We met up with my buddy Peter, who reps BMC bikes, at Interbike, and he was stoked to give Jeff and I a low down on the highlights of BMC’s new rides. We began our little soiree by looking over the new Trailfox TF01.
The new Trailfox TF01 29er as pictured here retails for only $11,900… I’ll give you a second to compose yourself. Yep, the XTR version shown here retails for almost twelve grand.
Contributing to the price is the fact that BMC does not use a book order frameset. They go through the work by designing all their own tube designs and hardware. The big thing with the Trailfox (other than the price tag) is the all mountain monster they developed to tackle nearly everything. With 150mm of travel and a slackish 67 degree head angle and 74 degree seat angle, you’re getting a bike that is a good mix of agility and stability both up and down.
Using all FOX CTD front and rear you also have great suspension that will keep those sweet DT-Swiss XRC 1350 carbon wheels under control. Other noteworthy items include the Easton Haven stem with carbon BMC bar and Rock Shox Reverb seat post. All in all, some big ticket items on this Swiss-made ride!
Other cool little features that make a big difference include the chainstay protection and bottom bracket guard. Heck, at $12,000 the last thing I want to worry about are flying rocks cracking my frame. Total weight on the TF01: 27lbs. Damn.
An alloy version (the TF03) can be had for $3,999 with a Shimano SLX build.
Now lets talk lightweight FS bikes. The racier version, the 29er FS01, was also on display. Sporting XX1 for drivetrain components, there is very little left to the imagination as to how well this rig will shift.
The unidirectional carbon that BMC uses looked flawless up close. I also liked the attention to detail when routing the cabling, making sure there were no odd, sharp bends.
When ever they could, grommets where used to cushion the cables from the carbon, thus preventing abrasion between the frame and cabling.
The rear triangle also uses post-mount brakes and a 142mm through axle, providing the stiffest axle combo you can get. The post-mount brakes, in my opinion, are a great feature to look for on your next bike (if it doesn’t have it already). I love anything that will allow me to lose a few screws and some grams of an adapter that is no longer needed. The only draw back is that you must use a torque wrench when working on these bikes.
This little gem of a bike retails for $10,900.
The Four Stroke, like the TF, is also available in an alloy version. The FS03 built up with Deore can be had for $2,999.
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