BMC continues partnership with Red Bull for new Teammachine R

BMC has unveiled its all-new aero bike, the Teammachine R, which is the result of a joint partnership between engineers at BMC and the Red Bull Advanced Technologies team (RBAT) which has proven experience working with the Red Bull F1 team. It's the second bike born out of the partnership with the BMC Speedmachine time trial bike, launched earlier in the year, the first product from this collaborative effort.

Aero and light: one bike to do it all

BMC has set out to take the existing Teammachine SLR and, with input from the RBAT team, create a bike that it says "perfectly combines weight, aerodynamics and power transfer". This falls inline with the current trend across a lot of bike brands that are creating one bike to do it all, rather than separating out specific climbing and aero bikes.

© BMC

BMC has designed the bike to blend aerodynamics and lightweight with the Teammachine R

The brand has said that the Teammachine R "was forged on the cols of the Swiss alps, hardened over the cobbles of Carrefour de l’Arbre and perfected in the echelons of grand tours, Teammachine R is a race bike built for all parcours - one bike to rule them all."

BMC has combined both an aerodynamic silhouette with a light system weight. After what the brand say was "countless hours of analysing the best possible carbon infrastructure", the Teammachine R hits the scales at 910 grams for the frame and 345 grams for the fork in a size 54cm frame. This allows a fully built bike to weigh in at 7.0kg, solidifying the brands intentions of a versatile do-it-all bike.

Aero features benefit from RBAT partnership

A notable feature that can be attributed to the key partnership with RBAT is the newly designed fork profile dubbed, the halo fork. These forks fall closer inline with current trends we are seeing in the velodrome, with wider stance fork legs more commonly seen on the boards. The engineers behind the fork have designed it in this way to try and allow a more laminar flow of air around the frame, keeping the turbulent air from around the rotating wheel away. BMC are claiming that this design significantly reduces overall system drag of the Teammachine R.

© BMC

From head on, you can see how wide the fork legs sit relative to the front wheel

Building on the theme that was first used in the development of the Speedmachine time trial bike, the feel of the bike to the rider was something that was purposefully analysed. This is another carryover from Formula One that the team from RBAT brought with them.

Read more: BMC unveils all new Speedmachine in collaboration with Red Bull

In Formula One the feel of the car to the driver is one of the most important factors for how the car ultimately performs. Using feedback during the developmental phase of the Teammachine R’s inception allowed the feel of the bike to be dialled in, with the brand saying that "understanding how a bike will react on the roads, leads to better predictability and handling for the rider, and ultimately more confident to ride at speed."

© BMC

Rider feel is something that BMC and RBAT are using to make the bike easier to handle at speed

Pricing and availability

BMC will be offering the Teammachine R in four builds alongside a frameset available from BMC dealers with the exact specs of each model available on the BMC website.

• Teammachine R 01 LTD (SRAM Red eTap AXS) - €/$14,999
• Teammachine R 01 TWO (Shimano Dura-Ace Di2) - €13,999 / $14,499
• Teammachine R 01 THREE (SRAM Force eTap AXS) - €/$9,499
• Teammachine R 01 FOUR (Shimano Ultegra Di2) - €8,999 / $9,199
• Teammachine R 01 MOD - €/$5,999

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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.