Boardman Elite series 2011 road teaser Video

mookie2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7bFB1wB85g

Just got a tweet from Chris. Pre production prototypes of the new boardman range for 2011.

kona

The new spec is better IMO, they have upgraded the wheels to Mavic krysium and askium and they are using shimano Ultegra and 105.

briano

Anyone see the announcement for the new boardmans? They are up on Halfords now, but apparently the high-high end ones will only be available through select dealers in the UK.

I like the look of the new Road Pro Carbon, but dear lord, that silver colour is hideous

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777815_langId_-1_categoryId_165710

Captain Havoc

Threads merged.

Hail 2 Da Thief

The price of the 2010 Pro Carbon is less than the 2011 Team Carbon. I know which one I'd buy.
The 2011 Team Carbon also weighs 0.5kg more than the 2010 version

Harrybelafonte

I don't suppose this means I could haggle for a greater discount on 2010 models instore?

briano

The 2011 is also £130 more expensive between Ireland and England :mad:

PWEI

Not only are the bikes more expensive than last year's range but from what I can see not as good. The Pro Carbon are using Shimano Ultegra instead of Sram Force, The Team Carbon & Road Team are using Shimano 105 instead of last years Sram Rival.

Harrybelafonte

briano wrote: »

The 2011 is also £130 more expensive between Ireland and England :mad:

2010 range where around 100 in difference, I think?

positron

2010 Road had some 105 bits where as 2011 is Sora/Tiaga mix.

niceonetom

Tubs? From halfords? Glued by halfords staff?

I thanks god that it'll ever happen. The thought gave me a giggle though.

PWEI

The Team carbon is nearly €400 more expensive but is also 1/2lb heavier than last years model. It must be the 105 that has added the extra weight on to the bike,a heavier groupset compared to the Sram. I always thought the Boardmans were fantastic value but I doubt if I'd be buying another one at that price.

PWEI

Hail 2 Da Thief wrote: »

The price of the 2010 Pro Carbon is less than the 2011 Team Carbon. I know which one I'd buy.
The 2011 Team Carbon also weighs 0.5kg more than the 2010 version

There was one 2010 Pro Carbon Large left in all of Ireland both north & south.
I've been checking on the Halfords Website on a daily basis for the last few weeks & decided to take the plunge over the weekend. I used my AXA Plus card & got it for €1479, not bad when you consider the 2011 pro carbon is €2250.

lennymc

I bought the 2010 pro carbon last year - I did consider holding on for the 2011 bike. Glad I didn't now.

xz

If they had left the SRAM on it with the wheel upgrade, it would have been nice.......It's still nice, but I can see where they can justify the price hike. It seems that customers are being charged for the wheel upgrade.
I actually like the new colour

mookie2007

I just picked a 2010 team Carbon up on Saturday morning. Last in my size in the country so delighted i got it.

I cant believe the road comp is €999

macnab

I put my name on a Team Carbon yesterday, also the last one in my size in Ireland.
Like others I was waiting for the 2011 spec but decided to buy the 2010 because it has a lighter groupset and is €400 cheaper.

PWEI

macnab wrote: »

I put my name on a Team Carbon yesterday, also the last one in my size in Ireland.
Like others I was waiting for the 2011 spec but decided to buy the 2010 because it has a lighter groupset and is €400 cheaper.

If you have insurance with AXA or know somebody with an AXA Plus card,
use it and you'll get the 2010 Team Carbon for €1062. A Bargain!
I was chatting to the staff in Halfords yesterday and they were saying how unimpressed they were with the new range. They had one 2011 Road Team in the shop and it's the same price as the 2010 Team carbon but with an aluminum frame and an inferior groupset.

macnab

PWEI wrote: »

If you have insurance with AXA or know somebody with an AXA Plus card,
use it and you'll get the 2010 Team Carbon for €1062. A Bargain!
I was chatting to the staff in Halfords yesterday and they were saying how unimpressed they were with the new range. They had one 2011 Road Team in the shop and it's the same price as the 2010 Team carbon but with an aluminum frame and an inferior groupset.

