Futuristic, sharp, and maybe a bit weird: over the last few days a lot of people talking about Swiss bike manufacturer BMC’s new Impec concept bike, which unveiled at the Eurobike 2014 in Friedrichshafen, Germany.

BMC is a producer that always seeks new probabilities, one good example is the previous BMC Impec Lamborghini edition. Defining their goal as “zero error in the production phase”, “handmade by machines” is the motto of BMC impec, referring to their use of customized industrial robotics in an automatized and controlled process to assemble advanced carbon fiber composites at high degrees of precision.

Now they took one step forward (well, a really big step) and unveiled their vision of what bikes may look like in the future, with the new BMC Impec concept bike. The bike was created in BMC’s “Impec advanced research and development lab”.

BMC Impec Concept road bike
BMC Impec Concept road bike – futuristic, sharp, and slightly “weird”

The main features are:

  • It is a one-legged bike: one-legged fork and one-legged chainstay.
  • There’s no rear triangle, due to absence of seat stays.
  • Disk brakes, of course.
  • The drivetrain is (crankset, chain, cassette, derailleurs) is neatly concealed.
  • One-piece integrated handlebar and stem.
  • No cable visible.
  • A computer that sits flush in the handlebar.
  • Vents in the stays present a cooling air intake for the disc brakes, a feature we see in the high-end sports cars.

The bike probably will never be produced. But it is likely that some of the ideas in this futuristic concept bike could be seen in BMC road bikes in the future.

BMC Impec Concept road bike - from back
BMC Impec Concept road bike – from back
BMC Impec Concept road bike - integrated headset
BMC Impec Concept road bike – integrated headset
BMC Impec Concept road bike - front
Narrower and more aero. The handlebar includes soft sections built into the bar, rather than traditional bar tape.
BMC Impec Concept road bike - details
An internal gearbox. Disc brakes are used, and the frame itself includes channels to direct air for cooling the calipers and rotors, similar to high-end sports cars.

Sources

M. Özgür Nevres

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