In a sport that is not short of icons, it takes something special to go beyond the merely noteworthy and into the category of absolute legend. After ten years of playing leading roles on the biggest stages, the Teammachine has now separated itself from the pack. Winning one race doesn’t grant you an iconic status. If you want to be immortalized in the sport’s history, you need an array of wins and show your endeavor over a significant period of time, under a variety of conditions.
The Teammachine qualifies on every count.
Year after year of leading the way at the Tour de France, the Olympics, World Championships and all the one-day Classics, this sustained success hasn’t been an accident. And so, the fire keeps burning.
“Some teams have good bikes. I’ve had great ones since 2010.”
Cadel Evans, Tour de France winner 2011
Combining innovative tuned compliance that took the cycling world by surprise and unsurpassed stiffness-to-weight, the Teammachine SLR V1 debuted in 2010. With Cadel Evans’ rainbow stripes aboard, the new BMC flagship lived up to its promise with thrilling victories throughout its first season. From the Australian’s lethal attack on the Mur de Huy to overhaul Purito and Contador, to his show of strength at stage 7 of the Giro, which left him memorably caked in white mud from the Strade Bianche, there was little doubt about the ability of this bike to excel under all conditions. It was the bike on which he fulfilled his destiny at the Tour de France. “I’ve always said compliance matters, but here is where it really counted… What amazed me most was watching many of my competitors having to get out of the saddle over rough sections of road whilst we could comfortably stay seated and pedaling, even in the later stages of the race. The compliance is what left us fresher for the business end of things.” – Cadel Evans A year later Philippe Gilbert danced his way to the title at the World Championships and the seal was set on the pre-eminent status of the Teammachine. One day or three weeks, flat or hilly, rain or shine, this bike was the perfect tool for success. “I still would give myself a 5% chance. On a [course] like this, I had to be really lucky… I’m not going to say I was the strongest guy from the race.” Greg Van Avermaet, Olympic Champion 2016 Greg Van Avermaet’s Olympic Road Race gold medal on the Teammachine SLR V2 provided proof that the next iteration was a worthy successor. By now, a fixture at the front of every race, the Teammachine retained its reputation for its fatigue-fighting compliance and pin-sharp responsiveness. But it hadn’t stood still. The improvements to the bike––which included the introduction of internal cable routing and significant overall weight reduction––were substantial. The wins kept coming. Van Avermaet has fought doggedly all day, dragging himself back to the lead group after the climbs, somehow putting in one final pull to catch Rafal Majka...It’s down to Majka, Fuglsang and Van Avertmaet, as the metre boards count down to the finish line….GVA launches his sprint! The others have no response. The Rio crowds erupt as Van Avermaet crosses the line. After winning Roubaix and another long stint in the yellow jersey in 2018, the third Teammachine SLR is established as a titan of the road. Leveraging our proprietary ACE technology to ensure the performance and ride is refined beyond anything previously possible and weighing even less than before, the BMC Impec Lab and bike engineers are suitably proud. The BMC Racing Team loves it. Along with the headline changes, subtle alterations to improve the real-world capabilities of the bike are implemented, such as re-engineering of the chainstay links to give more stability when cornering at high speed. At this point, no detail is too small. “Back in 2010 it was a revelation – it simply got better as the roads got longer and rougher – and now it’s undergone so much progress: ever lighter, still as compliant, and always able to deliver on the weight-rigidity-responsiveness. It makes me wonder what we’ll see in the next 10 years.” - Cadel Evans This is also the era of the disc brake and this change demanded an authoritative response from our designers and engineers. Their task: simultaneously develop the performance of the BMC disc brakes technology and ensure they work in harmony with the machine as a whole. Once again, the Teammachine rose to the challenge and the SLR V3 disc is widely recognized as a fine example of innovation. Though the riders and the jerseys are new, the philosophy behind the Teammachine has held steadfast: to make a racing bike, created without compromise, that can achieve the seemingly impossible. This ethos has developed into a process. Our team at Grenchen gets feedback from our Team riders and mechanics along with other perceptive minds in the industry on the question of how we can continue to improve on our world beating bikes; solutions are envisaged, prototyped and carefully tested; and the cycle continues.
The Team Talks
Overturning the Odds
World Tour Winning Machine
The Ethos of the Team
2021 Teammachine SLR - A New Decade
2020 marks the next chapter in the Teammachine SLR story.
We’re eager to turn the page. The future is faster.
Ultimate performance continued Teammachine SLR