BMC Cross Machine CX01
The third new model premiered by BMC at the Lenzerheide press camp was the Cross Machine CX01: a cyclo-cross bike, as the name suggests, to complement a range that has all other ‘road’ bases covered, from race to granfondo, and from time trial to track.
It’s a striking machine in its own quiet way, discernible at a glance to the connoisseur as a class act. BMC believe it is equally suitable for the ‘cross specialist and the year-round drop bar racer. The Swiss firm also admits to influence from the growing popularity of ‘cross bikes among constituencies as diverse as the US ‘gravel grinder’ set and hipsters seeking a new two-wheeled fashion statement now the fixie fad has faded.
The chassis
Less surprisingly for a brand focused almost exclusively on performance are the Cross Machine’s vital statistics. The front triangle bears more than a passing resemblance to the Team Machine, a consequence, we were told, of setting similar performance parameters for the previously described ACE software. The bike’s working title at Grenchen HQ was “an SLR01 for the mud”, we were told.
The frame weighs a quoted 1110g in its painted, 54cm incarnation. BMC told journalists the full chassis (frame and fork) weighs a combined 1540g. The CX01 will be offered both as a full bike and as a frameset, with both available in five sizes: 48cm, 51cm, 54cm, 57cm, and 60cm.
Despite their different applications, the CX01 and SLR01 share geometrical similarities, including almost identical stack and reach measurements and top-tube and seat-tube lengths. More significant differences are to be found elsewhere, notably in the bottom bracket drop (62mm on the Cross Machine CX01, 69mm on the Team Machine SLR01), and tyre clearance: the machine unveiled in Lenzerheide offered ample clearance for its 35mm Continental CycloXKing rubber. Which brings us to…
The specification
The first thing to say about the machine pictured is that the cable-operated Avid BB7 disc brakes are not those that will be sold with the production bike. BMC intends to sell the CX01 with the hydraulic disc brake option from SRAM’s new Force 22 group.
The remainder of the components (those pictured) will come from the American brand’s freshly minted Force CX1 collection, including a 1×11 drivetrain, an increasingly common sight on high-end, cross country mountain bikes.
The brakes will come with 140mm rotors, mounted to DT Swiss R23 Spline hoops, again as pictured, and shod with the aforesaid Continental CycloXKing treads. Fizik supply the Arione saddle, which sits atop BMC’s Compliancepost – a feature of the Granfondo GF01 and GF02 carbon. Elsewhere among the finishing kit, BMC has adopted a more prosaic approach, supplying aluminium bar and stem.
