CyclistThe complete history of the BMC TeammachineThe BMC Teammachine has epitomised the lightweight race bike for the past 16 years. The latest version reviewed in the last issue of Cyclist continues the remit of maximum stiffness for minimum weight, constructed with the attention to detail youd expect of a Swiss company. But while the brief for the Teammachine hasnt altered over the decades, how the bike has been constructed very much has.To get the story behind the Teammachines development, Cyclist turned to BMCs head of R&D, Stefan Christ.Ive been at the company a long, long time now but to account for the Teammachines history in full, we have to go back to a time even before me, Christ says. The first Teammachine was the SLT 01, which came out in 2002 and was a direct result of businessman and cycling fanatic Andy Rihss investment.BMC already had a strong foothold as a mountain bike brand in Switzerland at that point, but business wasnt exactly booming internationally. Rihs took it over with a view to producing what he said would be the Porsche of race bikes. It was a shrewd plan, Rihss company, Phonak (which made hearing aids) already sponsored a road team, and now he could supply them with his own BMC bikes.Andys investment allowed us to manufacture our own road bikes, not in-house at that point but still in Switzerland by a company called Futec, says Christ.At the time, full carbon construction for race bikes had not been realised, so initially the Teammachine SLT 01 had an aluminium front triangle with carbon stays and a Mizuno carbon fork, before switching to carbon tubes, aluminium lugs and an Easton carbon fork a couple of years later.Maximising tube cross-sections and optimising load transfer on the connection points was the engineering principle behind those carbon-alloy composite frames, says Christ. The most visible and distinct design feature on those frames was the Crosslock, the seat tube cluster lug that connected the top tube to the seat tube in two places.Danny Bird / TapestryChrist says the Crosslock design helped to distribute forces better through this area, and a subtle nod to the feature was in evidence in later, all-carbon designs. Features such as this quickly helped make the Teammachine competitive with more established rivals, but before it truly hit its stride it was usurped at the pro level when BMC introduced the Promachine SLC 01 to sit alongside it.We launched the Promachine at the 2004 Tour de France, Christ says. It was BMCs first full carbon frame and included industry firsts such as full carbon dropouts and carbon headset bearing seats. It was our first frame under a kilo, so it stole the Teammachines spotlight for a good few years.Survival of the fittestBecause they were such different bikes in both looks and construction the Teammachine being lugged and the Promachine being all carbon BMC thought the two models could sit harmoniously in parallel, not unlike Colnagos V-series and C-series bikes today. However, as both bikes were lightweight racers BMC soon realised one impeded the success of the other. Ultimately, only one lightweight race bike could remain in the range.Having joined the company in 2006, by the late noughties Christ well and truly had his feet under the table at BMC and was in a position to help decide which way the call fell. The Teammachine came out on top by virtue of its greater heritage as the brands first race bike, and was reborn in 2010 as the Teammachine SLR 01, which combined the best bits of both models into one platform.By that point we had the Impec Lab, our in-house testing and production facility, which the SLR really benefitted from, says Christ. Id say that bike is really where the modern history of the Teammachine stems from; the SLR was that much different from the models before it.It introduced comfort as a third performance parameter BMCs Tuned Compliance Concept, which saw flex built into the carbon layup and features such as dropped seatstays, which of course are now ubiquitous on lightweight race bikes.By this time BMC had its own WorldTour team and had recruited proven rider Cadel Evans. Having won the World Championships Road Race the year before, Evanss first season with BMC Racing Team saw the new Teammachine stand out with a rainbow stripes colour scheme. Evans followed a strong first year with victory at the Tour de France in 2011.The next few years were a true purple patch for BMC. The team won a slew of races on the WorldTour and the BMC pro team signed another World Champion in Philippe Gilbert in 2012. As a result, the Teammachine built a reputation as a winners bike and its popularity soared.Danny Bird / TapestryUnderstandably, Christ sought to revise rather than revolutionise the next version in 2013. BMC exploited powerful computer modelling software to refine the carbon layup and tube architecture. Put simply, tube diameters got bigger and their wall thicknesses got thinner.The effect was dramatic, says Christ. Pedalling stiffness was up by 40% without adding any weight. That bike accelerated like a rocket.To prove the point, Greg Van Avermaet used the bike to win the 2016 Olympics Road Race in Rio, meaning the Teammachine got yet another attention-grabbing special paint scheme: bright