BMC SLR01 Philippe Gilbert edition with Athena EPS

[Miller]

Wiring up the EPS ergo shifters gave me a challenge initially. There was nowhere obvious for the connecting cable to plug into and the supplied information sheet gave no clues. I twigged that there is a hatch on the outside of the ergo shifter. You have to mostly remove the rubber hood to see it, specifically you need to lift the hood over the thumbshifter to be able to reveal enough ergo body. The hatch is retained by two small screws.


With the hatch open, the Ergo EPS connector is revealed.


When joining EPS connector plugs you align the arrows on each plug. These blue ones are for the LH Ergo.


Now the cable can be pressed into the guide channels and the hatch carefully replaced.

[Miller]

Another new experience, pressing in BB86 cups. My homebrew tool is an M24 x 150mm bolt with a nut and a couple of washers. It didn't lack force to press in the cups and I used some Loctite 641 retaining compound to make sure they stay. Here you can see the cup on the RHS of the picture about to be pressed in.

[ross]

Cool looking frame, am enjoying the detailed build pics

[Miller]

Cutting to the chase, I finished the bike this morning and here are some snaps.

Build list is:
BMC Teammachine SLR01 Di2 2013 Frame, forks, seatpost, Special Edition Philippe Gilbert World Champion
Athena EPS front mech
Athena EPS rear mech
Athena EPS Ergos
Athena EPS interface unit v1
Athena EPS battery v1
BB86 cups
Saddle Prologo Scratch Nack
Pedals Look Keo Blade cro-mo v1
Chainset 2010 Athena UT carbon 175mm 50-34
Chain Chorus
Cassette Chorus 12-27
Brakes TRP 970SL
Wheels Campagnolo Shamal Ultra 2-way fit 2013
Tyres Schwalbe One tubeless 25c
Bars Easton EC90 SLX3
Ritchey C260 120mm wet black
Bartape Fizik gloss white
Bottle Cage Bontrager Carbon
Garmin 500 w Raceware mount

Weight as pictured is 7.42kg.

[Miller]

After getting these photos I went off for an hour. Despite high pressure and an easterly wind, my feeling that it always rains on the first ride of a new bike was duly observed as I managed to select the only hour of the day where the clouds produced some drizzle. The way the bike rides feels sensational though. Ok, I've been riding a CX-framed bike with full mudguards all winter and any good road bike feels amazing when you jump onto it in spring. The SLR01 is a known favourite on this board and I can see why.

The EPS shifting is excellent. You just have to sort of think at it for the shift to happen. I haven't got the front shifting quite dialled in, I need to tweak it, and perhaps a 5 year old chainset is lacking all the pins and ramps of current production. Could be the excuse I need to get one of the new 4-arm chainsets!

[zzmkdw]

It turned out amazing. Congrats!

Today was the first day out on my TeamMachine as well. It really is an amazing bike. I was debating between the TeamMachine and the SuperSix Evo and I am confident i made the right decision. Very stiff, yet super comfortable and handled wonderfully.

[outnumbered]

You've changed the stairs in your house since I was last there.

Lovely bike and top fettling skills as ever.

[mac567]

Nice build with a great frame!
Shame about the superficial delamination on your headset crown fitting photo though... did you omit to deburr the aluminium race after you slotted it?
Also is there a big difference in ride and handling qualities from the SL01? Is it a big step up considering the frame price differential?

[Miller]

Thanks for the comments.

The fork is fine, being as it's not an internal surface I don't think companies bother much with cosmetic finish. And I *meant* to deburr the alu race but didn't get round to it.

As for the ride, with a grand total of 1 hour on the bike it's early to say but my immediate impression is of a lightness of response that the SL01 doesn't have. If I think of anything else useful to say I'll add it here after more riding. One thing relating to EPS/Di2, I think the steering feels lighter without gear cables being in the way. Downside of that is that the bar might be more prone to smacking the top tube if it gets bumped.

[mezanine]

that wonderful !! I bought the same frameset and want to ride campi record eps. Your post is a great help for me, but a question .. as you have placed the unitv1? You could show pictures please? greetings and thanks for all

[Miller]

Ok, I'll add some photos about that, give me a day or two.

[Miller]

I've ziptied the Interface unit underneath the Raceware out-front mount. I didn't like the idea of zipties round the stem. The black thing behind the interface unit is a Campag-supplied cable tidy clip but I'm not sure it's doing anything useful and I might remove it.



As this is an electronic-only frame the cable entry port to the frame is well placed beside the brake cable outer stop. I must say I was surprised that this frame has an external run for the rear brake cable, what's that all about?



Battery is external and underneath the downtube which is equipped with mounting points for a battery. I know it's not as elegant as an internal solution but I'm happy enough with it being down there. I do worry a bit about road dirt from the front wheel spraying onto the charge port and isolater magnet port.

[rheosibal]

heat shrink wrap instead of zip ties would make the cable routing a bit neater

[ALAN Carbon+]

Really nice looking bike, congrats on a great build. Agree with the suggestion of some white heat shrink or spiral wrap to keep the cables tidy.

[Miller]

Yes, I most likely will get around to tidying up the cabling. But you know what it's like, new bike that you want to ride, you finish it with whatever's lying around so you can get out and ride the thing.