2024 BMC

Fourstroke THREE

Refined geometry and tech make this XC bike a blast to ride on any trail

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The BMC Fourstroke 01 Two packs race-winning pedigree, but it also makes for a superb single track machine.

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You'll find plenty of short loops to smash out, all of which are easy to access from the trailhead and a good match for our short-travel test bike fleet.

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What happens when you take a super progressive cross-country bike and beef it up with a downcountry spec?

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Tom Pidcock’s race machine with a bit more oomph, BMC’s Fourstroke LT gives mere mortals a bit of a safety net that takes it into best down-country territory. Need to know Long-travel version of the BMC Fourstroke that Tom Pidcock races Fox 34 SC fork delivers 120mm travel to match the rear Remote lever offers three distinct suspension modes Integrated bump-stops protect the frame and allow for straighter and stiffer downtube Sag indicator on the upper link makes for easy suspension set up Available in four frame sizes Priced at €8,499 (no UK pricing as yet) Tom Pidcock is one lucky son of a gun. And not because Mathieu van der Poel went out the front door at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It’s not even because on any given day he can race for the win at the highest level in road racing, cyclo-cross or mountain biking. That’s down to a lifetime dedicated to his craft and good genetics, not good fortune. When I say Pidcock is lucky, it’s because he was in the fortunate position of being able to choose which mountain bike he wanted to race. A rare position for a sponsored rider at any level, let alone someone capable of competing for, and ultimately winning, Olympic gold. How did he find himself in this particular situation? He currently rides for Ineos Grenadiers and the team is sponsored by Pinarello for Road and Cross. Because the  Italian brand doesn’t make a XC full-suspension race bike, that left Pidcock free to choose. Rumour has it, he tested a bunch of bikes from different brands before settling on the BMC Fourstoke. Not that you could tell he is riding one as all of the graphics have been removed. Now, given that BMC gets no direct publicity we can only assume that no money changed hands and it was genuinely Pidcock’s first choice. That, or, it is one of the best guerrilla marketing campaigns ever. Given that Pidcock has a custom build with electronic SR Suntour suspension, it’s hard to know which configuration of Fourstroke he’s riding. That’s right; there are two, and both use the exact same full carbon frame. The standard Fourstroke gets a 50mm stroke shock to deliver 100mm of travel, while the LT version we have here retains the same eye-to-eye length but gets a 5mm longer stroke to boost travel to 120mm. But the numbers don’t quite add up. If the standard Fourstroke delivers 100mm of travel from a 50mm stroke shock that gives it a 2:1 leverage ratio. Now, given that BMC upped the shock stroke by 5mm on the LT, it should be obvious that it will only provide an extra 10mm of travel. So the LT is a 110mm bike not a 120mm bike, which is exactly the amount of travel that I measured in the workshop. To confuse matters further, the stock Fourstroke actually has 104mm of travel, and BMC rounds it down. The shortfall in travel on the LT could also …Continue reading »

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