Excellent, my motor bike insurance is with Axa:D

kona

Saw the full specs of the range the other day, Its very dissapointing. The Team carbon IMO has no place in the range as the Road Team is only half a pound heavier and is triple butted aluminium and £400 cheaper.
The Road range has been seriously stung, the only upgrades IMO are the wheelsets across the range, with them all having either full Mavic Wheelsets or mavic rims on formula hubs.

The MTB and Hybrid range are better IMO than last year, They all have triple butted frames, even the lowest in the range, most of the MTB also use the new SRAM 2x10 geartrains, which means less gears, but with some clever ratios, its unnoticable and so saves weight.
The Pro MTB comes with Rockshox SID which is a nice upgrade over the Reba?.

There is a CX bike and a rigid MTB commuter too.

All in all, Id be snapping up the last 2010s if you are on the fence.

oconnpad

What is the thinking behind lowering the spec, is it just money?
Do you reckon with the good reviews and good rep to date, they think they've built the brand to a point were they can start to squeeze a bit more money out of it?

Not sure about 2009 but the 2010 models have really good spec for price, probably over spec'd so did someone say "hang on, we're selling this stuff far to cheap?"

Surely the reviews are going to be none to kind to the 2011 models and constantly comparing them to the spec of models from previous years

kona

oconnpad wrote: »

What is the thinking behind lowering the spec, is it just money?
Do you reckon with the good reviews and good rep to date, they think they've built the brand to a point were they can start to squeeze a bit more money out of it?

Not sure about 2009 but the 2010 models have really good spec for price, probably over spec'd so did someone say "hang on, we're selling this stuff far to cheap?"

Surely the reviews are going to be none to kind to the 2011 models and constantly comparing them to the spec of models from previous years

Well, You have to take everything in context, the 2010 range apparantley out sold alot of the other brands. Im sure Halfords have people looking at trends and trying to forecast sales, maybe they think that they wont shift half as many bikes with there being a recession and VAT in the UK going up to 20%.
SO, to make up the difference they lob on a few quid.
Another thing is the production costs, maybe they have increased? There is certainly a case for this as they have swapped from sram to shimano on the Road bikes, Sram IMO while less durable is a better system, also Sram in the last 5 years has exploded in popularity, Id say shimano gave a better deal, or maybe they had too many issues with the durability of Sram under warranty etc? <----Thats all pure waffle I have no evidence to back this up.


Also Halfords seem to have shifted their market position, they seem to be not so keen on the High end market the past few years, reading BikeBiz, the closed their High end Bikehut stand alone operations, they also got rid of GT, Kona, Saracen. They replaced these with more carreras and the Voodoo range(again is overpriced IMO).
Thats the problem with PLC, they are run by people who look at graphs and trends all day, and this is the result, a range that seems to be confused as to where it wants to be in the market. Also Im sure Halfords know that they dont have the best reputation as regards technical, so this is another key factor.

Its all a bit crazy, but the fact is 2011 Boardman range IMO is not as good as 2010, and if I was in the market Id be hunting down the last of the ranges, especially if your in a common size such as Medium or Large

niceonetom

That tickles my fancy slightly. Manufacturers are being slow in moving to disk brakes on cross bikes (and I've seen enough threads on here about canti judder to make me want disks) and far too many of them neglect to put braze-ons on. This yoke has both and might eventually fill the gap I have for cross/winter/touring bike.

kona

niceonetom wrote: »

That tickles my fancy slightly. Manufacturers are being slow in moving to disk brakes on cross bikes (and I've seen enough threads on here about canti judder to make me want disks) and far too many of them neglect to put braze-ons on. This yoke has both and might eventually fill the gap I have for cross/winter/touring bike.

Clever design of the rear brake mount too, will allow you to fit a standard bike carrier, as opposed to a spaced one, although there may be issues with the cable routing, I dont like the angle the cable enters at, it would also be prone to being pulled.

Also those are Hayes disc brakes.....Nasty IMO, also Id wonder their performance with those brake levers.

niceonetom

kona wrote: »

Clever design of the rear brake mount too, will allow you to fit a standard bike carrier, as opposed to a spaced one, although there may be issues with the cable routing, I dont like the angle the cable enters at, it would also be prone to being pulled.

