In my quest to find a semi aero, disc road bike and having decided £5000 is too much, I came across this:
Now at first glance, thats quite a good looking bike. Then you're hit with headlines such as "Carbon" "Di2", "7.6kg" "Aero" and £3,300 which feels like terribly good value.
Yet get into the detail, thats stock "Boardman" Alu cockpit with no integration and Alex Rims wheels, hmmm although with a glass half full that says "upgrade potential".
It gets good reviews, wheels and cockpit could be upgraded but not cheaply really, do we care that is says Boardman on the down tube? Is Boardman good value, or not?
If you’re going to change the cockpit and wheels straight away then no, not good value.
If you’re snobby about Alex carbon wheels, then I think you should be snobby about it saying Boardman on the side. 😉
The wheels must be a competitive weight if that 7.6kg overall figure is accurate (it says 8kg on the website). So how important is cockpit cable integration to you?
I would buy it, but I actually have a previous version, the Endurance SLR - and have been very impressed with it.
If it helps, I've been very impressed with it: good, light high-mod frame, great geometry, goes fast, reviews said it was a bit harsh but it's just right for me with 28c tyres at suitable pressure (and wheels upgraded to Prime carbon).
Handlebar is a nice shape but oddly thin. I'm gonna double-wrap it though, as I prefer a bit more girth.
Would you be able to find a similar bike with integrated cables and fancier wheels at the same price?
I had a bit of a discussion on a similar subject yesterday with Mrs W.
I’m booked in to look at the Spec Tarmac SL7 Pro next week, £6500.
I also like the look of the Scott Addict, the Ultegra RC 30 is available in my size and £3300. But I’d want to upgrade the bars, wheels and move to Di2 (I can’t find a Di2 version in my size). Mrs W just said I’m going to spend a year moaning about it not being the spec I wanted, there’s no value in buying the bike spec you don’t really want, unless budget dictates, buy lower and upgrade over time. During the time while waiting for upgrades I’d never be really happy. But I reckon those wheels would be fine for now, cockpit upgrade would be interesting to see if you can put integrated bars on it, presume you can but might need to check.
But would you be happy with Boardman on the side? Wouldn’t bother me, but it’s really only you who can answer that.
Kryton, also worth thinking about whether future resale is going to be an issue for you? Boardman likely more difficult to still get top dollar for.
the Scott Addict, the Ultegra RC 30
I'm also looking at that bike, and a Canyon Ultimate Ultegra Di2. The cockpit integration is not really a thing TBH, I won't be doing anything that requires such marginal gains.
But would you be happy with Boardman on the side
Don't know, what started as a significant Birthday present has morphed into a "I'd like a nice bike with discs but what's the point of shelling out a boat load of Money for a club run just because I'm a little older"
At the rate I'm going I'll be keeping the one I have and using the money I've saved for an armchair to see my days out in.
I think that Boardman looks good value for money. I think once you get beyond £3k it’s very much a case of diminishing returns and that bike ticks all of the boxes in terms of weight and spec.
The resale wouldn’t worry me simply as you have saved so much up front.
Looks like the kind of bike you could easily keep for more than five years and not worry about it getting outdated.
By which point you might be selling it on to a newer or less fussy buyer, and Boardmans (Boardmen?) seem to hold their value well at lower prices... probably as they have a good rep as value bikes.
I’ve had a Boardman roadie for 3 years - it’s black and silver and has Dura Ace di2 , Carbon wheels etc. Bits are a bit cheap but it was 3250! And fits perfectly . All I get is Jibes about my Halfords bike 😂
If you’re not too worried about marginal gains then you may find the wheels absolutely fine. Are they the deep carbon wheels in the picture or is that a Wilier trick, picture of the bike looks great and small print says it’s only an example and spec is different?
I had an Aeroad, sold it very recently, had it 2 years. Being honest I was never really settled on it. Little niggles that took time to sort out. Personally wouldn’t go Canyon again, I didn’t have a bad experience as such, but would now rather buy from a lbs.
It's a nice bike but for 100 quid more i bought a tcr advnced pro 0 disk, which came with di2, slr carbon wheels, and a dual sided stages powermeter.
Sure it was on sale, but you have an awful lot of options for £3500 quid if you look around.
