BMC has added to its Masterpiece collection with the launch of the Teammachine R Mpc during the UCI Road and Para-Cycling Road World Championships in Zurich, Switzerland.
The Teammachine R Mpc is now one of three Mpc models – an abbreviation for Masterpiece – and at first glance, it closely resembles the stock Teammachine R, but sleeker and darker. It’s only when you get closer that you see the raw carbon finish, where one layer of the fibres are on show, neatly reflecting the light.
While objectively beautiful, the Teammachine R Mpc is arguably a niche flex. So, where did it come from?
The new Masterpiece features a raw carbon finish (Photo: Phil Gale)
In autumn 2023, BMC presented the Teammachine R, a bike designed to hit maximum performance metrics on aerodynamics, stiffness, compliance and weight. Despite having counterproductive demands – i.e. aero tends not to be lightweight – this bike, which was designed in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies and tested by Fabian Cancellara, was claimed to pull off the challenge on paper, in tests, and at races.
Now BMC has given it the Masterpiece treatment, which the brand says means opting for meticulous hand-laying of carbon in a select European facility, a no-limits exercise to maximise its performance. One major Masterpiece perk is the claim that the Teammachine R Mpc boasts the same stiffness, compliance and aerodynamic values as the non-Mpc Teammachine R, whilst reducing the weight by 110 grams. The other perks? The bike we’re looking at is one of just 200 that will ever be made due to the complexities of the process. You can see Mpc as something of a passion project for BMC.
The new version of the bike will be made in limited quantities (Photo: BMC)
The 110-gram weight reduction may not sound massive, but it is close to 10% of the weight of the current flagship R model, which means it was no easy feat for the Research and Development team at BMC, led by Stefan Christ.
Christ explains: “As road bikes progress, gains in performance get smaller, but each gain makes me hugely proud. The Masterpiece collection pushes certain bikes to the peak of their potential, something that traditional manufacturing and carbon layup methods can’t do right now.” With the Teammachine R 01 already having proved itself in the highest level of racing, this Mpc version will be used “on special occasions” by some riders in the Tudor Pro Cycling Team, fitting with its core principles of out-and-out performance.
The Teammachine R Mpc follows the Teammachine SLR into the Masterpiece collection, and Christ sees this as a natural progression: “Right now, I feel we’ve pushed our most cutting-edge bike to its highest level of performance.’
For those that are not familiar with BMC’s Masterpiece programme, it is an exercise in details to offer improvements on already top-flight bikes. If you want to dig into the specifics, there are three key differences with the Masterpiece production, compared to a stock BMC bike.
The frame only is one of the most expensive on the market (Photo: BMC)
1 - The precision of carbon layup: Each Mpc frame takes a highly skilled expert two days to lay up the carbon, compared to four to six hours in traditional factories where multiple people may share the task. This means there is zero excess, which saves weight while still hitting the performance metrics.
2 - Tooling precision: The weight savings owe a lot to the precision of the moulding, which is done in one piece to minimise bonding and frame connections.
3 - Zero finishing: There’s no buffing, polishing, or painting. BMC calls it “make-up free”. With such production levels, BMC can skip the finish for further weight savings.
Christ hopes the Teammachine R Mpc will resonate with discerning riders: “This bike is very Swiss, not just in being the pinnacle of what is possible today, but as a subtle status symbol – one that if you know, you know.”
Priced at 8,999.00 CHF/Euro/USD for the frame, fork and seatpost, the Teammachine R Mpc comes at a premium compared to the Teammachine R 01. It will be limited to 200 hand-laid frames, which means that this bike is certainly one for the connoisseurs out there who want to have the most premium package possible in a bike.
And if you’re not in the market for a Teammachine R Mpc this time around – rest assured that Christ and the team at BMC are already applying insights from this process to future non-Mpc models.
Cover image by Phil Gale
