While this year’s Summer Olympics get pushed back a year, Spanish bike maker MMR’s special Adrenaline SL Gold edition road bike remembers back to Beijing when Spaniard Samuel Sánchez took Olympic Gold in 2008 (on an Orbea, though.) MMR’s top, lightweight carbon road bike hasn’t changed much since it was introduced last year, but under that limited edition, commemorative gold paint is apparently a hint of what’s to come for the brand in 2021… more integration.
MMR Adrenaline SL Samuel Sánchez Gold Edition road bike
Internal routing is certainly nothing new, and MMR’s adoption of the popular FSA ACR headset & cockpit components for fully internal cabling is a move we are seeing more and more both on & off-rad these days. But interestingly, MMR saw this coming and their 2019 refresh of the Adrenaline saw the move to a straight 1.5″ headtube to open up the possibility for full internal routing setups once more cockpit options were available.
What’s new in the 2021 MMR Adrenaline SL?
Now that time is here, and the model year 2021 Adrenaline SL drops the modular cable ports on the downtube all together, putting all shift & brake lines inside the headtube.
The 2021 Adrenaline SL seems to be otherwise unchanged, a lightweight carbon road race bike that MMR says mixes “superlite high modulus carbon fibers” with more “intermediate modulus fibers” from Toray to create a balanced lightweight frameset.
The MMR Adrenaline SL Samuel Sánchez Gold Edition road bike will be offered to consumers in a limited edition run for next year, featuring a premium build kit based on Sánchez’s long-running component sponsors. That means a complete SRAM Red AXS group, Selle Italia SLR Boost Carbonio Superflow saddle, FSA ACR & K-Force carbon cockpit components, and Vision SC 40 DB wheels wrapped in Hutchinson Fusion 5 tires. Of course the entire setup gets the Olympic Gold treatment, plus Olympic-themed detailing on the frameset.
No official word on when or if the Gold edition will be officially available, or at what price? But in any case, the 2021 MMR Adrenaline SL will bring these updates, and for comparison the 2020 model with Red eTap AXS, conventional Ritchey WCS cockpit, and carbon DT PRC1400 wheels sells for 6000€. A more affordable Ultegra mechanical model retails for 4000€.
The flat mount disc only, 12mm thru-axle MMR Adrenaline SL is available in five stock sizes (XS47-XL59cm).
Samuel Sánchez MMR Academy youth development
The special edition bike is the latest in the partnership between MMR & Sánchez since his 2017 race retirement. Building off his Olympic success, Sánchez started a youth road development team with MMR in 2015 to continue to promote the potential of Spanish cyclists. The Samuel Sánchez MMR Academy supports riders from 9-18 to help lift up the next generation of Spanish riders.
