BMC is a large brand, but they are known predominantly for their road bikes. While they have a full line of mountain bikes, they tend to fly under the radar – at least here in the Southeast. I got the chance to ride a BMC speedfox 03 trailcrew during a visit to Cane Creek’s headquarters near Asheville, NC, this summer, and was impressed. So on our recent trip to Las Vegas for Interbike, I made a point to check out the rest of their line.
If you have a need for XC speed, BMC offers the teamelite hardtail, as well as the fourstroke full suspension. Their top hardtail, the teamelite 01, could actually be classified as a soft tail. It uses what BMC calls MTT, or micro travel technology. Basically, there is an elastomer where the seat stays meet the seat tube that allows for a very small amount of rear wheel travel – up to 17mm. BMC includes three different durometers of the elastomer so riders can customize the feel to their liking. Swapping out the elastomer is done easily by removing two bolts.
The teamelite 01 comes with one of three builds, from the $4,700 XT to the $10,600 XTR Di2. BMC also has the teamelite 02 which is carbon but does not have MTT, as well as the aluminum-framed teamelite 03. Prices for the 02 range from $2,500 to $3,800, while the aluminum bike ranges from $1,300 to $1,700.
On the full suspension side, the fourstroke has 100mm of travel front and rear with 29″ wheels. There are two tiers on the fourstroke: the 01 is a full carbon frame while the 02 uses a carbon front triangle with an aluminum rear. Prices for the fourstroke start at $3,500 and reach a stratosphere-scraping $13,000 for the team edition bike with XTR Di2.
As for trail bikes, BMC offers the speedfox series. Now hang with me here, because the names can get a little confusing. The speedfox 01, 02, and 03 all have 29″ wheels with 130mm of travel front and rear. Like their other bikes, the 01 denotes a full carbon frame; the 02 is a carbon front with an alloy rear; and the 03 is all metal. The speedfox 03 with an SLX/XT build runs $3,000, and the top of the line speedfox 01 with an XT/XTR build goes for $6,500.
Moving into the “all-mountain” category, BMC offers the speedfox trailcrew. The trailcrew versions of the speedfox use 27.5″ wheels and get 150mm of travel at both ends. The speedfox trailcrew 03 is the bike I rode at Cane Creek with their new C-Quent shock. Pricing for the trailcrew line begins at $3,300 and tops out at $5,500.
And finally, for the ultimate in trail-smashing capability, BMC has the trailfox. The trailfox is a 29er with 160mm of front travel and 150mm of rear. It has a 6- degree headtube angle, 435mm-long chainstays, and a healthy reach of 460mm on the size large frame. The half carbon, half aluminum trailfox 02 runs $6,000, while the all-aluminum trailfox 03 comes in at $4,000.
