BMC Roadmachine 02 Two

With a swift performance, great handling and a smart looking carbon frame that accepts mudguards and wide tyres, the BMC Roadmachine 02 Two impresses on many fronts, but it's let down by a ride that is far from the smoothest on rough roads and it’s pricier than equivalent rivals.

• Pros: Fast, stiff, looks good, geometry, takes mudguards
• Cons: Bit pricey, cable routing, hard ride, no tubeless tyres

Ride and handling

First impressions are always very important when testing bikes and mine with the BMC Roadmachine were that it's evidently a very rapid bike. The speed comes easily and keeps on coming, over any terrain. I was reminded of the excellent Teammachine I tested last year, only one that had been dialled back from 10 on the intensity scale to about a 7 or 8.

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It also feels fast because the geometry stays much closer to the race bike it is loosely based on compared to most endurance bikes, which are typified by tall head tubes and short top tubes. It means you can get quite an aggressive, stretched-out position if you want it.

BMC has penned a bike that has only slightly longer chainstays than the Teammachine, a slacker head angle and lower bottom bracket, with 30mm tyre clearance, while the reach and stack are a smidgen shorter and higher respectively.

There is plenty of scope to adjust the stack by playing about with the headset top cap, with the choice of the stock 16mm cap fitted to the test bike or fitting an optional short cap, to achieve as aggressive or laidback a riding position as you want. Slam the stem, add a bit of speed and the BMC is a brisk distance bike.

It can hustle its way through corners well, the steering is reasonably quick and the geometry provides a good balance with stacks of stability. It's an easy bike to pilot through turns and descents at high speed, with the sort of surefooted calmness you expect and want from an endurance bike.

The oversize frame features clearly gift the BMC an urgency that encourages fast-paced riding. There's not a hint of twist when you stamp on the pedals, the huge down tube and chainstays, joined by an oversized press-fit bottom bracket shell, all contribute to impressive pedalling efficiency. It romps up steep climbs and surges over crests.

While the speed is impressive, the same can't be said of its ride quality. BMC has employed its Tuned Compliance Concept (TCC) which sees the fork blades and frame shaped in key places to deliver a bit of give on rough roads. With clearance for up to 30mm tyres, and 28mm tyres fitted as standard, it's a bike that should be as smooth as it is fast.

Only it's not. The Roadmachine ride is firm and hard compared to the best in class. You're not isolated from the bumps and imperfections as well as other endurance bikes. Instead of smothering and absorbing poor road surfaces, there's a lot of feedback through the bike that acts as a reminder you're on a badly surfaced road.

With the generally poor state of UK roads pushing cyclists to endurance bikes and wider tyres, and a growing appetite for the road less travelled, on paper the Roadmachine ought to be ideal. But sadly, it's just a little disappointing on badly surfaced roads, lacking the smoothness it really needs to deliver.

What it does deliver is a fast-paced and enthusiastic ride that will suit, for example, ex-racing cyclists looking for a slightly more relaxed riding position and space for wider tyres and maybe mudguards for winter riding, without sacrificing the speed they favour.

Frame details

BMC has always made distinctive looking bikes and the Roadmachine is no exception, as modern looking now as it was when it was first unveiled in 2016. It's typified by oversize tubes and chamfered edges, a compact dropped rear triangle and angular fork blades.

BMC offers two flavours of carbon Roadmachine. The 01 is the lightest and most expensive version with a claimed 920g frame, while this 02 swaps some of the high-end carbon fibres for a lower price point and 1,100g frame weight. There's also an aluminium version as well.

There are some interesting features on this bike that help it stand out: the huge down tube for maximising power transfer, chamfered transitions along the side of the frame tubes, stepped chainstay and fork blade design and skinny dropped seatstays. Along with the Tuned Compliance Concept, applied to the fork blades and the rear triangle, is a carbon fibre D-shaped seatpost with an internal clamp mechanism.

We're seeing a real push towards integrating all cables and brake hoses inside not just the frame but also the handlebar and stem. Just look at the new Specialized S-Works Venge as a great example. BMC has tried the same approach with the Roadmachine, developing a proprietary Integrated Cockpit Stem which, on the high-end models, keeps all the wires and hoses completely hidden from view.

