Helped a friend build and fit his at the end of last year. Its a sweet bike.

I’ve the TM02 and I love it. TM01 should be amazing

I’m posing this more as a hypothetical but why not a cervelo p5, Argon 18 (the new one) or Scott plasma.

IMO for about 8k, I would need someone to explain to me why I didn’t want a p5. A new purple one in particular.

Thanks all - sounds like it would be hard to go wrong.

Re: the other options, I've looked at Cervelo, QR, etc, but can get a great deal on the BMC, so price wise it comes out significantly lower than the competitors for a fully integrated setup. Price comparison would be the P-Series/PR5 line of bikes and it seems like the BMC is the superior option between those types in terms of what you get for the $$.

I had an older BMC. It was a bit heavier than competitors in the same price range and not quite as good at climbing on a course with hills, but was super fast on anything flat. It felt like it had been optimized for those types of courses. Obviously things might have changed since 2016.

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Same ship than you. Bought the bike (my first tri bike) early this year for ca. CHF 5'600.- in a bike shop, almost new. P5 was on my shortlist, but the price difference decided for the BMC (P5 would have been CHF 8'000.- with poor wheels).

If I would be in the market today I might get the new Argon or the P5 or the Speedmax, as they have a bit more "bling factor" to me, also newer generation.

So far I changed the cockpit for the V-Cockpit, which is not so good looking, but confort goes before looks... I also changed the brackets of the aerobars in order to have 10° of tilt. Still haven't figured out which is the best hydration system.

I am quite happy with the bike, although I don't have much experience with these kind of bikes. Only thing I dislike are the button (blips) for gear change on the basebars, I find them hard to press on. I like the box and the bag on top of the frame.

Regarding lifetime cycle, I would expect a new model to come out next year or the year after.

I sold my TM02 this year, which I loved, and was in the market for a new bike. I looked at the the TM01, but the design hasn't changed in 4 years, it's starting to look a bit dated, I guess if you bought it and they brought out a new model next year, you might struggle to get a decent price for it if you sold it?

What about the P-series with SRAM etap? I like the single chainring, no front derailleur, nice and clean.

The main complaint against BMC has always been that they don't offer good value for money. I would compare BMC to Scott in that their international distribution network is very hit and miss and you don't get a lot of good deals on them in the big Tri markets. Here in the UK the TM 02 rim brake is about the same price as the 105 p-series so the TM 01 disc is well into P5/Px-Series territory.


The bento box mounting points are relatively far back on both the new TM disc and old TM rim brake frames. This makes more sense on the new disc version with its better integrated front end but you do still get the sense this bike was designed to be ridden without a bento box. I wouldn't be too concerned about whether or not the frame is due an update. This is peak aero frameset and they won't be able to make any new bike faster to any real extent. They might sort out more storage options but that drastically increase the price as well.

Might not be an issue for you but I took this off my short list due to tyre clearance only being 27mm. One of the benefits of disc is riding wider tyres,even on TT bikes.

Thanks again for all the comments here, super helpful all around!

Interesting the BMC is not viewed as a value buy by most--based on what I am seeing it is one of the few fully intergraded bikes with a decent set of stock wheels that retails for under $8K. Given that I can grab one for a few grand less, seems hard to beat on the value front. Am I missing something?

Re: the comment on 27mm tires, thanks for feedback. Not a particular concern as I usually run 25mm, but appreciate the insight!

Re: the other brands, price/value is what I keep coming back to with the competitors. The new Argon 18s looks sweet, but unfortunately I don't have a dealer anywhere near me...

I just bought a Time Machine 01 and so far really love it. To your point, I like that it comes standard with all the upgrades I need. My previous tri bike was a QR which I also loved. After approximately 600 miles on the bike, my assessment is similar to what one of the other posts mentioned - I feel faster on the flats, but don't seem to climb as well as I did on the QR.

You can get some great deals on BMCs with rim brakes at the moment.

You will get plenty of use out of it before it is superseded.
TM01 is fast and adjustable, the only reason to not get it would be if you couldn't hit your position numbers but you say that is sorted.

Thanks again everyone. Think I will go ahead and pull the trigger. It's also one the few bikes I can actually get right now, so that helps make the decision a bit easier. The new Argon 18s look awesome, but I have no dealer nearby and value making the purchase/relationship with the LBS. Thanks again for the input!

Which brackets did you go for?
I have been thinking about adding tilt to my Vcockpit and have started looking around, but haven't found too much around yet.
As for Hydration - Still trying to work that out, I have a PD Aeria, which I used a few months ago in a Half, and I am not sure I like the straw on it. It also is a little wider than where I like my arms, so I am reaching around the bottle, I think this might happen with a torpedo bottle too :( I am considering just using two frame mounted bottles, one three hour bottle and one for water. (And swap the three hour bottle at special needs in a full)

I bought the "official" BMC brackets called "TM01 V-Cockpit, angle brackets 10° left/right (301687)". They are currently available online at bike 24.

