This all-new BMC Kaius is what you get when you cross a BMC Teammachine SLR aero road bike & a URS gravel bikepacking bike. It’s a lightweight carbon aero all-gravel and road bike designed to take on the fastest and most competitive gravel racing with no limitations… “A gravel-racing machine that accesses unbound speed.”
BMC Kaius aero carbon gravel race bike
The all-new Kaius 01 is officially BMC’s “first gravel performance racing bike”, and it really does look like a proper mashup of their top Teammachine & URS bikes. The aero gains and racy feel of the aero road racing bike. The big tire clearance, off-tarmac durability, and just enough compliance of the gravel adventure bike.
How do you best mix aero speed & gravel capabilities?
Lightweight & aerodynamic
BMC calls the new Kaius 01 the perfect blend for gravel racing.
You get a premium lightweight and stiff carbon frame at just 910g with a 400g fork (claimed) thanks to a high dose of hi-mod fibers. But it also tough enough to withstand regular gravel strikes and off-road shocks thanks to selective reinforcement of key exposed areas. And with careful shaping and a complex layup of various fibers it still promises gravel-tuned compliance over rough terrain, falling in the middle of BMC’s Tuned Compliance Concept Race Technology range.
From an aerodynamic perspective, the BMC Kaius strikes almost the exact profile as the Teammachine SLR – the only real exceptions being slightly deeper fork legs, a slightly sloping toptube, more robust seatstays, and a small rear wheel cutout to fit big tires into short chainstays. Tube shaping into the wind features the same chopped Kamm tail profiles. The Kaius gets the same proven Aerocore integrated water bottle cages that blend into the downtube, and the same ICS (Integrated Cockpit System) that completely hides all cables inside through the headset.
In fact, the top-spec build of the BMC Kaius 01 One features the all-new 315g one-piece ICS Carbon Aero handlebar similar to on their aero road Teammachine SLR, but with narrow 36cm width at the hoods and a generous 12.5° flare to the drops to come out to 42cm wide at the drops for all-terrain control. The Kaius 01 Two & Three feature separate bars & stems, but still with full ICS hidden cable routing.
Gravel-capable
To balance lightweight and aero speed, the Kaius 01 gets new gravel racing geometry and room for up 44mm wide fast gravel tires. The geometry blends hard surface speed & precise handling with a longer frame Reach and shorter stems, “shifting the front wheel forward to improve stability and increase traction.”
And on the more off-road gravel rider comfort front, the bike can also get built up with BMC’s latest integrated cable routing MTT Suspension stem with Redshift damping tech inside.
Tech details
The Kaius gets a proprietary D-shaped aero seatpost but…
…you can also swap in an insert for a standard round post that makes the bike compatible with a dropper seatpost, even routed internally through the hidden ICS cable setup.
The bike is compatible with 1x & 2x drivetrains and has a set of recessed top tube bolts for a clean bolt-on snack bag setup.
It gets a PF86 bottom bracket, flat mount disc brakes, 12mm thru-axles, and ‘stealth’ dropouts.
BMC Kaius 01 – Pricing, options & availability
Conrad Glassey, BMC’s Head of Product Management describes the new Kaius 01 as “an ultra-lightweight gravel bike built to go fast when the terrain gets rough”.
The BMC Kaius 01 gravel bike comes in six stock sizes (47-61cm) and three models, all of which are available now through your local BMC dealer.
Kaius 01 ONE complete sells for $11,999 / 11,499€ with SRAM Red eTap AXS + Force XPLR 1x, Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels & the one-piece cockpit.
Kaius 01 TWO complete sells for $8999 / 8499€ with Force eTap AXS 2x, Zipp 303 S wheels, and a two-piece ICS cockpit.
And Kaius 01 THREE complete sells for $5999 / 5499€ with Rival eTap AXS 2x, carbon wheels & two-piece cockpit.
