Tom Pidcock has been showing impervious form this year, with an Olympic gold medal topping off his already glittering season – winning De Brabantse Pijl ahead of Wout van Aert and then taking the second round of the 2021 XC World Cup in Nové Město, ahead of Mathieu van der Poel, Mathias Flückiger, and cross-country legend, Nino Schurter.
Here at CW, we like to keep to the curly bars, but considering the significance of Tom Pidcock’s victory, being first British rider ever to take gold at the Olympic cross-country race, as well as his already shinning palmarès on the road and in cyclocross – we’ll make a special exception.
So, let’s dig into the details of that bike.
BMC Fourstroke mountain bike
Competitors at the Olympics will typically ride the bikes of their trade teams – Richard Carapaz, as a rider for Ineos Grenadiers, won the road race on Saturday aboard a Pinarello.
But although Pidcock is also part of that British-based team, Pinarello doesn't actually have a suitable mountain bike in its line-up for him to ride. So, instead, the Yorkshireman has turned to Swiss manufacturer, BMC, to meet his mountain bike requirements.
He’s had the choice of either a hardtail (the Twostroke) or a full-sus rig (the Fourstroke). With the exception of the World Cup round at Albstadt – which is particularly hilly and not so rough – Pidcock’s been riding the Fourstroke this year, and that’s the bike he took to the technical Tokyo 2020 course.
(Image credit: Michael Steele via Getty Images)
The frame offers 100mm of rear suspension travel, takes 29in wheels and is even available with an integrated dropper seatpost – which not only looks a lot cleaner, but saves around 100 grams over a conventional dropper. It’s available with just 80mm of drop, but that is sufficient for XC racing.
The groupset he’s running is at least sponsor correct with Ineos Grenadiers, being Shimano’s top-flite 12-speed XTR. With 11-speed XTR coming in a Di2 version and SRAM’s MTB groupsets now being electronic down to the third tier, it may come as a surprise that a conventional gear cable is still used here.
But more shocking perhaps even than that, if you look closely, it appears as though Pidcock is running his brakes Euro-style.
(Image credit: Michael Steele via Getty Images)
The suspension is handled by Suntour, with the Edge shock at the rear and the AXON-Werx34 Boost EQ SR fork at the front – likely matching the rear suspension travel at 100mm. It’s possible to spot a remote lockout lever on the handlebars, however, that looks as though it will only be operating the shock at the rear.
After winning the 2019 National Single-Speed Cross-Country Mountain Biking Championships and claiming the plushie unicorn (true story), Stefan swapped the flat-bars for drop-bars and has never looked back.
But his favourite rides are multiday bikepacking trips, with all the huge amount of cycling tech and long days spent exploring new roads and trails - as well as histories and cultures. Most recently, he’s spent two weeks riding from Budapest into the mountains of Slovakia.
