TESTED: BMC Team Elite

WHAT: BMC Team Elite HOW MUCH: $1,075 (frame and headset) WHERE: www.bmc-racing.com

When Tyler Hamilton piloted a flashy, yellow and black BMC to victory in Athens, both the bike and rider became instant household names. Shortly thereafter, Hamilton flunked the Olympic dope test and, thanks to the ensuing media cyclone, BMC became the bike of choice for racers who will do whatever it takes to win.

While assuming Hamilton guilty may be a harsh generalization, BMC’s reputation as purveyors of no-holds-barred race bikes is 100-percent truth. Take this Team Elite 01 for example.

BMC bonded a triple-butted, Easton 7005 aluminum tubeset to carbon fiber seatstays and seat tube and added an aluminum knuckle. Dubbed a “crosslock skeleton,” the unique joint boosts strength and stiffness by providing a wider welding surface for the oversized triangular toptube. To ensure that not a single watt of power is lost from frame flex, a monster bi-axially ovalized downtube operates as the frame’s backbone.

Quality Bicycle Products, the nation’s largest parts distributor to retailers and BMC’s sole U.S. importer, offers a warehouse full of parts options to hang from the bikes. Although QBP only sells through local bike shops, the entire build process—from inception to delivery—usually takes less than three days. For our 19-inch test bike, QBP matched the frame’s cutthroat efficiency with a best-of-everything parts kit that built up just over 22-pounds, complete with pedals.

Straight out of the box, our Team Elite was capable of winning a world cup. The super-stiff oversized tubing begged to be raced. While mashing the 46-tooth big ring with all the power I could muster, there wasn’t a hint of flex or wasted energy. Even on the steepest grades the bike just rocketed forward in a way that seemed to ask, Is that all you got, punk?

All mocking aside, the carbon seat tube and stays absorbed some of the small trail vibrations, dulling the stutter bumps that can amount to fatigue. This left more energy to focus on burning lungs and legs, instead of an aching lower back. But even with all the compliant carbon fiber, it’s clear the Team Elite is an aluminum race bike; it’s not nearly as supple as a steel or full-carbon frame.

The geometry was similarly suitable for the world cup circuit. The race-issue 71-degree head angle and near 42-inch wheelbase made the Team Elite scream around corners and react instantly to the smallest hints of body movement. The tradeoff became immediately apparent on sketchy descents. Negotiating rock gardens and ruts required the steady hands of a surgeon, especially with the narrow 22-inch bars on our test bike.

The quick angles and super-stiff frame sure didn’t reward daydreaming or bird watching, but in a race environment—when fighting elbow-to-elbow and wheel-to-wheel for position among one hundred riders obsessed with victory—the frame is ideal. If you’re looking to do whatever it takes to win, check out the Team Elite.