BMW bike has mountains of class
BY TIM BRITTEN | 19th Jun 2000
Its fat-tyred, dual suspension off-roader went only to a selected few BMW car owners who were prepared to pay a significant premium over other bikes offering much the same technology for a lot less money.
Now the Bavarian company is back with a new line of two-wheelers that offers improved design and better performance, yet is more reasonably priced.
The latest showcase of BMW's ability to tackle domains other than motorcars comes in two basic forms - the $3440 road-going Q5.T and the $5040 bush-bashing Q6.S.
Similar to the last series of BMW bikes, the latest versions use an aluminium frame with front and rear suspension, and are foldable so they can be stored in all but the smallest car boots.
Both use a front suspension system unique to pushbikes with inspiration coming from the "Telelever" design used on BMW motorbikes.
The Q6.S employs the motorbike system pretty faithfully with an adjustable coil-spring shock absorber located on a swing arm mounted to the main frame, and four-inch travel telescopic sliders on the front forks.
The less heavy duty Q5.T uses a frame-mounted swing arm but has its suspension built into the head stem where it looks suspiciously like the design employed by US mountain bike manufacturer Cannondale.
The rear suspension is nothing tricky. Both bikes use a simple swing arm mounted below the bracket locating the crank and a coil-shock arrangement on the main frame allowing four inches of wheel travel.
Clearly, the off-road version is the main image builder. With its beefy aluminium X-shaped frame, front and rear hydraulic disc brakes and high level 27-speed Shimano XT componentry, the BMW is able to make tracks where other bikes might fear to go.
The Q6.S comes in three frame sizes - small, medium and large - and is available in two very high-tech industrial colours - Silver and Anthracite. A higher level, Shimano XTR equipped version of the Q6.S priced at $6660 is also offered.
BMW says the Q6.S chases the much more expensive range of Porsche mountain bikes, offering similar levels of quality and ability at more reasonable prices.
BMW is largely responsible for the design of the frames but does not do the building. That is done by an expert bike-builder in Italy. Still, there is more BMW in these bikes than in some other bikes wearing car badges. In many cases a manufacturer simply takes an existing bicycle and adds its own badge.
The bikes will be sold through BMW dealers only, alongside other products aimed at increasing brand awareness.
They will come with a full guarantee including one year's free service and the buyer also pedals away with a comprehensive range of accessories as part of the deal. These include a lighting system, comprehensive tool kit and transport bag.
Servicing will be done not by the dealer, but by specified bike specialists.
Of course, BMW is not shy about offering bike owners the opportunity to buy associated, branded product such as special clothing, alloy water bottle, security lock and a specially designed tool box.
RIDING IMPRESSIONSOBSERVERS of the booming mountain bike business might note the Q6.S looks like a cross between a heavy duty, long wheel travel downhill racer and a more agile, lightweight cross-country design.
That in fact is the case, because the BMW weighs in at a not unreasonable 12.5kg and is geared more for horizontal than vertical speed.
Yet the suspension - spring and shocker rates are fully adjustable on the move - is pretty cushy with decent travel front and rear doing a lot for rider confidence when pointing down steep, rutted and rocky slopes.
But four inches of travel is not really the stuff of which proper downhillers are made - you don't start getting serious with anything much short of eight inches.
And in a cross-country context, a rear suspension as basic as this is not going to help the rider trying to make up ground on a steep uphill climb as the rear end bobs up and down with energy-draining insistence on each pedal stroke.
The disc brakes, from high profile component supplier Magura, are more cross-country than downhill, although they are very powerful if a little less than progressive in action.
The Telelever front suspension is a clever design with the front forks acting as sliders only, but the preview bikes suffered from unwelcome degrees of -stiction' in which the movement was less than smooth.
Because each of the four test bikes varied in this regard, the problem could likely be minimised during the setup process.
The lower ball joint on which the steering swivels was also less than silent and smooth during the short demonstration ride and the feeling was this would probably also respond to attention during the setup stage.
The overall impression of BMW's latest was of a solid, tough and quite amazingly cushy off-road bike that could be used in either cross-country or downhill contexts quite effectively, but without surpassing the more specialised bikes in either category.
But there is enormous cache in riding a bicycle with BMW pressed in unmistakably large letters in the main frame.