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TECH NEWS

Tour Tech 2013: Philippe Gilbert's BMC TeamMachine SLR01

Philippe Gilbert's BMC gets a special world champs paintjob for the Tour de France

Philippe Gilbert will contest the Tour de France aboard BMC’s brand new TeamMachine SLR01, which has bseen updated with an improved carbon layup and internal cable routing. It’s significantly lighter at 790g, but as that’s the claimed weight for a 56cm, we imagine Gilbert’s 51cm frame will be even lighter.

The bike stands out from his teammates by virtue of the world champion rainbow stripes that adorn the frame. The fork and top tube are painted white and blend into the black half of the frame with the angled stripes. These are mirrored on the seatpost as well, on the seat stays and inside the chainstays. There's also his name and signature on the top tube for good measure.

The saddle is a Selle Italia Flite with the decals removed, we’re guessing that’s to keep Fizik, BMC's saddle sponsor, happy. When it comes to saddles the riders, especially ones like Gilbert, will shun any sponsorship duties and ride what they find most comfortable. It, along with the bar tape, colour matches the frame.

Gilbert stands 6ft tall, so his choice of a 51cm size frame does seem a bit odd. The pros do like to ride very small frames sometimes though, they are lighter and usually stiffer, and they get around the reach issues with extremely long stems and setback saddles. Another reason is that the pros like a stretched position with a very low front, and often the head tube is too tall on the correct size frame. Going down a size or two is an easy way around this when there isn't the option of a custom made frame. You'd think Gilbert would be able to get a custom geometry frame, but that clearly isn't the case here.

To get the right right, Gilbert rides a 14cm stem (the shortest we spotted on any of the BMC team bikes was 13cm). Unusually, and likely on account of the small frame size, the stem isn’t slammed, there’s a healthy stack of spacers under the stem.

The frame wears a full Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 groupset and it’s using the new internal battery, it slips inside the seat post. The chainset is the latest SRM Powermeter 9000, though they’re still using the older 7800-series cranks. Reportedly Shimano still manufacturers these arms especially for SRM.

Wheels will be Dura-Ace C50 tubulars for the majority of the stages, with Continental 25mm tyres - we’re seeing a trend towards wider tyres in the pro peloton this year, and BMC are certainly going down the 'wider is better' road.

Gilbert, like so many pros, prefers a very traditional bend handlebar. These 3T bars are very deep with a generous flat bottom section, ideal for long periods on the drops. Gilbert has the optional sprinter shifters fitted, which you can see inside the handlebars just below the brake lever hoods.

While Gilbert is riding the new TeamMachine we revealed a while ago, some of the team will be riding the Impec bikes. These are built by sophisticated, purpose-built machines in BMC’s Switzerland facility.

New TeamMachine lighter and stiffer

The new TeamMachine has gone on a diet, the weight for a 56cm frame dropping from 950g to 790g. As well as working hard on the carbon fibre layup to reduce weight, increasing the stiffness has been a big goal. They’ve upped it by a huge 25%, which should suit Gilbert when he goes on the attack.

A noticeable change is the internal cable routing. BMC have designed the frame to work with mechanical and electronic groupsets, with small panels to conceal the cable or wire entry points. It has a tapered head tube - 1-1/8in to 1-1/4in - and BB86 PressFit bottom bracket.

The new SLR01 retains the same proven geometry as the previous frame, and visually it has a very close resemblance. They’ve retained the Tuned Compliance Concept (TCC), found in the stays and seatpost, to deliver a reasonable level of comfort, as they recognise the importance of racers arriving as fresh as possible to the finish line.

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

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6 comments

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Tim Print | 10 years ago
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"sadly" the world champion's frame "does not fit him"

Armchair punditry at it's finest  1

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pedalpowerDC | 10 years ago
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+1 to Dave

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Vinerman | 10 years ago
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Well, 140mm stem is just not right, sadly for him the frames do not fit him, i mean the amount of spacers is just ridiculous, he is riding 51 as its the best is bad bunch. there is nothing cool abou this bike to make an article at all, world champion bike!! whatever....

Avatar
dave atkinson replied to Vinerman | 10 years ago
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Vinerman wrote:

Well, 140mm stem is just not right, sadly for him the frames do not fit him, i mean the amount of spacers is just ridiculous, he is riding 51 as its the best is bad bunch. there is nothing cool abou this bike to make an article at all, world champion bike!! whatever....

you see a lot of 140mm stems on pro bikes; 130mm is the de facto standard in the peloton. only quite rarely are they shorter; J-rod uses a 110mm on his Canyon for example. Unusual to have that many spacers though.

as for whether it fits him, well, you're the expert. I'm sure he's never really thought about it  39

Avatar
Vinerman replied to dave atkinson | 10 years ago
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You see Dave, I am an expert. i am sure he thought about his choice of bike size, but he also thought about his pay cheque.

the assumption that all Pros know about bikes is wrong,and that goes to journalist too.

Avatar
rodmc | 10 years ago
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51cm frame?  39

So he is 1/2cm taller than with a bike that is 7cm smaller. I knew there was a reason I wasn't World Champ!

I am getting a new 'mini' bike.

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