The Roadmachine can best be described as a marriage of the two, taking cues from both the Teammachine (for our money, one of the best race bikes out there) and the Granfondo to arrive at the best overall outcome.

Naturally, such a goal is difficult to attain. We’re all different, and therefore our experiences are subjective, which makes recommending such a bike quite difficult if buying separate race and endurance machines is a realistic financial option for you. If you can have the best of both worlds, by actually owning the best of both worlds, then what’s the need for a bike that can’t really hold a candle to either specific machine?

Indeed, it’s often sounded like a bit of marketing spin. However, is the BMC Roadmachine different? Is this, in fact, an all-rounder that appeals not only to those who only want or are limited to the one bike, but also those who might otherwise have a fleet of bikes for every occasion? Could it be a bike to confound the n+1 equation? We took a Roadmachine 01 – the top level frame – to find out.

Despite all this, what’s very impressive is the weight of the flagship Roadmachine 01 frame. For a 54cm/medium size, the frame weighs a claimed 920g – including the strengthening required to accommodate disc brakes – something the Roadmachine was designed from the ground-upwards to do.

That means there’s no adaptation compromise from a rim version design. When you consider the extra material for added stiffness (and, dare we say it, aerodynamic advantage) used in the headtube, seatpost-toptube junction, chainstay-bottom bracket junction and the generally oversized nature of the downtube, it’s impressive if a little shy of the lightest disc-brake ready frames (most of which are pure race bikes).

It’s also a well-finished frameset; you’ll find internal cable routing throughout except, interestingly, the mechanical rear mech cable along the chainstay. The benefit here is obviously easier servicing, as well as to keep shifting clean and crisp via a cable that hasn’t been routed through the flared stays. You can also spot ports throughout the bike for Di2 routing, including at the chainstays, as well as a junction box cradle under the stem.

Finally, it’s worth noting here that we’re dealing with the top-end Roadmachine 01 frame. In the range, you’ll also find the more affordable 02 carbon frame, as well as the alloy 03 chassis.

Stability turns into predictability on the hilly stuff, with special mention of how the Roadmachine informs you of the grip levels available when heading down slopes. Naturally the disc brakes inspire confidence in all conditions once you’re dialled in, but both the front and rear of the bike have an uncanny knack of reassuring you – you can feel exactly what the road is like beneath you, giving you the confidence to chuck (or, indeed, caress) the bike into off-camber or unsighted bends.

The bottom bracket area is low down, like a race machine, and with an endurance bike wheelbase of 1,008mm on our 56cm test machine, any skittishness that would be the fault of the road is easily manageable. A locked rear wheel is easy to deal with; you have time to recognise the error of the snatch of the brakes or a touch too much speed for the road surface, and adjust accordingly. No fuss, no snappy counter-response – just direct and predictable feedback.

Uphill the Roadmachine is a genuine contender against lighter, more specifically-tuned machines. Compare it to a Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod, or a Canyon Ultimate CF SL (a bike this reviewer owns, for the record), and it’s genuinely remarkable; remarkable, in that it can easily hold a candle to those two machines. The total weight is 8.21kg in this Ultegra guise without pedals, so it’s not the lightest total build, nor the lightest frame as mentioned before, but it feels as stiff as either of those two bikes, and responds with aplomb to standing spurts as well as prolonged stays in the saddle.

The fact that you genuinely don’t notice the weight penalty of the all-round frame construction, or disc brakes, is seriously impressive, and speaks volumes about how the feel and responsiveness of a bike frame can be as important as the weight. It also lends credence to the theory that shavings in weight aren’t the be all and end all of bike design.

Here, throwing the bike from side to side takes no additional effort over the Cannondale or Canyon examples, and you have the distinct feeling that every pedal stroke is being maximised. More than that, it feels as if the bike is on tickover, almost asking “is that all you’ve got?” goading you into attacking the road ahead. That’s race bike character in a bike that, let’s remember, is an endurance machine at heart.

That endurance heart is right up there with the best endurance frames too. No, there’s no trick suspension or branded vibration-cancelling tech in the layup, but it’s perfectly capable with its D-shaped seatpost soaking up the punishment – fastened, incidentally, by a tidy internal clamp system. For seatpost-sourced compliance, it’s very close to Canyon’s VCLS post, only offering up a marginally sharper ride. That’s not really a bad thing, in my opinion, as it makes the bike feel lively and the ride involving, a characteristic many will appreciate, and only adds to the Roadmachine’s all-round feel.

This is perfectly matched to the front end – the integrated cockpit and bars providing enough compliance without deadening the feel. In fact, overall it’s a near-perfect blend of the softer Trek Domane with its IsoSpeed innovations, and comparatively harsher and less composed Orro Gold STC – wonderfully compliant and stable, but retaining the excitement and pizazz of a race-ready steed.

As an enduring fan of the feel of a slick mechanical groupset, the shifting suits me perfectly, although with the 01 also currently available with Ultegra Di2 (£5,799) and Dura-Ace Di2 9070 (£8,799), electronic fans also have options.

BMC have also very recently released details of two bikes with the new Dura-Ace Di2 groupsets. One, the ‘LTD’, runs the RS805 system exactly like our test machine, while the new flagship bike, the ‘ONE’, runs the entire new Dura-Ace 9170 groupset, complete with SM-RT900 rotors. Looking at the two options, we say “in for a penny, in for a pound,” even if our wallets are unlikely to feel the same way.

The 01 with mechanical Ultegra also comes packaged with a Fizik Aliante R7 saddle with manganese rails, with rolling stock supplied by DT Swiss and its R32 wheelset shod with superb 25mm Continental GP4000S II tyres. With such high-quality chromed hubs, the wheels run fast and smoothly and they are lightweight enough to provide a responsive ride. We suspect that, if you wanted to upgrade the hoops to something akin to the Mavic Cosmic Pro SL C Discs, you wouldn’t regret it, but the DT Swiss hoops are more than capable while you could opt to go wider with tyres and boost comfort further.

Finally, you also get a chain catcher fitted as standard. It won’t matter to some, but the nubbed addition looks in keeping with the detail of the frame, and in a strange way perfectly ties the bike off.

Conclusion

The BMC Roadmachine 01 is a stunning bike, comprehensively capable of dominating long rides and a multitude of road surfaces, as well as giving faster, shorter rides an entertaining, rewarding and, above all, fast edge. Arguably it’s in a class of its own as an all-rounder – which goes a long way to justify the admittedly hefty price tag.

Pros

• Perfect blend of racing speed and all-day comfort
• Sleak, neat and tidy integrated cockpit
• Responsiveness more than combats any weight penalty

Cons

• We’re hard pressed to criticise this excellent bike