Chris Boardman bikes
 

Anyone had any experience with them. Looking for a new bike with on/off road etc. Cycling through woods etc. nothing hardcore off road etc.

Liking the spec of the follwing

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_team.html

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_comp.html

They look great and are well kitted out. The problem is they are only available through halfords in the UK and these can be very hit and miss depending on the particular staff.

If you know what you are doing regarding setting the bikes up you would probably be better off assembling it yourself.

Alternatively you could get your local bike shop to do it but they might be a bit annoyed that you didn't buy a bike from them.

Have to agree re the hALFORDS aspect and was disappointed to see it's exclusive to them.

Was going to look at Trek, Scott, Giant and so forth.

I would go and check your lbs , most will be trying to get rid of a few of last seasons bikes at the mo as the 2012 bikes are just coming out. You will prob save around £200 on a £1000 bike I would say

One of the lads I ride with has a boardman they do look good and spec is good for the price but as people say halfords is always a bit hit and miss for service and advice !

Colleague in the office mentioned 2012 stuff coming out soon too. Time for a trip to GA, wiggle and so forth.

I would hope the various retailers are open to test rides

I would agree with AndyP. A couple of years ago I was in your position and spent hours looking at every bike going. Boardman, Orange, Marin, Trek, Scott, Specialized, and probably a load more I have since forgotten.....

I went to my local bike shop and got about £250 off of a Specialized Rockhopper as it was being replaced by the new model and to be honest the biggest difference (not the only difference but the biggest) was the different paint colour!

It still had disks all round, top of the range rapid fire gear shifts, Rock Shocks adjustable front suspension. All I could need and more, with about 25% off.... :thumbsup:

Cool I'll see what deals I can get.

Want to get fit again so road and off road cycling needs to be possible.

My brother has a couple of Boardman's - a road bike and a hybrid/commuter bike. Both are very good examples of their type, offering excellent value for money, and having great riding performance for their class/price point.
But in both cases my brother pretty much dismantled and rebuilt them before use. Now in fairness he did the same to his custom Ribble, and I did that to my Klein as well, but it would have hidden any assembly faults.

Have the Hybrid Pro in White at the moment. Previous ride was the Team version in gunmetal. Sold to work colleague

Bought because I liked the frame style, carbon forks and wanted disc brakes. Some welding I’ve seen on the bottom bracket can be a bit messy so check before you buy.

Only issue I have is the rear brake squealed on both. Been reading it's the frame design which I doubt. Probably the pads are too hard.

Changes, tyres for Specialized puncture resistant, Specialized Toupe saddle in white, and some Ergon grips.

Bargains to be had on eBay if not buying on the ride to work scheme

If your happy mail ordering a bike I bought my last one from Edinburgh Bicycle Cooperative and can only say good things about them. Came all built up apart from straightening the handle bars and attaching the peddles and all the tools to finish it off were included in the box.

If your after saving a few pennies it's also worth looking into the cycle to work scheme, where basically your employer buys the bike and sells it back to you via salary sacrifice. As the sacrifice comes from your gross salary you save on the tax and ni deduction and if your employer is VAT registered they will normally pass that saving on to, as they can claim that back from HMR&C. The scheme also includes options such as lights, panniers, helmets and locks so you can get all kitted out with a potential saving of anything between 10 and 50%.

Chequered Flag, try organic pads instead of sintered that stopped mine squealing and I've noticed no difference in wear rate or stopping power

Ribble are also right down there with Halfords when it comes to assembling bikes, i've had to almost completely rebuild several, thankfully i was only daft enough to buy one. On the flip side i'm very particular about building and setting up bikes, but some of the howlers were really quite bad (read dangerous)Could be the disc design/pattern, or the callipers not square to the disc, one/both of the pistons drag, or contamination, but its unlikely to be frame design (might just need the mounts facing to get the pads to hit the disc square......)

Not got much else to say about the boardmans, only downside is the shop they come from. Which is a shame. Other than that, i'd probably buy one.

Been there and checked it all out as mentioned. Squeal came back with a hundred miles

Boardman on FB
http://www.facebook.com/#!/boardmanbikesbritpack

Who grow's them :D, got a link?

