Over the years we’ve tested a few softails – a Cannondale (Scalpel 26-inch design), a Moots and a KHS. All of these designs are from a bygone era. We were surprised to see BMC revive the softail concept with their Teamelite 29-inch race bike and were curious to see how it performed.
By the TREAD testers
Photos: Liam Philley/TreadMTB
THE BIKE
Right, the first thing to clear up here is that a softail is NOT a bike with rear suspension as so many mistakenly think. A softail is a bike with no pivots in the rear triangle, but with some cushioning or ‘give’ to offer a measure of increased comfort and traction. And that’s what BMC has done with the Teamelite – turned a hardtail into a softail. The new design, dubbed Micro Travel Technology (MTT), has 15mm of vertical ‘travel’ through two small cylinders that move like fork stanchions. The elastomer insert provides the damping and it comes in soft, medium and firm (depending on rider weight). It’s quite simple to change (takes five minutes) and it adds just 140g of weight to the frame over the previous hardtail design of the Teamelite.
To prevent lateral movement, BMC has used two anodised studs that thread into the seatstays through a pair of DY bushings, just like the ones you’d find on an old suspension fork’s eyelets. BMC recommends that the system be cleaned, greased and checked every 30 hours of riding, with worn bushings replaced as necessary.
BMC completely re-designed the rear end of the frame to incorporate MTT, with rather different seatstay and chainstay profiles to ensure flex is all vertical and won’t fatigue the frame. The rest of the frame is BMC’s premium quality carbon, developed and fine tuned in the company’s Impec Lab.
The geometry is the same as its predecessor – a slackish 70-degree headtube and short chainstays (429mm). It comes in five sizes, including XS, which has a more curved toptube to offer better standover clearance. BMC gives the frame weight as 1080g, which is basically half the weight of BMC’s Fourstroke 01 top-end dual-sus frame.
It comes with a Fox 32 Float Factory Series FIT4 suspension fork with 100m of travel and remote lockout. Our test rig came with Reynolds 29XC Black Label carbon wheels, SRAM XX1 1×11 gearing, Shimano XTR hydraulic disc brakes, BMC carbon seatpost and handlebar and BMC stem and Prologo X10 saddle.
Our test bike came in Super Red, but it’s also available in ‘Stealth’ Black.
THE RIDE
When you lift the Teamelite 01 onto the bike rack, you’re immediately aware of its light weight. Yes, you can get lighter race bikes, but at 9.20kg with pedals, bottle cages and sealant, the Teamelite 01 is pretty damn svelte. Remember that the MTT damper bit adds 140g.
Our first test was to see if there was any compromise on lateral stiffness. We attacked a few familiar smooth-surfaced climbs of varying gradient and we powered out of some firm, corners – both fast and tight – and felt quite reassured that all pedal force was going into moving the bike forward. So no noticeable flex.
What was noticeable though was the vertical flex of the frame, both visually when looking at the elastomer damper and physically. On climbs, especially steep ones with rough, unpredictable surfaces, we were able to maintain more traction than on a traditional carbon hardtail, which is obviously one of the objectives of the BMC engineers. Sometimes, the difference between making a climb or stalling on it is rear-wheel traction. For serious racers, it’s that moment that can make or break your rhythm. That turning point in an important race which saw you finish with your head held high and smiling, or just skulking across the finish line wondering what might have been…
Descending on very rocky downs never really felt much different from a regular carbon hardtail. There was definitely some give but we didn’t feel more confident and kept our line choices sensible. Where we did notice the biggest difference was on bumpy slight gradient climbs and descents – and flat surfaces.
Where we’d normally have to unweight the saddle, we were able to stay seated and keep pedalling powerfully. This is usually where a lot of speed is lost or energy spent, depending on the rider’s state at the time. This is where the MTT technology, simple as it is, made the biggest difference.
We also felt benefits of the 15mm of ‘give’ in bumpy corners, especially bermed turns, where the rear stayed more planted than anticipated, offering more consistent rear-end traction.
In terms of shifting and braking, we never had any issues – the SRAM/Shimano combo used is used because it’s so reliable. The Reynolds wheelset we have reviewed in a previous issue of TREAD and the Continental Racing King tyres were superb, although it should be said that all our test rides were in dry conditions.
THE VERDICT
Only the top-of-the-range 01 comes with the MTT softail design. BMC’s Teamelite 02 and 03 models still use the hardtail frame. The MTT addition does push the price up (BMC did extensive R&D on this). So the Teamelite 01 really is the kind of bike you’d buy if you’re a little older, but still competitive; or just looking for improved efficiency and traction and don’t want to add the weight/price/complexity of a dual sus bike.
If marathon and XC racing is a big part of your life, you’d do well to test ride a Teamelite 01 to feel the benefits. The Teamelite 01 is not a bike for everyone, but for someone, this could be THE bike.
BMC SAYS
BMC’s Micro Travel Technology (MTT) is the evolution of several generations of advanced cross-country weaponry. The progressive composite engineers of the Impec Lab spent two years developing and perfecting the function and performance of the system.
Simply adding compliance to the rear end of the bike was not sufficient – doing so without loss of drivetrain efficiency, torsional rigidity, or steering responsiveness was near rocket-science. The end results of two years of research and development to create MTT, are the icing on the cake; virtually no weight penalty and incredibly low maintenance.
Micro-Travel Technology function is the result of the engineered performance of the chainstays and seatstays through complex carbon layups and the dual-guide, integrated XCell damper.
The advanced tube shapes of the seatstay and chainstay, and carbon material type and layup bring incredible performance for technically demanding trail conditions.
BMC TEAMELITE 01
GEOMETRY
SIZES: XS, S (tested), M, L, XL
TOP TUBE LENGTH: 584mm
SEAT TUBE LENGTH: 445mm
HEAD TUBE ANGLE: 70 degrees
SEAT TUBE ANGLE: 73.5 degrees
CHAINSTAY LENGTH: 429mm
WHEELBASE: 1081mm
*SPECS
PRICE: R84900
COLOURS: Super Red (also available in black)
FRAME: MTT Carbon
WEIGHT: 9.20kg (with pedals and bottle cages)
FORK: Fox 32 Float Factory Series FIT4 with Kashima coating, 100mm of travel and remote lockout
SHOCK: N/A
SHIFTERS: SRAM XX1
FRONT DERAILLER: N/A
REAR DERAILLER: SRAM XX1
CRANKSET: SRAM XX1 (30T)
BRAKESET: Shimano XTR hydraulic disc with 160mm rotors
WHEELS: DT Swiss XR 1501 Spline
TYRES: Continental Race King 29x 2.2 front and rear
OTHERS: BMC Compliance Post carbon seatpost, BMC MFB 720mm carbon handlebar, BMC MSM stem, ProLogo X10 saddle
CONTACT: www.swisscycles.co.za; 011 8802182
XC-MARATHON-TRAIL-FREERIDE
RECREATIONAL-COMMITTED-PERFORMANCE
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*Originally published in TREAD Issue 38, 2015 – All rights reserved
