Rohan Dennis’ BMC Team Machine SLR01 - Gallery

This article originally appeared on BikeRadar

BMC Racing's Rohan Dennis, the reigning champion of the Tour Down Under, is clearly hungry to win the 2016 edition of his hometown race.

As a multiple team pursuit world champion on the track, Dennis conquered the world hour record last year with an impressive 52.491km (since beaten by Bradley Wiggins). If that weren’t enough, the 25-year-old went on to win the opening Tour de France time trial with a record-breaking individual TT average speed of 55.45km/ph.

We had a look at Dennis’ bike last year, and at first glance thought his 2016 team bike was unchanged bar a few graphic refinements. In many ways we were right: it’s BMC’s well-rounded TeamMachine SLR01 carbon frame at the heart, and the component sponsors of Shimano, SRM, Continental, 3T and Elite all carry over too.

However, pulling out the tape measure reveals that Dennis has gone up a bike size for 2016, refining his position to best tackle the 2016 WorldTour season.

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Going from a 56 to a 58cm TeamMachine, Dennis has slightly refined his position. He’s now more forward relative to the bottom bracket and has switched from his 130mm / 6 degree stem to one with -17 degree dump to overcome the taller head tube.

Looking over last year’s bike, it was clear his saddle was slid back on the extremes of its rails. Now, the lighter carbon saddle is right in the middle.

Being more forward of the bottom bracket, his saddle height has gone up too.

Sliding the saddle forward and post up is possible on the smaller 56cm frame of last year, but such a change would also affect his torso position and weight distribution on the bike.

Reducing his frontal profile from the wind, Dennis appears to have moved to a slightly narrower 3T ErgoSum handlebar too.

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Depending on what the stage holds, Dennis is likely to choose between Shimano’s C35 and C50 carbon tubular wheels. When we photographed the bike, it had the shallower 35mm-deep wheels.

Shifting wise, it’s the same generation of 11-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 as seen last year, matched with a SRM Shimano power meter crankset. Dennis rides standard sized 53/39T chainrings up front, and a wider-range 11-28t cassette out back.

Complete bike specifications

Frame: BMC TeamMachine SLR01 – size 58cm
Fork: BMC TeamMachine SLR01, 1–1/8 to 1–1/2in tapered
Headset: Sealed (unbranded)
Stem: 3T ARX II Team, 130mm, -17 degree (team issue)
Handlebar: 3T ErgoSum Team, 42cm (c-c) (team issue)
Tape: 3T Team
Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-9070
Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-9070
Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-9000, 11-28T
Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-9000
Crankset: SRM Shimano 11-speed, 172.5mm, 53/39T
Bottom bracket: C-Bear Ceramic
Pedals: Shimano 9000 Dura-Ace
Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace C35 tubular
Front tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
Rear tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
Saddle: Fizik Arione R3
Seatpost: BMC TeamMachine carbon, 15mm offset
Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race (2)
Computer: SRM Power Control 8 (PC7 pictured)

Critical measurements

Rider's height: 1.82m (6ft)
Rider's weight: 71kg (157lb)
Saddle height from BB, c-t: 785mm
Saddle setback: 77mm
Seat tube length (c-t): 575mm
Tip of saddle to middle of bar: 589mm
Saddle-to-bar drop: 101mm
Head tube length: 183mm
Top tube length (effective): 575mm
Total bicycle weight: 7.06kg (15.56lb) (with SRM Power Control 7 head unit)

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