It is built using unique manufacturing method, with BMC weaving all its own tubes in-house before putting them together using two clamshell half-lugs, also built in their home base of Switzerland. The degree of control over the entire process is almost unheard of in the cycling industry, where very few manufacturers produce their own carbon fiber and almost none build bikes in the same country they’re based in. Giant and Time are two notable exceptions.
But the Impec has yet to make it to market, and BMC even pulled most of their professional team riders off the bike this spring. At a recent BMC mountain bike launch, marketing manager Larissa Kleinmann explained that the company is still perfecting the resin needed for mass production, and that the bike should finally be available later this year.
For this year’s Giro there is an even split between team riders who are back on the Impec and those who have stuck with the Team Machine. Johann Tschopp, winner of stage 20 at the 2010 Giro with his old Bouygues Telecom squad, is one rider who will be putting the Impec through its paces for the next three weeks.
Johann Tschopp will be hoping to repeat his 2010 Giro stage win on his BMC Impec. Photo: Caley Fretz
Johann Tschopp will be hoping to repeat his 2010 Giro stage win on his BMC Impec. Photo: Caley Fretz
BMC’s industrial look is umistakeable. Photo: Caley Fretz
Tschopp’s Impec routes the Di2 cables cleanly through the chainstay. Photo: Caley Fretz
BMC connects its tubes with injection-molded composite lugs, which the company calls its Shell Node Concept. Photo: Caley Fretz
BMC has a slightly chunky industrial style that’s instantly recognizeable. Photo: Caley Fretz
The Impec is literally built by machines, with the carbon tubes woven by what is essentially a giant computerized loom on site. Photo: Caley Fretz
The frame arches serve a dual function of adding stiffness and making the frame immediately recognizable as a BMC. Photo: Caley Fretz
Tschopp won stage 20 of last year’s Giro d’Italia. Photo: Caley Fretz
The “shell nodes” are built in two parts then clamped around the frame tubes to hold everything together. Photo: Caley Fretz
Photo: Caley Fretz
BMC use Easton cockpits and wheels. Tschopp is on EC90 Aero tubulars and uses aluminum EA70 bits for his bar and stem. Photo: Caley Fretz
Most pros use aluminum bars for extra crash resistance and stiffness. Their bikes all sit at the 6.8kg weight limit anyway, so bar weight is of no concern. Photo: Caley Fretz
