BMC Owners . . . any solution for the dreaded seatpost slippage?
#26
Chases Dogs for Sport
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FB, I know you are a pretty sharp guy and you are stuck with this bike...oh I am sure its a nice bike...BMC makes good road bikes. But the engineers that created that albatross should be taken behind the woodshed and horse whipped. What a bunch of a-holes. I am an engineer btw. When an engineer creates a design like this, they know 'all of the nuances' What you describe which btw, makes perfect sense should NEVER have been created. Grounds for selling the bike and never buying another BMC product. That is really f-ed up. Adjusting seat height, have the saddle stay in place, torque to a target torque of 5 Nm and it staying there should be intrinsic to the design. Whatta PITA. Just had to vent feeling your frustration. Designs get out there that are total BS and this is one of them.
But will I sell the SLR01? Probably not. It's just about the perfect road bike. It's light. It handles perfectly. It's stiff where you want it to be stiff. And it's an incredibly comfortable ride. The seatpost clamp is a major problem. If it had a conventional seatpost clamp and a T47 bottom bracket, it would be the perfect bike.
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Agreed that this is a terrible and completely unnecessary design. The last few years, it seems that most bike manufacturers have felt the need to introduce meaningless "innovations" that are a lot more trouble than they're worth. My LBS recounted a few current issues by different manufacturers and most of the problems I had not heard of online -- so the absence of complaints online doesn't mean a design works. (Of course, a few of them have been discussed and debated ad nauseum on this forum and others.) The current trend toward recessed / hidden seatpost clamps is a HUGE problem across three manufacturers, including BMC. (Would it be inappropriate to mention the name Specialized here? When Specialized's clamp messes up, the pieces fall down inside the frame and are very hard to fish out.) As for BMC, it's baffling to me that they haven't fixed this issue. They've been selling RoadMachines with this design for at least three years -- and TeamMachines for two. I don't know that it's a universal issue, but it's certainly not isolated. Why alienate racers and high-end customers over multiple production years? It's not good business. They need to create a fix -- even if it's an ugly external clamp -- and I'm going to tell them so.
But will I sell the SLR01? Probably not. It's just about the perfect road bike. It's light. It handles perfectly. It's stiff where you want it to be stiff. And it's an incredibly comfortable ride. The seatpost clamp is a major problem. If it had a conventional seatpost clamp and a T47 bottom bracket, it would be the perfect bike.
But will I sell the SLR01? Probably not. It's just about the perfect road bike. It's light. It handles perfectly. It's stiff where you want it to be stiff. And it's an incredibly comfortable ride. The seatpost clamp is a major problem. If it had a conventional seatpost clamp and a T47 bottom bracket, it would be the perfect bike.
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If you look at the cross sections of BMC bikes showing the carbon lay up quality, is it really surprising that they have a seat post clamp that doesn't work well?
#33
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Take away is, choose your bike carefully for 'gotchas'. They are out there sadly.
Design is so highly nuanced, there maybe some deluded enough to believe the post design is great because its light, aero and saves a watt. Oh, darn, the fact that is won't hold the post in place is only a minor inconvenience. 3 out of 4 ain't bad right? Dumb$h!ts.
Last edited by Campag4life; 11-11-18 at 09:15 AM.
#34
Senior Member
FB, I know you are a pretty sharp guy and you are stuck with this bike...oh I am sure its a nice bike...BMC makes good road bikes. But the engineers that created that albatross should be taken behind the woodshed and horse whipped. What a bunch of a-holes. I am an engineer btw. When an engineer creates a design like this, they know 'all of the nuances' What you describe which btw, makes perfect sense should NEVER have been created. Grounds for selling the bike and never buying another BMC product. That is really f-ed up. Adjusting seat height, have the saddle stay in place, torque to a target torque of 5 Nm and it staying there should be intrinsic to the design. Whatta PITA. Just had to vent feeling your frustration. Designs get out there that are total BS and this is one of them.
#36
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Take away is, choose your bike carefully for 'gotchas'. They are out there sadly.
Design is so highly nuanced, there maybe some deluded enough to believe the post design is great because its light, aero and saves a watt. Oh, darn, the fact that is won't hold the post in place is only a minor inconvenience. 3 out of 4 ain't bad right? Dumb$h!ts.
Design is so highly nuanced, there maybe some deluded enough to believe the post design is great because its light, aero and saves a watt. Oh, darn, the fact that is won't hold the post in place is only a minor inconvenience. 3 out of 4 ain't bad right? Dumb$h!ts.
#37
Chases Dogs for Sport
Thread Starter
The BMC hidden seatpost clamp (and the Specialized and other imitators) are not recessed for aero purposes -- there is no quantifiable aero disadvantage to a conventional clamp. It's pretty well hidden, aerodynamically. The idea behind these clamps is that, by clamping the seatpost farther down (leaving more of it sticking out of the frame), they allow the seatpost to flex more. More flex leads to a more comfortable ride. It works -- but it's not worth it. Plus, it's obviously an aesthetic thing -- there's no denying that they look very clean.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
#38
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#39
Chases Dogs for Sport
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Bob Bigelow founded the bike assembler and distributor known as Bob Bigelow Mountain Company (BMC). Andy Rihs founded BMC (Bicycle Manufacturing Company) and started designing and manufacturing road bikes a year after he took over the Bob Bigelow operation. Andy Rihs was the founder of the company now known as BMC.
