BMC launches Teammachine R in collaboration with Red Bull featuring eye-catching Halo fork 

The BMC Teammachine R is the Swiss brand’s latest race bike and it was designed in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

BMC says the Teammachine R balances aerodynamic and lightweight properties, a common trend of bikes now being raced in the pro peloton, arguably started by the release of the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7.

We took a hands-on look at Ben O’Connor’s prototype bike at this year’s Tour de France. At the time, we thought it was likely a new BMC Timemachine Road, the brand’s aero road bike that hasn’t been updated since 2019.

BMC has confirmed the Teammachine R will sit alongside the fourth-generation Teammachine SLR01 and Timemachine Road. The brand says the Teammachine SLR01 is still the optimal choice for the mountains, thanks to its lighter weight and 10 per cent more compliant ride, with the new Teammachine R being more aerodynamic and stiffer.

BMC’s sponsorship of the WorldTour team AG2r Citroën is coming to a close, with Decathlon’s in-house brand Van Rysel set to take over, and it’s unconfirmed whether we will see a BMC in the pro peloton in 2024.

Pricing starts at a not insignificant $9,199/€8,999 for the Teammachine R 01 FOUR, rising to €14,999 for the Teammachine R 01 LTD.

UK and Australian pricing is to be confirmed, as is availability.

Creating speed

BMC says the development of the Teammachine R started on a clean slate and the frameset’s tube profiles were decided upon with input from Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

Red Bull has been working with BMC since 2018. BMC recently unveiled the Speedmachine TT bike, made in collaboration with Red Bull, featuring a Formula One-inspired fork crown spoiler.

BMC says it also took into account all its experience with its ACE+ (Accelerated Composition Evolution) technology when designing the Teammachine R. This is the brand’s in-house supercomputer that helped identify the best combinations of tube shapes and carbon layups for the current Teammachine SLR01.

Enter the Halo fork

The Teammachine R's fork is different from pretty much every other bike in the pro peloton.

BMC calls it the Halo fork and says the wide inner spacing between the fork legs allows turbulent air to be “shuttered away from the frame and reduce aero stall” that the front wheel would normally produce when rotating at speed.

BMC says “cleaner air hugs the frame for longer”, resulting in a significant drag reduction.

The fork is paired with an hourglass-like head tube, a common design which is used on the Trek Madone, for example.

The Mariana bottom bracket

BMC has heavily optimised the bottom bracket junction of the Teammachine R for aerodynamics, giving it the name 'Mariana'. It’s larger in surface area as it transitions between the down tube and chainstays, which allows for cleaner airflow, according to BMC.

BMC says the junction reduces the distance between the frame and the rear wheel to keep airflow attached to the rim.

Aero-optimised tube profiles all round

The seat tube is very different from the Teammachine SLR01. It is wider above the dropped seatstay junction and then heavily sculpted around the rear wheel. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the seat tube found on the original Timemachine TMR01.

BMC says the revised seat tube helps keep airflow attached to the rim as opposed to being separated by the tyre.

The seat tube houses a new, proprietary seatpost. BMC says bikes will ship with a 10mm offset variant as standard (claimed to weigh 155g), with a 25mm offset seatpost available separately. The brand has evenly neatly integrated a slot for a race number holder, which can attach without cable ties or glue.

BMC has revised the way in which you adjust the saddle height. The Teammachine SLR01 and Timemachine Road use an integrated wedge in front of the seatpost with a 4mm hex bolt accessed on the underside face of the top tube. The Teammachine R moves to a twin 3mm hex bolt design at the back of the seat tube, akin to the Pinarello Dogma F.

BMC says the resulting shapes “not only look fast but enable the bike to respond more effectively across a wider range of yaw angles”.

Familiar traits remain

Despite its new features, the Teammachine R is still distinctly a BMC. It retains the signature dropped seatstays and the Aerocore integrated bottle cages that first debuted on the Timemachine Road, which BMC says is more aerodynamic to run with a bottle than without.

The Teammachine R also retains the Stealth dropouts, where the thru-axle insert is moulded into the frame itself.

BMC claims the Teammachine R frame weighs 910g in its Black/White colourway in a size 54cm (90g heavier than the Teammachine SLR01 and identical to the Kaius gravel race bike). The fork is claimed to weigh 345g with the steerer cut to 230mm.

The Teammachine R can accept road bike tyres up to 30mm wide (measured width). BMC says the frame was optimised for tyres between 25 and 28mm wide. Like its other road models, the bike continues to use the BB86 press-fit bottom bracket standard.

The Teammachine R sticks with BMC’s established ICS Carbon Aero Cockpit that installs on the D-shaped fork steerer tube. The integrated cockpit sees the drops flare by 12.5 degrees, measuring 36cm wide at the hoods and 42cm between the drops.

There are 80 to 140mm stem length options, offered in 10mm increments.

BMC Teammachine R geometry

BMC hasn’t diverted far from the Teammachine SLR01’s geometry, with the most notable difference being an updated seat tube angle.

While the Teammachine SLR01’s seat tube angle is 73.5 degrees on every size, it fluctuates between 73 and 74 for the new bike. BMC says this is to ensure a better fit and improve the bike’s reactivity, especially with the smaller frames.

Elsewhere, the stack has been increased by 2mm across the board and the reach reduced by 1mm.

BMC Teammachine R models and availability

BMC will be offering the Teammachine R in four different builds and a frame module option, which retails for €5,999.

UK and Australian pricing is to be confirmed, as are full bike specs outside of the groupset.

The brand claims a size 54cm top-of-the-line Teammachine R 01 LTD (specced with a SRAM Red eTap AXS groupset) weighs 7kg on the dot.

BMC Teammachine R 01 LTD

• Groupset: SRAM RED eTap AXS
• Wheelset: DT Swiss ARC 1100 (62mm deep)
• Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR, 700x26mm
• Cockpit: ICS Carbon Aero
• Price: €14,999

BMC Teammachine R 01 TWO

• Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2
• Wheelset: DT Swiss ARC 1100 (62mm deep)
• Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR, 700x26mm
• Cockpit: ICS Carbon Aero
• Price: $14,499 / €13,999

BMC Teammachine R 01 THREE

• Groupset: SRAM Force AXS
• Wheelset: CRD-501 SL Carbon (50mm deep)
• Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR, 700x26mm
• Cockpit: ICS Carbon Aero
• Price: $9,499 / €9,499

BMC Teammachine R 01 FOUR

• Groupset: Shimano Ultegra Di2
• Wheelset: CRD-501 (50mm deep)
• Tyres: Pirelli P Zero Race TLR, 700x26mm
• Cockpit: ICS2 Integrated Cockpit Design
• Price: $9,199 / €8,999