I am now also hesitating for the BTA as I have tilt, it might be complicated to fill a BTA with 10° angle...

Did you end up getting the Timemachine? If so, how is it?

I'm in the market as well. I just sold my Felt B12 after 12 or 13 seasons on it. I really liked that bike but I was long overdue for an upgrade.

I've been looking at the same price range, 8K. So far I really do like the Speedmax and the P5. My bike fit guy just emailed me this morning about checking out the TimeMachine (and reading this thread, that Argon18 looks nice!).

It's going to be hard to decide. Also, hard to get anything right now! I'm not in a super rush, but I don't want to wait for ever. I do have a long course Du in a month but it's hilly so I'm fine riding my Bianchi roadie. I don't think realistically I'll find something before then!

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

Yes, ended up buying it. Overall I’m happy with it. It fits well and I’ve had some good rides on it to date. Also think the bike looks super clean which is great.

Like you said it was one of the few high end bikes I could actually get. I also could not really find a better deal on a comparable bike (i.e., fully integrated, race wheels, etc.) I looked at a P5 but that would have ended up close to $10k once adding race wheels. Also looked at a PR6 and that would have been close to $8K. BMC seems to have caught onto this—for next years model it looks like they are charging $1K more for basically the same bike.

A few growing pains/things I wish I had known before buying (none of them would have necessarily changed my mind):

1. At least for me getting SRAM AXS dialed in took a few trips to the shop. Probably to be expected.

2. No matter how much adjustment I do/the bike shop does, I can’t get the rear disc break to run completely free without a very slight rub. This is more annoying than anything (I can’t imagine it costs more than 1 watt of resistance). I’ve been told this problem may go away once the breaks set, but curious if any other owners had this issue? Bike shop mechanics basically just said that a little rub was normal, and that SRAM was finicky.

3. At least in my opinion, the holes for the top tube storage box are too far back (near the saddle as opposed to the front of the bike). BMC claims this placement was a result of aero testing—I don’t know about that, but what I do know is that when I have the bento mounted near the saddle it sometimes rubs my inner quads which is super annoying. So far I’ve come up with two solutions for this, both of which work well (1) move the box forward and only use the forward most screw to mount it and use a command hook Velcro tab to make sure it’s secure or (2) use a profile hard case bento box which is narrower and does not rub. In my opinion, a small design flaw on BMC’s part.

4. This one was just bad luck, but the first frame I had, had a manufacturing defect. BMC replaced it, but I was not thrilled with their customer service. My local shop was great about it—they had another frame in my size and swapped it immediately, but BMC never returned my emails on the matter. In my opinion this was pretty bad form from a customer service perspective. Again, issue was ultimately resolved, but I expected more on the customer service end after spending such a significant load of cash. I’ve gotten better customer service from the DMV…

Again, none of these things were deal breakers, and the defective frame was just bad luck. Just wish I had know about them before, so paying it forward.

As for the customer service, hopefully I won’t have to deal with BMC much more, but if anyone is reading this from BMC, I’d suggest stepping up the game in that department. Just an honest opinion.

Thanks for the info! I've also read about that BMC bento box placement not being idea.

As for the actual bike defect, what was the issue? Just curious overall as I had some issues with my Bianchi and didn't like the customer service either.

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Empire Tri Coach
Team Gatorade Endurance
USATF Coach | NYRR Distance Pacer
Dad of twins

My understanding of the issue was that the fork was not molded correctly so there was not enough clearance between the fork and the head tube. The result was the two were grinding against each other when you put weight on the bars. Made it almost impossible to steer. The good news is that this seems to have been a one off issue. The shop had sold a number of frames and none of them had the issue, and BMC also claims they had never come across it either. Would not let it sway your decision—I’m sure all manufactures have their hiccups.

Must have been related to the recall they issued. https://www.bmc-switzerland.com/...download/QA_EN_1.pdf

I am about to get one as well, the frame only, TM disc 01 FRS, the red paint job is stunning, but just noticed the note on the 27mm tire width measured.

Does this mean i am pretty much limited to 25mm tires? Was planning to get a pair of 454 or use the current 404NSW (28mm)…

Cheers,
Dorin

I am thinking about pulling the trigger on this same red model. Did you do so? I have to decide by tomorrow if you are able to let me know. If so, can you summarize your build out and if you were satisfied overall?? Thanks so much!

Hi there,

which Hydration System can you recommend ?
I am still uncertain which I should go for as my bars are very close (in the front) - I am using s-bents.

Any good advice ?

Tom

Not yet, waiting to get the new zipp 454 to see indeed the tire clearance, going to 25mm tires is a dealbreaker for me, doing 10-12hrs rides i need every confort i get…
Did you buy it? What wheels config do you have?