BMC’s Greg Van Avermaet took third at Paris-Roubaix Sunday aboard a new made-in-Switzerland BMC machine, the GranFondo RBX. The bike is basically the GranFondo GF01, but with increased clearance at the fork, stays and brake calipers for the wider tires required for riding cobblestones.
Greg Van Avermaet took third at Paris-Roubiax on the BMC GranFondo RBX
Last year, the team rode the GF01, and barely had room to fit 28mm. “We had perhaps 1mm of clearance,” said BMC CEO David Zurcher “Now the RBX can fit a 30mm no problem.”
Tire clearance went from 1mm to well over 1cm on the new RBX, thanks to a new fork, new caliper position and long-reach calipers
BMC moved the brake caliper mount up a little on the frameset, and used a non-series, long-reach caliper for plenty of clearance all around.
The geometry and the lay-up is otherwise identical to the GF01 endurance bike, with a longer wheelbase and taller head tube than BMC’s TeamMachine race bike.
The GranFondo RBX bikes were manufactured in Switzerland and, in compliance with UCI regulations, will be available for sale in “very, very limited” quantities, Zurcher said. “You will be able to buy a replica that is very close to the team bike, with the same paint job, but with clinchers instead of tubulars,” Zurcher said.
Paris-Roubaix was the first race outing for the RBX, but BMC riders had been training on the bikes at home in the weeks before.