Basically the boardman is nice, but I wouldn't pay 3.3k for it.
stages powermeter
Is the Giant branded PM actually stages then?
If its any help I bought a baordman team pro carbon 10 years ago, through bike to work and for about 800 quid when all said and done.
It was as light as 2k bikes, looked as good and with the addition of some cosmic carbone wheels goes like stink.
10 years later it still looks good against even new bikes
Just to go off tangent, I have a Scott Addict non Di2 version and I couldn't find an equivalent Spesh/Trek etc offering anything like value for money. Lovely bike to ride.
Is the Giant branded PM actually stages then?
Good point! No it's not. Now I think about it, it came with a giant power meter originally which didn't work. Giant knew they had an issue with the 1st version so swapped it out for a stages dual sided at no extra cost.
I believe the 2nd version up of the giant power meter is much improved.
but what’s the point of shelling out a boat load of Money for a club run just because I’m a little older
Because riding a really nice bike is just really nice, even if its only a club run!
I'm loving my Orbea Orca, I thought my Scott CR1 wasn't that dated, but the Orca makes the CR1 feel like riding a blancmange. Gobsmacked by how much carbon frames have come on and what a really modern race frame rides like (very fast). Even if I only win sprints for the village signs, its worth it 😉
How about one of these? Anyone got one?
https://www.orrobikes.com/shop/2021-venturi-ultegra-di2
I’d get that Boardman for the money if there’s nothing else with similar kit for the money. I’ve had a boardman carbon road bike a few years back (Team Carbon with 10 speed rival and rim brakes) and it was great. Got it for £1k in a sale and after 7 years good use I sold it for £350. Sold really quick. All I did in that time was out better brakes on and replaced the Ritchey wheels with Aksiums as the freehub gave up and the rims were concave.
7.6kg for a bike with discs and semi aero features and fairly deep dish carbon wheels is good anyway - regardless of the price. Boardman not a drama for me - I’d swap my Cannondale Caad12 disc with Di2 and hunt wheels in a flash for that Boardman.
Regarding the branding: I ride a Boardman FS Pro and am always amazed at how much faff riders undergo with their boutique £3k+ bikes at trail centres (on the occasions I go), whereas I just get on my bike and go. I'm pretty sure, whilst being no riding god, I'm enjoying my day as much as the rest and if Strava is anything to go by, they're behind me for the most part anyhow. Perhaps the boutique brands need more care on the trails?!
I therefore wouldn't think twice about spending more money on a Boardman; they're really good bikes. There's a certain pleasure in seeing the disbelief when brand snobs see what you're riding!
How about one of these? Anyone got one?
Thats amazing value and gets good review. Ultegra 8000 comes in at £2700, who needs l'ectric gears anyway...
I would be looking at the new giant tcr pro 1 disk, not much more comes with power metre, proved and tested frame and better wheels but alas not di2.
Perhaps the boutique brands need more care on the trails?!
Having owned a few expensive bikes (although not traditional boutique brands) this is not the case. The reason people faff and preen with them is that they are obsessed with kit, which is why they've spent so much money on them.
I’m looking at upgrading my Boardman team carbon (2011, I think), mainly because I want discs, I quite fancy di2, especially if the new bike has got internal cables (and they all do these days), and it only takes 25mm tyres. It’s been great and I find it pretty comfy and fast. I’ve done many thousands of miles on it. To be honest the only original bits are the frame, fork, stem and seatpost, but that’s due to wearing out almost everything else rather then there being anything wrong with anything on it.
I quite enjoy the snobbery, and find pleasure when overtaking those same snobby folk on their 5x more expensive superbikes in events (sad, I know, but I can’t help it).
Not sure whether to get something more “endurance” and comfort focussed, or embrace this aero stuff.
Having owned a few expensive bikes (although not traditional boutique brands) this is not the case. The reason people faff and preen with them is that they are obsessed with kit, which is why they’ve spent so much money on them.
I guess they ride slowly to preserve their investment. Sounds boring to me! 🤣
Not sure whether to get something more “endurance” and comfort focussed, or embrace this aero stuff.
With wider tyres and frame design features like dropped seat stays and aero tube profiles, comfort and aero/race bikes seem to have converged a bit now.
Have a look at reviews of bikes like the supersix.
