All

Have a 2010 Boardman Team Carbon with Sram Rival on it (10sp) with Planet x model b wheels on it.

Now, I’d like to upgrade some bits on it, namely the cranks and brakes, and i’ve tried a friend’s Shimano 105 11sp groupset which felt pretty nice (ie they’ve sorted out the lever ergonomics on the sti’s) so…

should i contemplate getting a new groupset (and ergo wheels as they are 10sp) eg 105, or should I consider selling the bike (not get that much for it really) and look at something new but discounted?

What would you do???

Sell it and buy new, or unused second hand. Bet you’ll get more than you think for it, they always seem to sell well do the boardmans.

Nothing really wrong with the bike you have (unless it is all on its last legs) so it sounds like you want a new one… in which case buy a new one 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, buying new stuff is briefly fun, but what exactly are you hoping to gain by upgrading Rival cranks and brakes?

This is my broom.

At some point I put a whole new groupset (DA 7800 shifters, planet-X brakes, FSA carbon chainset, 7800 mech), wheels (novatec hubs, Alpha 340 rims), ritchey WCS bar and stem, etc. The only original bits are the frame and fork.

So on the one hand I’d say upgrade away. On the other hand, is a Boardman frame worth it? They’re nice enough, but in my case the frame was probaly worth 2/3rds of the bike, a Boardman’s probably more like 1/10th. That’s entirely down to perception, nothing wrong with it, just I can’t envisage anyone ever looking to buy one as a frame.

And a new groupset won’t change the feel of the bike. SRAM stuffs quite light too so unlikely to shed much weight either. If you really want to spend some money, get new wheels. Either some nice light handbuilts (H+ Son, Velocity A23, etc), or even some carbon from Light Bike. Other than that you won’t get much of an upgrade and and you’d be better wearing stuff out and upgrading then.

You might get £400 for the Boardman if you put on ebay?
There is a lovely new Cube road bike with 11 speed 105 in my LBS reduced from £999 to £599, so on the one hand upgrading your Boardman makes no financial sense..

However, the Cube (or any other 105 equipped road bike for around £1k) will probably have bottom of the market wheels etc..

If you like the Boardman frame, and it fits you well(I’ve had two Boardmans and loved the frames) then why not upgrade the components..