Julien Absalon is the only mountain biker who already has two Olympic gold medals in his display case. In terms of riding technique, the gap between permanent rivals Nino Schurter and Julien Absalon has never been smaller than in the 2016 season, but the 36-year-old Frenchman has worked hard over the winter and fitted his bike with a vario support, among other things.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to ride Absalon's Olympic bike. No amount of pleading or begging helped. Nevertheless, we were allowed to record the most important data such as weight, equipment and handlebar position.
BMC Teamelite by Julien Absalon
Julien Absalon's competition bike is a version of the BMC Teamelite 01 converted to 1x11. In place of the front derailleur is a chain guide specially developed by BMC, which keeps the Shimano chain in place even in rough terrain. The battery of the Shimano Di2 drivetrain and the electronic lockout are well concealed in the steerer tube of the Fox fork. Absalon even mounts a telescopic seatpost that can be lowered by 75 mm on his competition bike so that he can stay on Schurter's rear wheel on the downhill.
Julien did not yet know in Albstadt whether he would be riding a fully or a hardtail in Rio. For normal bikers, there is a replica version of the BMC Teamelite 01 XTR Di2 for the proud price of 9999 euros.
www.bmc-switzerland.com
What the team mechanic says
"Julien likes an extremely hard pressure point on his brakes. I often bleed the brakes several times until they feel perfect. When training on the track before a World Cup, we change the tyres up to three times to find the perfect profile with the perfect compound. Apart from that, Julien has become more relaxed, he no longer fusses over every gram. If the track is hard, he sometimes puts on heavy protection tyres."
How the BMC Teamelite rides
We hit the proverbial granite with the BMC team. Only one person rides the bike of two-time Olympic champion Julien Absalon - and that's him. However, last year we already had the opportunity to test the innovative BMC MTT (Micro Travel Technology) system in the more affordable BMC Teamelite 01 XT.
The elastomers used in the seat stays offer up to 17 millimetres of suspension travel, depending on the hardness used, and noticeably increase riding comfort, especially on rough sections. One reason why Absalon could well do without the use of his fully. Click here for the test
The complete test story on the Olympic bikes of Fumic, Schurter & Co. can be found in BIKE 9/2016.
The complete issue
can also be read in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or the issue in the DK-Shop reorder:
