I was just wondering how the BMC SL01 rode compared to the Lemond Zurich. The BMC is an Alu frame with Carbon seatstays but is has the BMC skeleton design. I know BMC are Swiss so i'm not sure if anyone has ridden one extensively. The BMC frame would be built up with Ultegra and Ultegra Hubs to Open Pros. Also QBP says the BMC frame is 3.96lbs with a fork and headset, how heavy is that? Both bikes are around $1500 and Giant is out of Medium complete TCR bikes so that is out of the question.

-TS

It seems that there is a lot of love for the zurich on this forum, which is bizzare to me. If you want a steel ride, buy a steel bike. If you want a carbon ride, but can't afford a carbon bike, get aluminum with carbon stays. Mixing the heavyest and lightest materials availible just doesn't make sense to me. I've ridden the zurich, and I used to be a big lemond fan, but this bike just feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be. If you like steel, check out gunnars, otherwise I'd stick with the BMC. Lemonds just feel goofy.

It seems that there is a lot of love for the zurich on this forum, which is bizzare to me. If you want a steel ride, buy a steel bike. If you want a carbon ride, but can't afford a carbon bike, get aluminum with carbon stays. Mixing the heavyest and lightest materials availible just doesn't make sense to me. I've ridden the zurich, and I used to be a big lemond fan, but this bike just feels like it doesn't know what it wants to be. If you like steel, check out gunnars, otherwise I'd stick with the BMC. Lemonds just feel goofy.

I am not trying to discount how you thought the Lemond felt, as that is your impression of the bike. But there is a very valid reason for the mix of carbon and steel, at least in theory. Now, if Lemond got it right or not is a whole other issue. But the reason to make a steel/carbon bike was so that you have all the ride quality of a good steel bike, but without the weight penalty. The carbon "backbone" as Lemond calls it is not at all meant to make the bike ride like a carbon bike, but it is meant to take as much as a half a pound off the frame's weight. Lemond feels that the "spine" of the bike will determine the ride quality of the bike and the "backbone" just sort of goes along for the ride. So the idea with those bikes is to make a bike that rides like every other steel bike they make, but to have it be quite a bit lighter. Sure, you could argue that it's a gimmick, but the counter arguement that it really does what they say it does could be made just as easy.

Sherpa, as for the BMC, to my knowledge, there have been less than 30 of those bikes make it to the US yet. Finding someone who has so much as touched one may be hard, let alone someone who has riden one.

Russ