Bought a Boardman

Jawgap

I picked up my Boardman Team Carbon at the weekend and so far so good. I got it under the Cycle to Work Scheme from Halfords in Newry – if anyone wants to know how their employer can follow the same route, PM me and I’ll pass on the details.

I found the lads in Halfords to be very helpful and knowledgeable. They spent about 40 minutes going over the bike with me showing how the various elements could be changed, configured and adjusted and were very free with lots of advice.

The bike itself is a huge improvement over what I’m riding at the moment (a Giant FCR 2.0 and a Specialized Crosstrail). I’ve never ridden anything high end or high-spec so I don’t know how it compares to other more race-bred machines.

Saying that, I’m loving it – it’s fast, corners beautifully and it’s surprisingly comfortable. I thought the carbon frame would’ve transmitted every bump and dimple in the road straight to my teeth but I’ve found it to be as comfortable as the hybrids I’m used to and even more so on longer cycles.

It’s a real blast hitting corners with it because I can really throw myself into them in a way I can’t on the other bikes. I’m not sure how much of this is down to the bike or riding in the drops with a lower centre of gravity – whatever the reason, I like the end result!

The double-tap shifters took about 10k to get used to, but once I did it was amazing how quickly I could accelerate smoothly.

I can’t really comment on build quality yet, but since getting it I’ve done about 150k and so far nothing has unwound or catastrophically detached itself from the bike in an uncontrolled or unexpected fashion. I’ve had to make some adjustments to make the experience of riding it more comfortable, but that’s maybe to be expected.

TinyExplosions

Glad you like it.... it's a great looking bike. I have SRAM Rival myself, and agree that it doesn't take long to get used to double tap, and once you do it's great

Enjoy!

mloc123

Was there much of a wait getting it in newry? Could you PM cycle to work details on it also.

Spins

Please PM Cycle to work details.

Jawgap

mloc123 wrote: »

Was there much of a wait getting it in newry? Could you PM cycle to work details on it also.

Not much of a wait - the longest wait was getting the voucher from Halfords sent over from the UK.

Once I had the voucher away I went and got it.

fletch

How much did it set you back? I'm considering the Boardman myself.

My mate was saying he was in Carrickmines Halfords and spotted a carbon Boardman with DuraAce components reduced from €2000 to €1270.

tomc

Was all set to buy one of these last month but was told they weren't available till the end of may which didn't suit me, lovely looking bike though.

Check the interweb as there a re reports of loosening nipples across the spokes, they may have sorted this issue by now though:)

Jawgap

fletch wrote: »

How much did it set you back? I'm considering the Boardman myself.

My mate was saying he was in Carrickmines Halfords and spotted a carbon Boardman with DuraAce components reduced from €2000 to €1270.

Cost 999 sterling which worked out at 1120 yoyos. I think the one in Carrickmines is the Road Pro (next one up from the Team) and I think it's last year's model, not that that probably makes a lot of difference.

The Team Carbon I reckon is more than enough bike for me.............for now:)

tomc wrote: »

Was all set to buy one of these last month but was told they weren't available till the end of may which didn't suit me, lovely looking bike though.

Check the interweb as there a re reports of loosening nipples across the spokes, they may have sorted this issue by now though:)

I rang around the shops and as luck would have it, Newry had one even though the website said they didn't - it might be worth a ring around.

Did all my research and saw about the nipple problem and one or two other niggly things that seem to have caused problems - mentioned this to them when they were building it and they promised to check - all my nipples are where they should be, but I suppose only time and a few more kilometres will tell.

cormacjones

Very nice looking bike. What's the Groupset like? I'm not familiar with SRAM. What's the equivalent in Shimano?

TinyExplosions

cormacjones wrote: »

Very nice looking bike. What's the Groupset like? I'm not familiar with SRAM. What's the equivalent in Shimano?

It's SRAM's entry level, but falls between Ultegra and Dura Ace in weight and performance

DirkVoodoo

Good review of SRAM Rival here: Bikeradar

If I were building a bike up, I would be putting Campag Chorus on it, drool-drool. But a more sensible and realistic option would be Rival, really good groupset.

That Boardman Pro is really well specced, not sure about the wheels but it's a good deal.

Jawgap

cormacjones wrote: »

Very nice looking bike. What's the Groupset like? I'm not familiar with SRAM. What's the equivalent in Shimano?

I'm quite happy with the groupset performance - it shifts lovely, but I don't have a broad frame of reference!!! I'd be comparing it to the Rapidfire on my Giant!!!