However, although this mechanical Shimano Ultegra model has the same stem, it has the cables sprouting (I can think of no better word) wildly from the handlebar to the down tube port. Down tube ports have become popular on modern carbon race bikes and sometimes they work well, other times they result in huge bands of cables, as in the case of the BMC. It's not the first bike I've seen cable routing this poorly finished, and it's a real blemish on an expensive road bike.

Elsewhere, you get disc brakes using flat mount callipers, 12mm thru-axles, and mudguard mounts concealed under rubber bungs. Unless you look closely you really can't see them, but they apparently only work with BMC's own £120 mudguards.

Build and equipment

This is a Shimano Ultegra-equipped model costing £3,300, with Mavic Aksium Elite UST wheels with 28mm wide Vittoria Rubino Pro tyres and mostly BMC finishing kit save for the Selle Royal saddle (which looks remarkably similar to a Fizik Aliante). Our size 56cm test bike comes in at 8.57kg (18.8lb) on the road.cc scales.

Shimano's Ultegra R8000 groupset is a wonderful symphony of crisp and light gear changes and reassuring braking in all weathers, with proven reliability and aesthetics that suit the BMC frame well. The compact 50/34 chainset and 11-32t cassette provide good assistance on hilly terrain but I could equally see this bike with a semi-compact 52/36t chainset given its speedy credentials.

French wheel brand Mavic has gone all-in with tubeless for 2019, rolling out a road version of its UST tubeless standard first developed for mountain bike wheels over a decade ago to most of its road lineup. The Askium Elite UST fitted to this BMC is an entry-level wheelset that retails for £269. Given how much the wheelset influences the ride quality, it seems a shame BMC has chosen to spend just 8% of the complete bike price on the wheels.

However, it is a sturdy and reliable wheelset with 24 spokes per wheel and a 19mm wide rim. The claimed 1,780g weight isn't too tardy, but not as attractive as the lighter, higher-end Ksyrium Elite UST Disc we recently tested.

Instead of plumping for matching Mavic UST tyres, BMC has opted for 28mm Vittoria Rubino Pros. They are an okay choice with reasonable performance in a range of conditions, predictable traction in the dry and wet, and good puncture resistance. They aren't tubeless-ready so you can't make use of the Mavic rims' tubelessness, and they're not as supple feeling as higher-end tyres. This is perhaps an area where ride quality improvement could be made, either by fitting a posher tyre, a wider tyre or going tubeless.

As mentioned previously, BMC fits its own aluminium handlebar and stem. The latter can be fitted with optional computer and camera mounts to save strapping rubber bounds around it. The handlebar has a compact bend with ergonomic tops, making for a comfortable setup which I appreciated on longer rides. The stem height is easy to adjust with split headset spacers which neatly match the shape of the stem, but if you do lower the stem you'll need to fit regular round spacers on top, at least until you take the hacksaw to it.

The carbon seatpost is easy to adjust and provides 15mm of setback, and it's topped with a Selle Royal saddle which I had to replace for one with a better shape for my bottom. It's a very heavy saddle too, so weight weenies could shed a bit of weight with a choice upgrade.

Rivals

Compared to the likes of the Giant Defy, Cannondale Synapse, Specialized Roubaix and Trek Domane, to name a few other endurance bikes, the BMC Roadmachine just fails to deliver the same comfort to smooth out rough roads and isolate the rider from vibrations and bumps.

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Yet, if speed is your thing and you want a bike that sits halfway between a race bike and an endurance bike when it comes to fit, position and attitude, the Roadmachine becomes a more interesting proposition.

The other negative is that at £3,300 it's a couple of hundred quid more expensive than similarly equipped carbon endurance rivals. You can pick up a Cannondale Synapse for £3,000, while a Specialized Roubaix and Trek Domane will both set you back £3,100. Which all makes it a little tricky to recommend the BMC based purely on value for money.

Conclusion

Endurance bikes have become a cornerstone of most bike brands' lineups and they have a tricky balance to deliver the speed of a race bike wrapped up with extra comfort for long rides and rough roads. The Roadmachine gets the speed, but in this specification it's just lacking the comfort required to go toe-to-toe with the best bikes in this class.

The performance and speed, plus the looks, do make the BMC an interesting choice if you want something a bit different and you're all about riding fast but want more comfort than a race bike.

Verdict

A fast bike but lacks the comfort of other endurance bikes