Boardman road bike

mondeo

I'm looking at this as my first road bike. Its down as a hybrid though. I dont like dropped bars much so thats why Im looking at this, plus it has disk brakes.

Good buy for the price?

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hybrid-comp-bike-2014

endacl

It's not a road bike. It's down as a hybrid because that's what it is. It's a hybrid. I have one. It's a good one.

Hope this helps.

mondeo

endacl wrote: »

It's not a road bike. It's down as a hybrid because that's what it is. It's a hybrid. I have one. It's a good one.

Hope this helps.

What will it feel like on the road compared to a road bike?

endacl

More upright.

mondeo

endacl wrote: »

More upright.

Will I be able to reach similar speeds on it compared to a road bike?

I just dont find dropped bars comfortable to use at all for some reason. This bike just looked and felt comfy when I sat on it today in halfords. Its within budget too.

Inquitus

mondeo wrote: »

Will I be able to reach similar speeds on it compared to a road bike?

No you won't. A road bike is designed to be the fastest bike on the road, a hybrid is designed to be a more multipurpose bike that can be ridden on fire trails, riverbanks etc. as well as the road , and has a sit up and beg position, bigger tyres, all of which make it slower than a road bike.

mondeo

Inquitus wrote: »

No you won't. A road bike is designed to be the fastest bike on the road, a hybrid is designed to be a more multipurpose bike that can be ridden on fire trails, riverbanks etc. as well as the road , and has a sit up and beg position, bigger tyres, all of which make it slower than a road bike.

The tyres seem to be of similar thickness to a Boardman road bike I sat on.

What about the gearing?

Inquitus

mondeo wrote: »

The tyres seem to be of similar thickness to a Boardman road bike I sat on.

What about the gearing?

The biggest gear on that seems to be 50x12 v 54x11 on a road bike with a race double, that said if you can't turn the big gear it's no use to you. If I had to pick a number out of thin air I would reckon a hybrid is at least 15-20% slower than a road bike

at1withmyself

mondeo wrote: »

I'm looking at this as my first road bike. Its down as a hybrid though. I dont like dropped bars much so thats why Im looking at this, plus it has disk brakes.

Good buy for the price?

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hybrid-comp-bike-2014

Great bike for the money and if your not comfortable on the drops then this is ideal as the set-up looks nice and nippy although I'd recommend Bar-ends which will give you multiple hand positions and allow you get a little more aero.

As a great man once said 'It's not about the Bike' :P but more about the rider so as for how much faster a road bike can go its down to the rider. Personally I think a hybrid is suitable for spins up to 120 km but that's my opinion and I have used my mountain bike for spins up to 160km quiet happily where I over took a lot of road bike riders.

Although I now have a road bike and mountain bike so use my road bike on the road as its more suitable and its my preference. I think its down to the rider and what your comfortable on, unless you plan to go racing then this bike is fine in my opinion.

paulgs

mondeo wrote: »

I'm looking at this as my first road bike. Its down as a hybrid though. I dont like dropped bars much so thats why Im looking at this, plus it has disk brakes.

Good buy for the price?

http://www.halfords.ie/cycling/bikes/hybrid-bikes/boardman-hybrid-comp-bike-2014

Its more a road bike than a traditional Hybrid, maybe a fast commuter would be a better description

Alek

Inquitus wrote:

No you won't.

Remember my Peugeot with straight bars I rode a few Audaxes on? I find it was a tad faster than my current Croix de Fer - not a 100% road bike, but with drops, more aero position and similar weight.

Or maybe I stopped trying.

Sarash

Aw I love that bike. It's in halfords ages, I often just stare at it. I think it's a lovely bike. Thin tyres like a racer but comfort of a hybrid. If I had money I'd get it.

Muahahaha

i have an older model of that Boardman Comp and I have to say I love it. Drops arent really for me either, I just prefer to be sitting upright. I would however at a minimum of bar ends on it so you have more than one option to place your hands. I'm just taking off the bar ends next week and installing a pair of Ergon GC3 grips when they arrive from ebay, I've read good things about them and they'll allow you to have more contact with your palms which means your wrist twists about less when riding which I'm hoping means an end to sore wrists after about 90 minutes cycling. I think thats one main disadvantage of a hybrid compared to a road bike, if you're going for 2 hour plus cycles a road bike will ultimately be more comfortable. Nonetheless I'm hoping these Ergon grips are a big upgrade on what I'm using now.

Regards speed, I'm not the strongest of cyclists but am averaging 23km per hour over a 1 hour 10min route I do, part of the route goes through 6 sets of traffic lights so I always get stopped somewhere, as I result Id guess my true average is about 25 or 26kph. So as regards speed I find them a great bike and while they are slower than most road bikes they are still pretty dam quick overall compared to most other hybrids.

Another feature I love about them is the geometry when you get out of the saddle to push it up a hill. Because it is essentially a road bike frame when you rise out of the saddle your body is at a 15 degree vertical slant which is optimun for getting power to the pedals and climbing up hills. On my previous bike which was a hybrid with MTB gearing and wheels when you got out of the saddle the geometry of the bike did nothing to help you pedal efficiently, in fact it probably did the opposite and as a result I never enjoyed doing hills much whereas now I love doing them because I know I have a bike that is set up and designed to tackle them.

My advice is to get it if you can afford it. You might see discounts in the 2014 model when the 2015 model gets released. If €600 is too far you can find second hand models on Adverts for about €350 or €400

mondeo

I'm going to attempt a second hand one before I buy new I think.

Muahahaha

Yeah thats what I did, I picked up a second hand Pro version which has carbon forks, got it for €400 which was a good deal given that they were around €1000 new at the time. I also had the bonus that the previous owner barely rode 100km on it before it sat in his garage for 3.5yrs. It's essentially a unused bike so I'm pretty happy with it.
When I was looking for a regular Boardman Comp hybrid on Adverts and Donedeal models from 2011-12 seemed to be going for €300-375 and 2013 models a little over €400. Not a huge amount of them come up though so if you see something you like I'd move fast to get the first test ride of it and then decide from there.

ZiabR

mondeo wrote: »

I'm going to attempt a second hand one before I buy new I think.

That is a good idea alright, at least you will know then if the bike is for you before splashing out on a new one.

tomasrojo

Inquitus wrote: »

a sit up and beg position

Certainly more upright than a road bike, but is "sit up and beg" not more the position you get with curled back roadster/Dutch-style handlebars? You bolt upright, like a dog doing sit up and beg.

gordongekko

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057287333

10% off til 2pm

endacl

gordongekko wrote: »

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057287333

10% off til 2pm

They never include the Boardmans in those sales.

aFlabbyPanda

mondeo wrote: »

Will I be able to reach similar speeds on it compared to a road bike?

I know not everyone will agree but based on my own experience, yes more or less. I went from a heavy hybrid, to boardman team pro, to a road bike and then to a CX bike. So far my stats say the CX bike is fastest but in reality I've just got better as cycling.

While a true road bike will be lighter and allow you to get a more aero position you're only going to go as fast as you can go.

petethedrummer

Best Thread Ever.

Chips Lovell

Troll banned. All posts deleted.