BMC TEAMMACHINE R 01 LTD

Abraham takes us with him on his test ride of the BMC Teammachine R, from their HQ in Santa Cruz

This week, Signature are on location over in California, featuring a bike straight from the US Headquarters of one of the most technically advanced bike brands on the market — BMC. This is the Teammachine R, the latest addition to BMC’s lineup.

This is one of two bikes to be produced from their technical partnership with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the engineering team behind the Red Bull F1 team and Aston Martin Valkyrie. With world-leading engineering, aerodynamics and design expertise, working with to produce a racing bike is a match made in heaven.

While I’m in town to visit Pas Normal’s flagship North American store in San Francisco for their 1 year anniversary, BMC reached out to me to visit their HQ, located just an hour out of SF in Santa Cruz. It’s no accident that this HQ is located in the vicinity of some excellent NorCal cycling roads, with the Pacific Coast Highway to the west, and twisting roads deep into mountain climbs and groves of Redwoods to the north. An excellent place to visit in itself, the HQ contains some iconic BMC bikes, including the team bike used to win the 2011 Tour de France, and the mountain bike used to win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

This is the second BMC / Red Bull collaboration we’re featuring on our Bike of the Week, the first being their ultimate time trial bike, the Speedmachine. After being extremely impressed with the Speedmachine, I was extremely eager to test the Teammachine R, and see how Red Bull’s aero and engineering knowledge would transfer to a more versatile road bike.

The bike they had set up and ready for me to test was a size 51, finished in a matte black with white accents carried through the cockpit. The bike was specced with some excellent components, a full SRAM Red groupset and power meter, 62mm DR Swiss ARC wheels and Pirelli P-Zero tires. A great set up to enhance the aero qualities of the bike, with high winds and rain forecast, the main thing that came to my mind was “keep the rubber side down”, taking extra care descending on wet, slippery roads.

So, how did it ride? Taking the bike to the Pas Normal 1 year anniversary ride was the perfect test — where does this aero and road hybrid bike sit on that scale, and what difference has Red Bull’s influence had?

For me, the windy conditions of the ride made me truly appreciate the aero optimisations of the bike. With gusts up to 40mph, the added aerodynamic stability from the rear triangle and wide front fork made riding feel stable and planted on the road.

The Teammachine was fast on the flats, with excellent stiffness and power transfer to the rear wheel. There was a decent amount of climbing on the ride, and the bike raced up the hills, feeling efficient and quick. I always appreciates a bike that’s built for efficiency and power transfer. We always feature a wide range of bikes on Bike of the Week, from bomb-proof touring bikes to ultra-light climbing bikes. Each of these bikes have key qualities that make them right for their owners, for their preferences and use cases. For me, I love a bike that is designed to maximise power transfer, optimized for fast, punchy sprints and fun, quick rides. The Teammachine ticks all of those boxes, a bike that takes the best qualities of fast, aerodynamic bikes, combined with a stiff, light climbing bike.

A special thanks to BMC USA for trusting me with this beautiful bike (especially with the weather conditions I was facing!) — it was an amazing experience. Our thanks to for Pas Normal for hosting a great ride, and event for their first anniversary in San Francisco. To be able to share this testing experience with other great riders on great NorCal roads made the experience all the richer. We can’t wait to bring this special bike to riders back on the East Coast.