Which Halfords Road Bike?

AltAccount

Apologies if this question has been asked before, I don't remember seeing it recently.


I'm looking to buy a road bike that'll do me for a few years. Because it's through Bike to Work and our company only deals with Halfords, it's gotta be a Halfords bike!

I'm not worried about quality of service or expertise of their mechanics, I'll build it myself and only need them for the processing of paperwork and supplying of bike bit.


They have three bikes I'm looking at. Two are €1,250 (Boardman Road Team and Carrera Virago), the other is €1,625 (Boardman Road Team Carbon).
I can definitely afford €1,250, I'd have to dig a bit behind the sofa to make the jump to €1,625.


If you had the choice between the three options, what would you pick and why?

Carrera Virago

Price 1250

Frame Material: Carbon
Forks: Carbon

Brakes: Tektro R540 dual-pivot calliper brakes

Shifters, Front & Rear Mech: Shimano ST-5700 105
Chainset: FSA Gossamer Compact BB30

Wheels: Mavic CXP-22S rims & Formula Alloy Hubs

Handlebars: Alloy
Stem: CC 3D forged lightweight alloy
Seatpost: CC forged lightweight alloy
Saddle: CC Race Lite

TL;DR - Carbon frame, average wheels, 105 transmission, Tektro calipers

Road Team

Price 1250

Frame Material: Alloy
Forks: Carbon

Brakes: Tektro R580 Dual pivot

Shifters, Front & Rear Mech: Shimano 105
Chainset: FSA Gossamer BB30

Wheels: Mavic Aksium

Handlebars: Boardman alloy anatomic
Stem: Boardman alloy
Seatpost: Carbon Boardman
Saddle: Boardman black with cro-moly rails

TL;DR - Alloy frame, better wheels, 105 transmission, Tektro calipers

Road Team Carbon

Price 1625

Frame Material: Carbon
Forks: Carbon

Brakes: Shimano 105 Dual pivot

Shifters, Front & Rear Mech: Shimano 105
Chainset: FSA Gossamer Pro BB30

Wheels: Mavic Aksium

Handlebars: Boardman alloy anatomic
Stem: Boardman alloy
Seatpost: Carbon Boardman
Saddle: Fizik Arione

TL;DR - Carbon frame, better wheels, 105 tranmission, 105 calipers, upgraded crankset & saddle

Brad768

Personally, if you aren't going to be racing it competitively I'd go for Road Team. Boardman make very nice quality bikes and it will definitely last. But of course if you stretch, go for the team carbon. Heard very good things about both

C3PO

Personally I'd buy the carbon Boardman if you can stretch to the extra cash - would be worth waiting until you can IMO!

billyhead

I ride a team carbon. Cant fault it. I had to get a professional fit done with the bike though as the sizing was a little off. Must say its a great specced bike for the price.

wisjoc

I was the same as yourself with the Bike to work scheme in that I was stuck with Halfords. But I spoke with a friend who is a serious cyclist who said that for the price the Boardman bikes had a really good all round spec. I originally went for the Boardman comp but they didn't have it in stock and I went for the Boardman Road Team (€1250). I am not an experienced cyclist but have done around a 1000K since mid December and am delighted with it. I also had a look at the reviews of it by experts (bike radar for example) and they all rate it very highly. The frame is not carbon but the triple butted aluminium is very smooth.

The only downside I would mention is that the paintwork seems to chip very easily at the merest contact. I have seen this comment on some user reviews.

Don't much about the Carrera but I am very happy with my purchase. Unfortunately, I don't think Halfords will allow you a road test and you need to decide if the extra expense in the Carbon bike is worth it.

Best of Luck.

AltAccount

Yep, the inability to test-ride a potential €1,600 purchase is very frustrating indeed!

faigs

I was looking at the Boardman Road Team today myself. I'm not limited to Halfords but looking for something around that price with a decent groupset and these seem to be the closest to Canyon in a bricks and mortar shop.

macnab

I bought the Team Carbon 2 years ago and can recommend it. You get a 15% price reduction with an AXA or Aon insurance policy.

faigs

Can you use your Axa card along with the BTW scheme?

[edit] Apparently you can try to if your company is paying with cheque or CC, but if dealing through one of those commission based scams bodies, you can't. [/edit]

triggermortis

I'd definitely go with a Boardman from that choice. I have one (not carbon) and its grand. I can vouch for the paint being a bit dodgy as I just had to get mine touched up as the paint has flaked off all around the bottom bracket area.

AltAccount

Well, thanks all for the advice!

Found a middle ground and picked up a Boardman Carbon Ltd today.

I can't remember the last time I had a bona fide New Bike Day. Chuffed!

Seaneh

AltAccount wrote: »

Well, thanks all for the advice!

Found a middle ground and picked up a Boardman Carbon Ltd today.

I can't remember the last time I had a bona fide New Bike Day. Chuffed!

I was going to recommend this, it's a really good deal.

yer man!

AltAccount wrote: »

Well, thanks all for the advice!

Found a middle ground and picked up a Boardman Carbon Ltd today.

I can't remember the last time I had a bona fide New Bike Day. Chuffed!

Would you recommend this for someone who has never owned a road bike before? I want to get one and I only have experience with MTB and hybrids.

AltAccount

It certainly seems like great value, and the frame it's based on has gotten fairly rave reviews.

What kind of road riding would you be expecting to do?

yer man!

AltAccount wrote: »

It certainly seems like great value, and the frame it's based on has gotten fairly rave reviews.

What kind of road riding would you be expecting to do?

Well, recreational at the moment, get a bit fit and that, I've always loved cycling I just want something faster on the road. I do however want a bike that I could use for commuting to work, I hate driving such a short distance (11km).

AltAccount

I'd probably pick something that has eyes for mudguards and a rack if you're using it for commuting.