Australian Rohan Dennis finished second overall at the Amgen Tour of California last year and with time running out on the 2016 edition, his best hope at erasing his deficit in the GC standings lies in the 20.3km-long stage 6 time trial in Folsom. Dennis finished second on an identical course in 2014 on a Cervélo P5; this time around, he’ll go for broke on BMC’s striking TimeMachine TM01.
Stealth fighter
The BMC TimeMachine TM01 that Dennis will pilot is about a striking a machine as time trial bikes get with dramatically angular lines, hidden front and rear brakes, and an external-steerer fork that allows for an ultra-narrow front end. Whereas standard TM01s make do with an aluminum stem and modular spacers to adjust handlebar reach, the one Dennis uses features a one-piece carbon setup that melds a 3T Brezza II base bar to a custom stem — definitely best to measure twice and mold once.
The build kit is otherwise essentially off-the-shelf, including a complete Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 transmission, an SRM power meter, speedy 22mm-wide Continental Podium TT tubular tires, and a TT-specific fi’zi:k Ares k:ium saddle with its characteristically snub nose and grippy appliqués on the nose to help keep Dennis from needlessly sliding about.
Whereas Dennis and rest of the BMC team normally use Shimano wheels on the road, however, his time trial bike goes off-script with a HED three-spoke carbon tubular up front and a Lightweight flat disc out back — both of which are run without any identifying labels.
Total weight without bottle or computer head is 8.30kg (18.30lb).
Rohan Dennis is hoping for a big result during the stage 6 individual time trial at the Amgen Tour of California.
Traditional dimensions like top tube length essentially mean nothing on a time trial bike. It’s all about stack and reach, or where the top of the head tube sits in relation to the bottom bracket – and in all honesty, that’s how it should be for road bikes, too.
The BMC timemachine TM01 is still one of the most striking time trial bikes on the race circuit.
The hidden seatpost binder makes for a clean external profile.
3T makes custom base bar and stem assemblies just to fit the BMC timemachine TM01.
The UCI recently relaxed its rules regarding time trial positioning so last year’s proliferation of straight extensions is essentially over.
Dennis’s SRM PC8 computer is tilted curiously upward.
Only the extensions are wrapped with traditional handlebar tape.
The base bar makes do with just a few strips of grip tape.
Dennis is using Continental’s speedy Podium TT tubulars front and rear.
It’s fairly common these days for top-end time trial bikes to sport hidden brakes but BMC was early to the party.
The rear disc isn’t labeled but it doesn’t take too keen an eye to know what it is.
The visible spoke pattern reveals this to be a Lightweight.
SRM is still one of the more popular power meter options amongst the pro ranks.
While the junction box is left out in the open for easier servicing, the Shimano Di2 battery is hidden away inside the seat tube.
The BMC team uses bottom bracket adapters from FSA.
The linear-pull rear brake is nestled below the chainstays, just behind the bottom bracket.
The rear skewer handle is pointing forward, as always.
Dennis will push huge gears during the Amgen Tour of California time trial.
Fi’zi:k apparently grew tired of seeing athletes deface its saddles with haphazardly applied grip tape so the time trial-specific Ares comes with grip material straight from the factory.