Since this seems to be our neo retro steel road bike I thought I would report here about my BMC Road.
I've been riding road bikes for forty years.
Steel, aluminum, some CF and lots of steel. I also have a lot of bikes.
Recently, for fear of intervention, I have been divesting a number of bikes out of the hoard. But, I have been rewarding myself on the formula of N-3+1.
And, recently, I have developed an interest in new production steel frames. First, I picked up a Surly Cross Check because I have always wanted to try one. It is now doing duty as my allarounder SS.
Then, I started to look around for something different and found the BMC site. Now the BMC Monster Cross is a very nice bike. It is also very similar to the CC. But the BMC Road with space for wider tires look interesting. I talked to Mike, who, as everyone reports, is a pleasure to chat with, and bought a frame.
Even so, I wasn't sure what to expect from the bike. Was it a Monster Cross Light?
No. Let me tell you, this bike has serious road chops. It' the kind of thing you can feel in the first 30 yards. Surprisingly quick and agile. Really, it's a road bike with just the right dose of therapeutic steroids. In other words, with wide tires, I don't mind jumping occasionally jumping it off a curb.
Below are a couple of quick and dirty morning photos of the first build -- I'm sure there will be more. Also, given my recent bike frames divestiture, I have an over abundance of components, so I vowed to build it with what I have. Thus the highly functional but eclectic selection.
At just under 22 lbs, it's not nearly as light as the one yetitotheheady built.
http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=125599
Most of that extra weight is in the wheels (Mavic Open Pro / Ultegra) and tires (32mm Gatorskins with liners -- a necessity for multisurface riding in AZ). And the barend / brake lever combo contributes another 270 grams over STI's. Other than that, weight reduction would mean 100 grams here, 50 there, etc.
Interestingly, the workhorse 600 Tricolor RD 6401 is actually about 20 grams lighter than the Ultegra 6600 I was going to use.
But, at the end of the day, I'm not too concerned about the weight. I intend to ride the sh*t out of this bike this summer on any street or trail in the Valley. Well, maybe not the loose, nasty, rocky single track in the McDowells.
BTW, looking at the tire clearance, I think there is room for 35mm's and I'll try that sometime. Oh, and the stem/steerer. I chopped about 1.5" off of it, but will keep it at this length while I experiment with stem combinations. I may leave it as is since I am finding the the stack less offensive as time goes on. It just sort of fits with this type of bike and preserves future versatility.
Bottomline, the BMC is really in a genre sort of by itself, which is the perfect justification to add one to your stable.