#40
Senior Member
Bob Bigelow founded the bike assembler and distributor known as Bob Bigelow Mountain Company (BMC). Andy Rihs founded BMC (Bicycle Manufacturing Company) and started designing and manufacturing road bikes a year after he took over the Bob Bigelow operation. Andy Rihs was the founder of the company now known as BMC.
Learn something new everyday, I guess.
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Agree, what I find unfortunate as at least pertains with BMC, is I believe they extended this aero/watt-saving wunderclamp system also to their 2nd tier CF bikes (the Road/Teammachine 02 line). Typically in the past I think you could hope to avoid some of this kind of nonsense by going down one step to "value" proposition tier.
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The BMC hidden seatpost clamp (and the Specialized and other imitators) are not recessed for aero purposes -- there is no quantifiable aero disadvantage to a conventional clamp. It's pretty well hidden, aerodynamically. The idea behind these clamps is that, by clamping the seatpost farther down (leaving more of it sticking out of the frame), they allow the seatpost to flex more. More flex leads to a more comfortable ride. It works -- but it's not worth it. Plus, it's obviously an aesthetic thing -- there's no denying that they look very clean.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
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My personal view is don't have to have a baby with the bathwater buying philosophy when it comes to bikes. Don't have to ride an old fashioned bike to get modern performance that is reliable. Problem is, you have really be into this stuff to see the forest through the trees. Uber light and stiff and compliant road bikes exist that are utterly reliable taking advantage of modern tech. Bottom line is many of the elite bikes have some serious tradeoffs...because the feathered edge of nth degree high performance has tradeoffs...but not so much only slightly down the pecking order for almost the same performance.
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My personal view is don't have to have a baby with the bathwater buying philosophy when it comes to bikes. Don't have to ride an old fashioned bike to get modern performance that is reliable. Problem is, you have really be into this stuff to see the forest through the trees. Uber light and stiff and compliant road bikes exist that are utterly reliable taking advantage of modern tech. Bottom line is many of the elite bikes have some serious tradeoffs...because the feathered edge of nth degree high performance has tradeoffs...but not so much only slightly down the pecking order for almost the same performance.
#46
Senior Member
I have both a 2015 TeamMachine 01 (aluminum collar style clamp) and 2017 RaceMachine 02 (hidden wedge-bolt clamp) and the seatpost slips on both bikes despite torquing the bolt to suggested ratings and applying a lot of carbon paste. I find that I either have to tighten the bolts a little above the torque rating or resetting the seat height after every ride. Very frustrating on otherwise good machines. It certainly detracts from the riding experience when I have to be hyper-aware of every hole on the road and I stand on the pedals slightly to reduce the weight on the saddle if I have to go over large bumps (so it won't slip.)
#47
Chases Dogs for Sport
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I'm surprised you have the problem with your 2015 TeamMachine. I had one and I never had any problems. That one can probably be fixed by a good LBS. It's not inherent to the design. (But that clamp bolt is made of something only slightly harder than butter, I think.)
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Mine is a 2014 with the D-shaped post. I think they recommend 3.5 nm or whatever. I sent BMC a msg and they said to toque it to 5-5.5. I did and the problem went away. I do use carbon assembly paste
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Hi,
I have the same problem. What I did was to put a piece of 2 sided sandpaper between seatpost and clamp. It helps, but you can never be sure it lasts. You need to renew this paper on a regular base before it starts slipping. Hope this helps. (Used it in combination with some carbon paste (not on the sandpaper))
Hans
I have the same problem. What I did was to put a piece of 2 sided sandpaper between seatpost and clamp. It helps, but you can never be sure it lasts. You need to renew this paper on a regular base before it starts slipping. Hope this helps. (Used it in combination with some carbon paste (not on the sandpaper))
Hans
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The BMC hidden seatpost clamp (and the Specialized and other imitators) are not recessed for aero purposes -- there is no quantifiable aero disadvantage to a conventional clamp. It's pretty well hidden, aerodynamically. The idea behind these clamps is that, by clamping the seatpost farther down (leaving more of it sticking out of the frame), they allow the seatpost to flex more. More flex leads to a more comfortable ride. It works -- but it's not worth it. Plus, it's obviously an aesthetic thing -- there's no denying that they look very clean.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
In recent years, it seems that almost all the manufacturers have run off the rails at some point or another. Their marketing departments (and, to some extent, their bean counters) have taken control of their "design innovations." Innovation that makes a positive functional contribution is a wonderful thing. But "innovation" that's functionally inferior ought to be called out.
Last edited by damoryan; 12-31-19 at 02:36 AM. Reason: typo