- I've been invited by Shimano and BMC to
the sunny south of France to ride with
their pro racer, Titouan Carod, but also
check out a pretty revolutionary cross-country bike.
This is the BMC Fourstroke.
(upbeat pop music)
The BMC Fourstroke is a striking new
cross-country bike, born from the change
in demands of professional cross-country racing.
With the swing to shorter, faster,
more technically demanding tracks,
the bikes have had to change to keep up.
But is this one a big leap into the future
and the shape of those lightest race machines?
The bike's a 29er of course, it's full suspension,
it's got 100 millimeters front and rear.
A Fox 32 fork up front and a Float DPS on
the rear, both with remote lockouts.
Great kit.
But what makes this bike so revolutionary?
Well look at it, it's got the angles and silhouette of
a trail bike, not a cross-country Whippet.
A head angle of 67.5 puts it in the slacker end
of the market for a cross-country bike.
The medium bike comes with a 60 millimeter stem.
But this isn't an attempt to mellow out
a cross-country race bike for the masses,
this is a race machine used by the BMC
team riders at World Cup XCO races.
(upbeat techno music)
The frame has been designed so it's one-way specific,
and that means you can just use more space down in
the bottom of the frame to widen it,
give it really good tire clearance,
make it really stiff right in that lower pivot,
but also make sure the chain stays nice and short
to make the bike super lively.
But this could be the most radical thing, yes RAD,
actually stands for Race Application Dropper seatpost.
So it's got an integrated seatpost, that's a
world first for a cross-country race bike,
where many riders are reluctant to take that
weight disadvantage of actually fitting a drop seatpost.
This weighs in at just 345 grams.
So it's completely integrated in the bike.
It doesn't actually look like a drop seatpost at all.
It's an oval shape, to make sure it doesn't move at all.
That might also make it the world's
first aero-dropper seat post.
You also adjust your saddle height as normal,
with a pinch bolt, but it's down here on that seat tube.
So what is the weight penalty?
Well, the post weighs in at 345 grams.
Compare that to a RockShox Reverb, 560, or even
the KS LEV carbon seat post still weighs in at 419 grams.
Coincidentally, 345 grams is about the weight
you'd get back for getting rid of the
front mech and that front shifter.
Because this is a one-way only bike.
And again, that suits the needs of the
modern cross-country race pros, or
even the leisure riders, we've
got that big 12 peak speeds that's a 1045
on this bike, but of course you
can go up to that 1051.
(jazzy rock music)
Full Shimano XTR groupset on this bike, so you've
got those new XTR brakes as well, got the
carbon levers up on the bars, and we've got those
Ice Tech FREEZA Rotors on.
They actually look quite different to the older ones.
Also got that brand-new rear max, you got that
big carbon cage and those 13 tooth jockey wheels.
Also don't forget though, when you shift up
to those lower gears, it backs off the
spring tension on that mech, just to make sure
those shifts are really nice and easy and smooth as well.
12-speed makes your bars just that bit cleaner,
and gives it the space for the
dropper remote and the lockouts.
The XTR cassette is made of three materials.
Aluminum at the top for the lowest gears,
titanium in the middle, and steel at the bottom
for the hardest-wearing gears.
It's got that hyperglide plus working
both ways on the cassette, which means that the
shifts are clean and quick going both up and down.
The bike comes with DT Swiss wheels that are
XR 1501 SPLINE wheelset, it's got 25 mil wide rims.
Also, those hubs, they've got the license to
run those new XTR cassettes on,
only a couple manufacturers have that.
Premium carbon throughout, even this
suspension linkage is carbon fiber,
and that saves 40 grams of weight on the
alloy alternative, but also gives a really
stiff link for that APS rear suspension.
To make sure this bike is compliant,
but also really pedaling-efficient.
This is a bike that Titouan Carod
actually rides all the time now.
It doesn't ride a hard tell for any cross-country races.
(jazzy rock music)
And what about some of those nice,
subtle touches on the bike?
Well it's got a fork stopper built into the down tube,
and that just stops any damage should your bar
spin round, and it also contains the cable routing.
An integrated dropper seatpost, progressive geometry,
Shimano 1/12, and super lightweight,
this bike is made to go fast up and down.
If you wanna see Titouan Carod go super fast
on this bike himself, try and go fast on this bike,
we raced each other and you can
click over there for that video.
If you wanna see some more cross-country
riding skills, click over there.
Hit that subscribe button and give
thumbs-up if you like really cool,
lightweight, fast cross-country bikes.