Crazy tube shapes, crazier stickerbomb design, and an old-meets-new Campagnolo groupset mix
(Image credit: Josh Croxton)
At the opener of the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, our esteemed tech writer Will Jones had a particularly busy morning, spotting two brand new race bikes in the paddocks, courtesy of Lotto Soudal's new Ridley bikes and AG2R Citröen's wild-looking 'Red Bull' BMC aero bike.
Fast forward to today, and with the Tour de France officially upon us, we've been doing our annual tech pilgrimage touring the teams' hotels at the Grand Départ in Bilbao. We've already brought you a closer look at the Ridley prototype, and now it's the turn of the BMC.
We stopped by the AG2R Citroen hotel – an aptly named 'palace' (it really was lovely) – and spent some time getting up close and personal with the bike, checking out the details, and trying to see beyond the god-awful stickerbomb design that someone had given it, presumably to make it stand out more on TV.
The bike we got was that of the team's GC favourite Ben O'Connor, but we also noticed a second, marked up for French star Benoit Cosnefroy.
Given the aggressive tube profiles on show, and the fact that O'Connor chose not to ride it on the hilly first stage of this year's Tour, it's evident that the bike in question is a dedicated aero bike, rather than a semi-aero race bike or anything focused entirely on the climbs. With that in mind, we're assuming this is a replacement for BMC's Timemachine Road, the current aero bike.
Given its apparent aero leaning, we'll likely see more of it on the flat stages to come, and beneath sprinters or bigger rouleurs such as Oliver Naesen.
First-up, the full bike shot. Deep aero tubes are already quite apparent, but the eye is immediately drawn to the graffiti that BMC has plastered it with. I like BMC, but won't pretend I like this design. Regardless, I can't for a second imagine they'll sell it like this when the bike does eventually hit the market. Exactly when that is, is anyone's guess at this point. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The design was almost certainly chosen in order to capture the attention of onlookers... a classic case of peacocking. It's certainly working, so I suppose it's hats off to the BMC marketers. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Looking beyond the graphics though, and the first point of interest is this head tube. It's deeper than most currently-available road bikes, and is borderline time trial-esque. We've not measured it, but we wouldn't be surprised if BMC has taken advantage of the newly relaxed UCI rules on tube profiles. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bottom bracket shape is also pretty unusual. The almost continuous flow from downtube to chainstays creates an enormous bottom bracket junction, which will undoubtedly be stiff (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The top tube, as it transitions away from the deep-section aero head tube rearward to the seat tube creates a narrowed pinch point in the centre. It's a far cry from the round tubes traditionalists will prefer, and will certainly divide opinion. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
In a similar sense, the downtube's broad base and narrow upper creates a near complete teardrop profile. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
This frame was designed in conjunction with Red Bull Advanced Technologies; the technological arm of the Red Bull Oracle Formula 1 team (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
When we first spotted the bike at the Dauphine last month, this 'create speed' wording adorned the down tube in bold lettering. Now it sits here, marginally more subtly, on the seatstays. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The way the chainstay joins the seatstay is also a point of interest, with the chainstay noticeably beefier, with the point where it narrows being immediate and right at the junction, rather than tapering inward slowly toward the top. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
A closer look at that junction, and above, a small port which suggests this frame is fit for electronic groupsets only. The lack of a visible thru-axle tells us that this bike also features the same 'hidden' thru-axles as first seen on the Teammachine SLR (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Of course, BMC's aero bottle cages feature too. These were designed in conjunction with the current Timemachine Road, and now feature on the Teammachine SLR too. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
For photos, it was fitted with Campagnolo's Bora WTO 45 wheels. We'd expect to see the bike fitted with something deeper when the Tour de France hits the flatter stages, but the WTO 45 are likely chosen as a halfway-happy between the less aerodynamic (but ultralight) Hyperon wheels and the deeper (heavier) Bora Ultra models for the pre-race recons and the fast but hilly stage 1. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The bike was also fitted with this raw-carbon integrated cockpit. The 'BMC' lettering shown on the left side of the base of the stem - which hides the clamping bolts - tell us this is a proprietary BMC cockpit, as found on the Teammachine SLR, albeit with a slightly redesigned shape throughout. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Notice the lack of visible bolts on the driveside. BMC is super keen to make its bikes look clean from the 'photo' side of the bike. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Here's a look at the non-driveside fork leg, showing the flat mount brake caliper and more 'create speed' branding. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Ben O'Connor's pedals have a really succinct name: they're called the Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic Titanium. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The Aussie GC contender will run 54/39 chainrings, unlike his competitor Jonas Vingegaard who notably switched to 1X for the opening stage. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
175mm cranks are fairly standard for a man of O'Connor's height, even if evidence does suggest shorter can often be better (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Interestingly, the seatpost doesn't fill the entire seat tube gap. Instead, a clamp slides in behind. This means the frame's seat tube can be deep (and aero) while the seatpost itself can be slightly shallower, losing a touch of aerodynamic benefit but likely with the addition of compliance. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
We love this detail. Instead of using a seatpost wedge and a separate race number holder, some clever sausage has machined the two parts into one, meaning race numbers are integrated totally smoothly into the design of the bike. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Despite running the new Campagnolo groupset, the team are using the older Super Record chainset. That's because the new one doesn't yet come with a power meter option available, and given it changed its BCD (bolt circle diameter), the team's stock of Power2Max spoder-based power meters wouldn't fit. It's a good show of backwards compatibility for the still relatively untested groupset, though. (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
The 25-28-32 tells us that this is an 11-32 cassette, which is an old Super Record option. Interestingly, Campagnolo told us that backward compatibility of cassettes wasn't advised, adding that while older cassettes would technically fit, they wouldn't shift very well. If we see Ben O'Connor struggling with his shifting in the next few days, this could be why! (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
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Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton.
Josh has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews. On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years.
He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000.
These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
