a 21mm internal width is optimised for use with 28mm wide tyres. When set up tubeless, you’ll be able to run lower tyre pressures for improved grip and enhanced comfort; these Zipp 202s include ZR1 DB hubs which provide great levels of durability.

Tubeless-ready Zipp 202 Firecrest wheels feature a 32mm rim depth for a classic feel and real aero benefits…

ZR1 DB hubs provide great levels of durability…

The BMC Teammachine SLR01 One LTD road bike is a fantastic example of a modern high-performance road bike that has been designed to be one clean, uncluttered fully-integrated unit which is as brilliantly functional as it is good looking. With a stiff, responsive, lightweight frame which also features just the right amount of compliance engineered into it the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD is aero-efficient thanks to that truncated-aerofoil-profiled frame tubing, slippery integrated cockpit and internal brake cables. A couple of years ago I’d have made more of the disc brakes in this feature but, things move on so quickly that this sort of braking technology is now the established norm, we just expect disc-brake-equipped road bikes to be as lightweight and responsive as caliper braked bikes were previously. That SRAM Red eTap AXS wireless groupset is so good to use with its simple, intuitive operation and the Zipp 202 Firecrest carbon tubeless-ready wheels enhance how the bike handles, particularly with the option to run wider 28mm tyres. It’s fair to say that with the Teammachine SLR01 One LTD BMC have hit that sweetspot between stunning looks and flawless functional efficiency.

The Teammachine SLR01 One LTD is as brilliantly functional as it is good looking…

Full Specification:

• Frame: Teammachine SLR 01 Premium Carbon with Aerocore Design
• Fork: Teammachine SLR 01 Premium Carbon with Aerocore Design
• Shifters: SRAM RED eTap AXS HRD
• Rear Derailleur: SRAM RED eTap AXS, 12xSpeed
• Cassette : SRAM RED XG-1290, 10-28T, 12xSpeed
• Chainset: SRAM RED AXS 48/35T
• Brakes: SRAM RED eTap AXS HRD, Centerline XR Rotors (160/160 rotors)
• Wheelset: Zipp 202 Firecrest Carbon Tubeless Disc-Brake
• Front Tyre: Vittoria Corsa, 25 mm
• Rear Tyre: Vittoria Corsa, 25 mm
• Stem: ICS Carbon, One-Piece Full Carbon Cockpit
• Handlebar: ICS Carbon, One-Piece Full Carbon Cockpit
• Seat Post: Teammachine SLR 01 Premium Carbon D-Shape Seatpost
• Saddle: Selle Italia Flite Boost Carbon

 

Written by Johnny Dodgin

Photos by James Vincent

 

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