Erm, everybody........ try any of the mail order places, or your LBS (unless its a Halfords or Ribble)

Loads of pads. There's a starter for 10, i use a combination of green and gold depending on which bike..... usually on opposing pistons.

IIRC Green is organic, Gold is sintered and Red is DH grade organicy type stuff.

Have a look at Bikeradar.com

There's a lot of value to be had from a Local Bike Store (my new Kona came setup by a Pro with 2 free services at any interval), whereas at Halfords your just another customer and once your gone with the sale done the sale experience is complete.

So what other brands to consider?

Kona
Scott
Giant
Garry Fisher
??

Specialized

I've just bought a sirrus sport and I'm very pleased with it.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...-bike-ec023861

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/...024135#reviews

mmmm :D

+1 :thumbsup:

Mines a Rockhopper but two years in and not so much as a puncture.

Ok so it isnt the best bike in the world, its not even the best bike that Specialized make. But Im not a pro racer either, and it is the best bike that I have had. I have had two Marin and an Orange before this one, so they weren't too shabby, but my Specialized is better. :thumbsup:

Trek, commencal, whyte , marin , specilazed ( sorry for spelling) they is also orange, rocky mountain and a few others but big£££

As said money can be saved from buying online but you have to be sure of what you are getting if that makes sense , the frame sizes are abit hit and miss eg. You maybe want a medium in one brand and a large in another .

best bike ive seen is YETI simply awsome but mega ££££££

Looks at a few whyte and they look nice, will get down to a shop hopefully over the weekend. Happily spend circa £700-800 etc.

Pace Cycles

http://www.pacecycles.com/

www.chainreactioncycles.com is where i got them from, but I guess most cycle shops would stock some.

Cannondale, maybe? Can't fault mine. Think you pay for the name if you a bit, but some bargains to be had when and as the 2012 range comes out.

Cube are looking pretty good too.

Whyte is designed in the uk , with the uk in mind they have big clearance around the tyres for our muddy conditions , I think the same bloke has something to do with Marin too .

It's all very well knowing and looking at all the makes but it is sometimes like Rc cars in that it's prob best go with what your local shop does as they will be able to suppy, advise , service what they know best .

Not so much.
Excepting some parts on suspension bikes, virtually all the bits on a bike that actually need servicing are bought in. My Klein, Marin and Scott all use Shimano gears for example. Consequently, as long as my local shop can service Shimano they can do all three just fine.
The only time I've had a frame specific warrantee issue was with the suspension bushes on the Klein, which therefore had to go back to the shop it came from (not the nearest, but not massively far away). I've also had a warrantee fault on a set of Marzocchi forks handled at a different store from the one the bike was purchased at - but it was an authorised Marzocchi service centre. They did the work and billed the suppliers.

So as long as the local store can service the components on the bike, the actual bike isn't that important.

i wouldt touch any thing from halfords full stop!

I have last years model on the Hybrid. Its been great, my local Halfords is good, in fact excellent, which nicely surprised me.

The original post mentions using in forest etc...Hybrid is a little generous on these though. Its really a beefed up road bike, I'd certainly not want to take mine on anything remotely off road.

Have to say spec is good and I can't fault it.

my 5p's worth.

just had a mail from chain reaction, they have a warehouse sale on at the moment, 40 odd % off some of the bikes.

I have had numerous bikes in the past, as I used to do time trials. before you spend any money think what you really want it for. Will you realistically take it off road, bridle paths or will you spend 90% of your time on the road.
Having had stupidly fast time trial bikes, hard tail mtbs and others, I love my current bike, a Specialised Cirrus elite. Light, quick, comfortable.
Not a fan of hybrid bike, a bike in my opinion should do one thing and do that well
(yes i a preparing to get shot down but hey).

Try Cirrus and you will think "this is easy, comfy and fast". then get a 2nd hand hack for the dirtier stuff!

If you are adamant you want a bit off light off road capability then I think a better compromise may be a specialised cross trail. Great after service with sepcialised, good support etc etc.
Always a deal on specialised;)