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Bicycles

Lamborghini teams with BMC on (very) high-end racing bicycle

By Dave Parrack
April 22, 2012
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BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition
The new BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition takes the core of the flagship BMC road bike and adds several expensive bells and whistles
BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition

While many of us dream of one day owning a supercar, few will ever get the opportunity. The cost of ownership is huge; from the purchase price to the insurance, from the fuel costs to the secure parking. But names such as Lamborghini and Ferrari are revered for a reason. Their automobiles are more like aspirational objets d'art than mere people carriers able to get from A to B.

In recent years several of these luxury marques have added their name and design sensibilities to another mode of transport: the humble bicycle. Though these cross-bred beasts are far from humble. We've already seen the likes of Porsche, BMW and McLaren add their expertise to bike manufacturing, and now Italian supercar producer Lamborghini has joined the burgeoning list.

The new BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition takes the core of the flagship BMC road bike and adds several expensive bells and whistles. But no literal bells and whistles. Instead we get a suede saddle and handlebars airbrushed in the Argos Orange shade of the Aventador LP 700-4, unbranded carbon fiber rims, the Di2 electronic dérailleur system from Shimano, and the Lamborghini logo plastered on the frame.

The new BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition takes the core of the flagship BMC road bike and adds several expensive bells and whistles

This bike will set you back €20,000 (roughly US$26,000), an increase of almost $8,000 over the standard BMC impec (impec, by the way, is short for "impeccable"). So are the improvements made and features added worth that kind of money? I'm not convinced, but then I'm not part of the target audience for this kind of machine.

Even if you have got the money, desire, and need to own the BMC impec Automobili Lamborghini Edition, you'll have to fight to get hold of one. Only 30 of these limited-edition racing bikes are being produced in total, all "handmade by machines" at BMC's Swiss factory. To put your name down for one you'll have to head to your nearest Lamborghini dealer, of which there are 120 worldwide.

This is expected to be just the first release in a long-term partnership between the two companies. Although I doubt any of the concoctions brought to fruition by this particular alliance will be what us mere mortals consider affordable. Back to dreaming, I guess.

Source: Lamborghini

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BicyclesLamborghiniBMC
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Dave Parrack
Dave is a technology journalist with a ravenous appetite for gadgets, gizmos, and gubbins. He's based in the UK, and from his center of operations writes about all facets of modern and future technology. He has learned more in his five years writing for the Web than he did in 11 years at school, and with none of the boring subjects thrown in to the mix.
6 comments
The Hoff
" these cross-bred beasts are far from humble"? Come on Gizmag don't give them credit for even an ounce of innovation. There's nothing here but a logo slap job for the type of guys that buy the expensive watches.
Bruce Curtis
I ride a flawless Kestrel RT 800, so I am having trouble with the idea for spending another $20,000 just to have an electronic shifter and a Lambo decal, and that's making the huge assumption Lambo's frame supplier is as good as Kestrel. Then, the fact the Impec isn't even made by hand, it's a mechanically made, assembly-line bike, and I'm...yawn...
MasterG
Why has lambo sold out? If i wanted to be a ferraritard i would go get me all the ferrari stickered crap thats why i became a lambo fan oh no! now people will call us lambotards!
Luke George
Hmmm, so let's say your an even slightly enthusiastic rider.....how long before you wear out the tacky looking 'airbrushed' bar grips? Doubt your local bike shop will carry spares of that; a lambo/BMC speciality with a price to match I would imagine. Also, I'll admit this is coming from a rank amateur, but the geometry looks a little aggressive to be good for much else apart from racing and I personally would rather risk my reputation with something that doesn't single me out as a cast-iron c**k. Anyone notice that this thing is Fugly? My modest trek 1.5 with RS20s looks better than this.
RASchultz
I am very happy with my Cervelo R5ca. A real hand-built frame, and at 11.5 lbs, one of the lightest out there. The BBRight guarantees minimal flex and the bike climbs like a banshee. There is real innovation with this Cervelo as the frames are designed by actual engineers (structural, mechanical, aerodynamics) that are full-time Cervelo employees. Go to the Cervelo website and look at how they put strain gages all over a R3 and collected stress data. Many miles and 12 months later, the data collected was used to calculate where the real stresses were in a frame. This is real innovation! Most other frames, including the BMC are designed by industrial designers, then given to an engineer to make sure it is structurally sound so there is no innovation with this IMPEC.
As for Ferrari, as I understand it, they actually produce the carbon fiber tubing for Ernesto Colnago, hence the annual tribute bike from Colnago to Ferrari. Being that the Colnagos are lugged frames, I am guessing that Colnago just glues the frames together now?
Randolph Patterson
As a former amateur roadracer, I recall the countless "innovations" that appeared and bit it, in that order. Biopace rings, U-brakes, and even that wacked-out bike that a few of my friends owned for a time, the one with the motto, "Suspend the rider, not the bike". Or was it the other way around?, Oh, yeah, and thousand-dollar "Centennial" cruisers. I liked some of the concepts, such as Shimano's 7-speed internal hub, but much of it really was more of a modern iteration of a decades-old idea. Oval rings were around in the thirties, kids. Our circle of friends had to struggle to make our entry-level racers beat the snot out of the folks with full Campy gruppos on hand-built frames. I saw a few who were fortunate enough to buy truly expensive bikes and ride them in view of our raggedy clan of Wienmann- straightening, SR derailleur-adjusting misfits. But we had a name for those rich kids on spendy bikes. We called them POSERS!! About the new bikes in these articles: Unless Systeme U buys the whole lot, they ain't ever gonna be ridden in a real race. Most of them will by purchased by those who have that rarest of attributes, the combination of disturbing wealth and unfathomable stupidity. I could be so filthy rich that I'd have a chauffeur for my dog's walks, and I could never see the purpose of even letting one of these bikes show up for an hour-long ride, even out of morbid curiosity. I can get all the thrill of pride by gazing sentimentally at my triple-triangle Nashbar, and I can dare to spill it on the pavement. If I happen to fly past a jerk who is riding the "fastest" bike in the world, with my closing sprint, what will it say about him? It'll say the same thing real racers have said for over a century: It ain't the bike, it's the rider! Happy sales to you, there are plenty of well-heeled morons out there, just look on Capitol Hill. Now go spend half the money making a faster human. If I want the ultimate fast bike, it's hard to beat Brent Trimble's Kestrels! Thanks for reading, I love you all!!
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