Pinarello, Look or BMC? Nice Selection

David has picked three choice bits of kit to ride on, his problem is he that he doesn’t know which one of these fine frames to spend his money on. He is in a nice position to be able to choose one of these state of the art machines. These frames are nearly too good to ride, put them on the wall and admire them as works of art! Maybe not, they need riding

Question: I am looking at buying a new road bike frame and am trying to decide between a Pinarello Paris, Look 595 and a BMC SLC01. I only do the occasional race and ride between 60 and 120km for each ride. Any rational suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Hi David,
You have picked three beauties, I can see your problem, all three are well built and designed, but are quite different in there approach. There is one sure thing; they will all perform excellently in all conditions. I will go through what we think of each of them, but I think in the end it might come down to which one we like the look of!

Pinarello Paris

Pinarello are very famous for supplying some of the best bike riders on the Pro Tour, so they have the experience to put together a top flight bit of kit and it has that Italian flair for style.

Pinarello Paris

The Paris is a monocoque high modulus unidirectional 46HM3K carbon fiber frameset, this means it’s has 3,000 fibers per crossing and strong and can take the rough vibrations out of any road, making your long rides more comfortable. It has the unique ONDA CRA rear end and the ONDA fork, this design dampens any vibration and gives exceptional handling and weighs in at just less than 1 kilo.

The Pinarello Paris Carbon comes in at least five different colors and eight different sizes. This could be our favorite; it has style and is very noticeable, nice!

Pinarello Team

Look 595 Ultra

The Look 595 Ultra is heavier than the Pinarello Paris, but has extra stiffness for heavier or powerful riders wanting strength and rigidity. It comes with a full length seat tube that you have to trim to length and integral seat post clamp. The HSC 4 forks are beautifully molded and are nearly straight, but with a slight rake. The frame also has internal cable guides for a smooth uncomplicated look. The Look 595 Ultra is stiff and responsive and a functional work-horse, but it doesn’t have that style that the Pinarello has, it has everything you need for a good bike, except it lacks that flair.

Look 595

BMC SLC01

All these frame sets are around the same price and are all built with high modulus carbon fiber. The BMC is a little different in it’s design at the seat pin clamp area, it must use more material, but it is lighter than the Look 595 frame, about the same as the Pinarello Paris. BMC calls there design the Integrated Skeleton Concept which gives the frame its stiffness and smooth ride. The frame is complemented by the Easton EC90 full carbon forks and seat post. The BMC is different, interesting and looks good, it’s a top class frame and quite unique, we like it.

BMC Team

The Conclusion

OK it’s a hard one this, based on weight it has to be the Pinarello, on stiffness it’s the look, on design concept it’s the BMC, but for style it has to be the Pinarello. So I guess we are going for the Pinarello Paris, closely followed by the BMC. If you want a frame that is functional and subtle then go for the Look 595. That’s our choice, I hope we have helped?

BMC Astana