We’ve chosen a bit of garish golden glory for this week’s Bike at Bedtime, with Greg van Avermaet’s BMC Teammachine SLR 01 from 2016/2017. While we were at the launch of the BMC Teammachine SLR 01 a few weeks ago in Frankfurt, we spotted none other than GvA’s prize for winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Well, besides the gold medal itself, of course.
So, naturally we had to deviate from the showcasing of the brand-new generation of BMC’s climbing bike, and take a look at what a gold medallist was riding almost nine years ago…
A bit of background on Greg van Avermaet, or GvA as we’ll refer to him as henceforth: he was widely regarded as one of the best one-day racers of his generation. He only retired in 2023, after racing professionally since 2007.
His palmares included Paris-Roubaix in 2017, Gent-Wevelgem, also 2017, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (won twice) and a few grand tour stage wins, too. He also lent his hand to stage racing, winning the Tour de Yorkshire in 2018 among others.
But his most famous ride, well, his most famous bike at least, was a result of him winning the 2016 Olympic road race in Rio de Janeiro. A momumental occasion regardless of stats, he was the first Belgian man to win the Olympic road race since Andre Noyelle in 1952.
So as GvA rode for BMC Racing Team at the time, the title sponsors gave his bike a little rework for the 2017 season, starting by painting it bright gold. Is it a colour I’d choose for a bike? No, but I also have not and will never win a gold medal, so, maybe I’d change my mind if I was as good as GvA.
His Teammachine SLR 01 looks a little different to the latest iteration. For starters, he was running rim brakes – remember those? The frame has also had a few updates since then, including getting rid of that little arty triangle in the rear of the frame by the seat tube.
The idea of that was that it would provide more compliance and thus a more comfortable ride. GvA ran a 54 frame, and Shimano’s Dura-Ace groupset, although with an Ultegra front derailleur.
Another thing you’ll notice is how tiny the cassette is, back in the days when a 29T was considered a ‘climbing gear’. Oh how times have changed. He paired that with a 52/36 chainset up front, and I can’t squint hard enough to see what length the crank arms were, but back in 2017 it was reported that he ran 172.5mm length arms.
The contact points are also pretty interesting. GvA ran a 110mm 3T ARX II Team stem, and 3T bars – not aero ones, we might add. We’re not sure on the width and the BMC staff couldn’t find a tape measure for us to confirm, but they looked to be on the smaller side of 40cm.
He also ran a Fizik Arione saddle and some very worn out 3T bartape (c’mon Greg). The wheels were DT Swiss RC 38 Spline, which as the name suggests, are 38mm deep. Not massively deep for a fast rider like GvA, but it seemed to work for him in 2017 with several big wins.
So there you have it. A golden bike for a gold medallist. Would you ride something that garish? Or would you prefer to be a little more subtle with a nod to your victory?
Don’t forget to check out our other bikes at bedtime here
