© BMC
BMC is a bike manufacturer based in Grenchen, Switzerland. The company manufactures bikes for a wide range of disciplines, from road and gravel to mountain bikes and commuting.
BMC, or Bicycle Manufacturing Company, started in 1986 when Bob Bigelow launched the company as Raleigh Bicycles’ first licensed distributor. By 1994, BMC was its own entity.
The company had a steady beginning but began to reap the rewards of its endeavours in 2000 when Andy Rihs took over BMC and shifted its focus to performance cycling. Rihs owned the hearing-aid company Phonak and managed a pro team under the same name. In 2002, BMC developed the Teammachine road bike for the team.
A year later and the company began exporting its products internationally. The Timemachine TT01 and Promachine SLC01 were launched in 2004 as BMC debuted its bikes at the Tour de France for the first time. One edition later, BMC celebrated its first Tour stage win thanks to Óscar Pereiro.
However, Phonak's time at the top of the sport came to a sudden and emphatic halt in 2006. American rider, and team leader, Floyd Landis topped the podium at that year's Tour de France - only to later have his result erased following positive tests for high levels of testerone. The team disbanded at the end of the season.
BMC kickstarted its strong presence within MTB in 2007 with the launch of the BMC Fourstroke - an ultra-lightweight carbon trail bike. These pioneering developments continued, especially with the launch of the BMC Impec laboratory in 2010.
A pinnacle point in the company’s pro cycling involvement arrived in 2011 as Cadel Evans, aboard a BMC Teammachine SLR01, riding for BMC Racing Team, won the Tour de France. The bike went on to be ridden to glory at the Olympic Games, World Championship Road Races and on the testing cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.
Following a battle with leukaemia, Andy Rihs sadly passed away in 2018.
BMC launched the URS, or Unrestricted, in 2019 in a bid to change the gravel bike industry. The bike featured soft-tail micro suspension previously used in the company's MTB XC hardtail bikes.
The BMC Racing Team departed the road racing scene in the same season. BMC continued its involvement in MTB racing and then returned to the WorldTour in 2021 when it agreed to sponsor French team AG2R Citroën.
After four years of collaboration, BMC and Red Bull Advanced Technologies launched the 'world's fastest race bike' in 2022 - the Speedmachine. The two companies' passion for speed has led them to produce a number of prototype race bikes.
BMC's Impec Lab in Grenchen, Switzerland is just down the road from Swiss luxury watch firms Rolex and Breitling.
Current sponsorships: AG2R Citroën, Tudor Pro Cycling, BMC MTB Racing Team
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