BMC Impec EPS Frameset - Race Fit

The BMC Impec looks like many a high-performance carbon-fiber frameset, but underneath the paint and clear-coat, it is unlike anything ever built. And this difference is what makes the Impec's ride so special.

 

The Impec took years to design, but its ride was certified virtually out the door. Cadel Evans rode one on his victorious 2011 Tour de France ride. His input, based on his outputs, confirmed what the BMC engineers believed. The bike can handle the stresses of even the most demanding racers with aplomb. Stiff, light, comfy, tracks well going down, feels stable going up: it has the full suite of attributes everyone wants.

 

This is neither a molded frame, nor a typical tube-to-tube construction. It has elements of both yet takes them to new levels. This is because BMC's engineers realized they needed to more precisely control fabrication processes in order to get the ride quality they were looking for. All the tubes are made via BMC's Load Specific Weave (LSW) process. They weave them with an eye to putting more material where it's needed and less where it isn't.  There isn't a round tube on the bike. After the tubes are woven, the resulting carbon-fiber sleeve is placed over a negative mold and a positive mold goes over that, with the resin injected once this is done. The process gives shape and rigid form and incredible compaction. The finished tubes are joined to nodes, part of BMC's Shell Node Concept (SNC), molded two-piece ultra-light joints that sandwich the tubes and permanently affixed with epoxy. The whole process is automated, so that each element is precisely controlled the same exact way each time it is created and equally precisely joined together each time. Every frame comes out perfectly with the same exact characteristics for its size.

 

The one way that the Impecs differ is by size. Realizing that bigger riders on bigger frames exact more force, the weaves change through the size run to reflect this reality. This way, smaller riders aren't getting an overbuilt frame and bigger riders won't have an underbuilt one.

 

Another way the Impec separates itself from the pack is precision of the finished product. There are two different geometries, Performancefit and Racefit, and three different cabling setups, Shimano Di2, Campagnolo EPS, and mechanical. Electronics can run with a battery inside the seat post or outside on the frame. Cables run internally regardless of the choice you make. 

 

The different geometries reflect the reality of getting wildly different body types onto the same bike. Racefit is lower, for people with great flexibility, a long torso, a desire to be set up in a position, as long and as low as a mythic ProTour racer would take, possibly all three. Performance fit is for people with less flexibility, longer legs, a position that still works well without having to resort to a stack of spacers, in other words, a position for most people. Seat and head angles largely remain the same, but the head tube is lengthened by about 20mm and the top tube shortened by one millimeter.

 

The cabling options are about perfectly mating the shifting system to the frameset. No reason to plug ports for internal cable routing when you don't need them. And Campagnolo's EPS system has different requirements than Shimano's Di2.

 

The Impec comes with: a proprietary carbon-fiber BMC seat post that is available in three different setbacks (+5mm, -10mm, -30mm). There's a BB30 bottom bracket. The steerer tube tapers from 1 1/8" to 1 1/4". And in a rarity, it comes with a lifetime warranty and no rider weight limit.

 

To experience the future today, the BMC Impec is the ride.