gold.First to the punchThe late 2010s was a time of uncertainty in bike design as the widespread move to disc brakes began. BMC was one of the first to incorporate the technology without obvious compromises, launching the first disc-equipped Teammachine in 2017.Wed released the Roadmachine [BMCs endurance/all-road platform] with discs the year before, so knew it was possible to build them in by making the frame asymmetrical with respect to the disc callipers and the forces they put through the frame, says Christ.Each of the fork legs was shaped differently, as were the chainstays designs aimed at stopping the new braking system from dulling ride feel or greatly increasing weight.Discs quickly became standard on road race bikes, with models such as the Teammachine leading the way. To stay at the cutting edge, BMC was prompted to consider an attribute that until then was almost solely reserved for bikes not concerned with weight or ride quality: aerodynamics.We updated our modelling software to account for aero performance in the Teammachine design and incorporated learnings from our Timemachine aero road and time-trial bikes, says Christ. Teammachine SLR 01 version four came out in 2020. With clean cockpit integration plus small details such as narrower fork blades, integrated bottle cages and smoothed-over thru-axle threads, we could make it measurably faster.Danny Bird / TapestryIts telling that all those features, rare at the time, are now commonplace on rival bikes.That 2020 release instigated the longest tenure for a Teammachine model since the Promachine stole its thunder for a while during the noughties. The fifth-generation SLR 01 Cyclist reviewed last issue (and which is pictured here) was launched a full five years later, coming to market with relatively dramatic claims considering the models maturity: a frameset more than 200g lighter, and faster again.Christ says BMC was able to take another step forward with the Teammachine SLR 01 because, rather than resting on their laurels, his team had been working hard on Teammachine-adjacent projects, including a cost-no-object version of generation four called the Teammachine SLR 01 Mpc (short for Masterpiece), and a Teammachine R 01 aero bike produced in partnership with the Red Bull Formula 1 teams vehicle engineering division.The construction and aero experience from those projects was fed back into the Teammachine SLR 01 so it could be updated once more, says Christ.Considering BMCs lineup includes a more versatile bike for everyday riders in the Roadmachine and a faster bike for racers in the Teammachine R, its tempting to think the new Teammachine SLR 01 could face the same rivalry issues that the Teammachine of 20 years ago had with the Promachine. But Christ is confident.The Teammachine SLR is still the best lightweight racer we offer. Nothing else in our range rides like it, he says. The Teammachine will always be there. Its part of our identity. Related Posts The complete history of the Pinarello Dogma The complete history of the Specialized Tarmac The complete history of the Cannondale SuperSix Time teamWeaving the Teammachines rich tapestry2002: Teammachine SLT 01 introduced. Mostly aluminium front triangle with carbon stays and seatpost.2005: Teammachine SLT 01 moves to carbon tubes and aluminium junctions.2010: Teammachine SLR 01 released, the first full-carbon Teammachine that considers comfort alongside stiffness and weight.2010: World Champion Cadel Evans puts in a strong showing at the Giro dItalia, winning the points classification and coming fifth on GC.2011: Evans races the new Teammachine SLR 01 to victory at the Tour de France.2012: Philippe Gilbert wins the World Championships Road Race. The Teammachine gets another rainbow paintjob.2013: The second-generation Teammachine SLR 01 refines rather than revolutionises, becoming stiffer for the same weight thanks to computer modelling software.2016: Greg Van Avermaet wins gold in the Olympics Road Race in Rio. BMC celebrates by supplying him with a gold Teammachine SLR 01.2017: Greg Van Avermaet kicks off his season strongly, winning Gent-Wevelgem on a silver Teammachine. He switches to BMCs Gran Fondo RBX, for extra tyre clearance, to win Paris-Roubaix.2017: Teammachine SLR 01 gen three is one of the first race bikes to include disc brakes, plus it adds enough tyre clearance that Van Avermaet uses this at Paris-Roubaix from now on.2020: Version four of the Teammachine SLR 01 now considers aerodynamics alongside stiffness, weight and comfort, with BMC claiming its 6% faster than before.2022: Teammachine SLR 01 Mpc is introduced as a cost-no-object option. Stiffer and lighter than the regular frameset due to its monocoque construction, its made in Germany.2023: Aurlien Paret-Peintre wins Stage 4 of the Giro dItalia aboard the Teammachine SLR 01 Mpc.2024: BMC launches the Teammachine R, an aero-focussed alternative to the Teammachine SLR 01 that the brand says sits alongside the bike in the range.2025: Generation five of Teammachine SLR 01 underlines BMCs commitment to the platform, using the experience gained in making the Mpc and R bikes to make the bike lighter and faster than ever.The post The complete history of the BMC Teammachine appeared first on Cyclist.