BMC’s Rohan Dennis, the reigning champion of the Santos Tour Down Under, is clearly hungry to win the 2016 edition of his hometown race.
As a multiple team pursuit world champion on the track, Dennis conquered the world hour record last year with an impressive 52.491km (since beaten by Sir Bradley Wiggins). If that weren’t enough, the 25-year-old went on to win the opening Tour de France time trial with a record-breaking individual TT average speed of 55.45km/ph.
We had a look at Dennis’ bike last year, and at first glance thought his 2016 team bike was unchanged bar a few graphic refinements. In many ways we were right: it’s BMC’s well-rounded TeamMachine SLR01 carbon frame at the heart, and the component sponsors of Shimano, SRM, Continental, 3T and Elite all carry over too.
There's more than just a graphics change here...
However, pulling out the tape measure reveals that Dennis has gone up a bike size for 2016, refining his position to best tackle the 2016 WorldTour season.
Related reading: Rohan Dennis’ world hour record bike
A stem with a steeper angle is used to overcome the 20mm higher head tube
Going from a 56 to a 58cm TeamMachine, Dennis has slightly refined his position. He’s now more forward relative to the bottom bracket and has switched from his 130mm / 6 degree stem to one with -17 degree dump to overcome the taller head tube.
Looking over last year’s bike, it was clear his saddle was slid back on the extremes of its rails. Now, the lighter carbon saddle is right in the middle.
Being more forward of the bottom bracket, his saddle height has gone up too.
Sliding the saddle forward and post up is possible on the smaller 56cm frame of last year, but such a change would also affect his torso position and weight distribution on the bike.
Related reading: Rohan Dennis’ 2015 Tour Down Under winning bike
Reducing his frontal profile from the wind, Dennis appears to have moved to a slightly narrower 3T ErgoSum handlebar too.
Depending on what the stage holds, Dennis is likely to choose between Shimano’s C35 and C50 carbon tubular wheels. When we photographed the bike, it had the shallower 35mm-deep wheels.
Power goes here
Shifting wise, it’s the same generation of 11-speed Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 as seen last year, matched with a SRM Shimano power meter crankset. Dennis rides standard sized 53/39T chainrings up front, and a wider-range 11-28t cassette out back.
Complete bike specifications
- Frame: BMC TeamMachine SLR01 – size 58cm
- Fork: BMC TeamMachine SLR01, 1–1/8 to 1–1/2in tapered
- Headset: Sealed (unbranded)
- Stem: 3T ARX II Team, 130mm, -17 degree (team issue)
- Handlebar: 3T ErgoSum Team, 42cm (c-c) (team issue)
- Tape: 3T Team
- Front brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
- Rear brake: Shimano Dura-Ace BR-9000
- Brake levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
- Front derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 FD-9070
- Rear derailleur: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 RD-9070
- Shift levers: Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 STI Dual Control ST-9070
- Cassette: Shimano Dura-Ace CS-9000, 11-28T
- Chain: Shimano Dura-Ace CN-9000
- Crankset: SRM Shimano 11-speed, 172.5mm, 53/39T
- Bottom bracket: C-Bear Ceramic
- Pedals: Shimano 9000 Dura-Ace
- Wheelset: Shimano Dura-Ace C35 tubular
- Front tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
- Rear tyre: Continental Competition ALX LTD, 25mm
- Saddle: Fizik Arione R3
- Seatpost: BMC TeamMachine carbon, 15mm offset
- Bottle cages: Elite Custom Race (2)
- Computer: SRM Power Control 8 (PC7 pictured)
Critical measurements
- Rider's height: 1.82m (6ft)
- Rider's weight: 71kg (157lb)
- Saddle height from BB, c-t: 785mm
- Saddle setback: 77mm
- Seat tube length (c-t): 575mm
- Tip of saddle to middle of bar: 589mm
- Saddle-to-bar drop: 101mm
- Head tube length: 183mm
- Top tube length (effective): 575mm
- Total bicycle weight: 7.06kg (15.56lb) (with SRM Power Control 7 head unit)