Also those are Hayes disc brakes.....Nasty IMO, also Id wonder their performance with those brake levers.

Here's a better pic.



Looks OK to me, but I don't know much about mechanical disks. I know they're not as powerful as hydraulics but they've got to be better than the cantis on most cross bikes which, judging by the faces people make when they have to go downhill, are mostly there for decoration.

Looks like adding a rack or mudguards would be pretty straightforward given there's no brakes or cables on the stays to get in the way. I think it looks good too.

kona

niceonetom wrote: »

Here's a better pic.



Looks OK to me, but I don't know much about mechanical disks. I know they're not as powerful as hydraulics but they've got to be better than the cantis on most cross bikes which, judging by the faces people make when they have to go downhill, are mostly there for decoration.

Looks like adding a rack or mudguards would be pretty straightforward given there's no brakes or cables on the stays to get in the way. I think it looks good too.

Ah they are avid brakes, not so bad, but not much better, I dont like them because they are a PIG to set up correctly and the performance can be affected by the type of levers used, for example, disc brakes on a BSO can be improved by swapping out the levers for metal ones! so I'd be interested to see how the perform with flight deck style shifters, especially with the Halfords staff.

Also looking at the brake mounts there, IMO there will be a issue with metal fatigue in the long run as when you brake there will be a twisting force applied constantly, if you look at other type of mounts they are limited to this motion by them being placed on frame as opposed to offset as above. Also the warranty is 1 year. Also it has a Union Jack on it (yes this does bother people).

It is a nice bike, Id be interested to see a impartial review on it, either way they are being launched at the end of the month.

macnab

I picked up a Team Carbon at 5pm today, €1062.50 after my AXA discount....for a sub 8kg carbon bike.....I still cant believe it.

I have only just finished adjusting the bike to fit me so I havent had a spin yet.
First impressions are: it feels very light and well built, the frame is big compared to my Trek 1.2, in fact I measured it to make sure they hadnt given me a medium instead of a small.
I had to invert the stem to drop the angle, I have left a small spacer under the stem and the rest on top. I had to drop the saddle and push it forward to the rear limit. The reach is still 5cm longer than the Trek but I did feel that the Trek was a bit short anyway.
I am looking forward to my first spin tomorrow.

If you are still on the fence, my advice is get off it and grab a bargain.

kona

macnab wrote: »

I picked up a Team Carbon at 5pm today, €1062.50 after my AXA discount....for a sub 8kg carbon bike.....I still cant believe it.

I have only just finished adjusting the bike to fit me so I havent had a spin yet.
First impressions are: it feels very light and well built, the frame is big compared to my Trek 1.2, in fact I measured it to make sure they hadnt given me a medium instead of a small.
I had to invert the stem to drop the angle, I have left a small spacer under the stem and the rest on top. I had to drop the saddle and push it forward to the rear limit. The reach is still 5cm longer than the Trek but I did feel that the Trek was a bit short anyway.
I am looking forward to my first spin tomorrow.

If you are still on the fence, my advice is get off it and grab a bargain.

Really? I find them to be very very short and kind of begging for speed Although the stems on them are huuuuuuge, maybe get a shorter one?

They are very quick, you wont be dissapointed, to think at one stage you could have gotten them after discount and C2W for around e500 with e75 of accessories.

lennymc

so how many boardman riders are on here?
1. me. pro carbon

oconnpad

2. oconnpad - road comp

delynet

Team Carbon - Stock except for Fitzk saddle and Thompson seatpost

5000km and its as good as new. One of my better purchases

Hail 2 Da Thief

I'm also part of the Boards-man club.

setanta159

Another 'boardman's club member': Team carbon 2010. Love it, almost took off the other day in the wind :P

Thargor

Soon to be a Road Comp 2010 rider, cant wait

So I was definitely better off grabbing one of the last 2010s in the country rather than stretching the budget to 2011?

mookie2007

Team Carbon 2010 thanks to the advice of boardies in here. Superb bike for the money.