I went out with some people I haven’t been out with before in the weekend and faffage was at the Max. Digital tyre pressure gauges, shock pumps, playing with brakes and even changing a fork.
I thought I faffed but that’s mostly just getting knee pads / shoes on / bag packed more than anything.
More expensive bikes don’t generally need more love - just a lot of people who buy them like everything to be exactly right I guess.
I had a Boardman Pro Fs and I’d say it needed more love of the pivots to stop it creaking all the time. It worked great but the bearings were fairly small and the main pivot could have been better designed. Swapped to a Bird Aeris which isn’t boutique or particularly fancy, but it was just decently designed, had bigger bearings and locking collets on the main pivots. No creaking.
They've made great bikes for a long time (my boardman fast hybrid is an absolute weapon) and let's be honest, road bikes aren't that complicated so it's not like it needs cutting edge R&D or a genius designer.
The thing with controls/bars is, you could get one that's got top end, expensive, ideal looking stuff on it but that doesn't mean it'll fit you right. So the cockpit's one of the best places to save money on a complete bike, and means you can fit exactly what you want. Better to have cheaper alu parts that fit than expensive carbon parts that don't, and definitely better if you end up flinging them on ebay to have less invested in them
Wheels are not so simple though.
People say "would you be happy on a boardman", and tbh snobs might look down on you, and who cares, they're dicks. Most people will double take it and realise what it really is. And some people will go "urgh, halfords bike" then feel double pain when you drop them. It's nice not to have a brand to live up to, sometimes.
All depends how much you want di2 I guess. If you drop di2 from the requirements you get a much bigger choice of bikes in that price range.
For what it's worth di2 is great, but it would come right at the bottom of my priority list when it comes to a road bike. Mechanical gears are so good the difference is absolutely minimal.
Whilst in Halfords picking up the bike grab a rattle can and give it a respray when you get home.
All depends how much you want di2 I guess. If you drop di2 from the requirements you get a much bigger choice of bikes in that price range.
For what it’s worth di2 is great, but it would come right at the bottom of my priority list when it comes to a road bike. Mechanical gears are so good the difference is absolutely minimal.
This is definitely in mind. I’ve essentially been looking at mechanical Ultegra. The bikes essentially fall into 3 camps, £2k, £3k and £4k depending on the material and what’s in the down tube. But then you get oddity’s like a £4K Cervelo Caledonia 5 with DT Swiss P1800 - liveable but £4000 - with what is essentially some lower grade wheels. For £3k I can get a Giant TCR with a PM and own brand SlR1’s, good carbon rims, and in between a Tarmac or Cannondale.
Ive only found two bikes that’s heart felt currently and that and Otlre XR3 or Infinito CV, the former being cheaper but both are £4.5k. I did find a Colnago V3 for £3.5k but that feels a bit like a budget version of the real thing (VRS3).
it’s a minefield.
Mechanical gears are so good the difference is absolutely minimal.
Yep, I've got SRAM Force eTap and Shimano 105 on summer / winter bikes and they both shift as good as each other. Althought the eTap buttons work way better with gloves than Di2 as there's only one button on each shifter for up/down, so you can't hit the wrong one.
Don't forget that Halfords bought the Boardman brand back in 2014 - Chris has no involvement with it any more.
Have a look at reviews of bikes like the supersix.
How did Cannondale make a bike with such stunning reviews yet the dullest paintjob?
Not sure about owning one tbh, I'm old enough to remember the MTB crack 'n fail jokes.
How did Cannondale make a bike with such stunning reviews yet the dullest paintjob?
yep, a friend has one and they could have done so much better eg bright blue like a Canyon would look amazing. It has to be the dullest looking bike out there.
I'll go against the grain here and say that, good as mechanical gears are now, Di2 is a class above. I won't buy a best road bike without it, I love it.
I would however agree that I would prefer not to have an integrated bar and stem, I'd want to get the shape and length right without it being a pain in the backside.
Wheels? Well, every road bike I've bought I'd ended up changing the wheels, so I'd budget for that personally.
I’m old enough to remember the MTB crack ‘n fail jokes.
You're saying that a major manufacturer has not modified their designs to address an issue in 25 years?
Well, every road bike I’ve bought I’d ended up changing the wheels, so I’d budget for that personally.
You wouldn't need to change the wheels of the tcr he referenced. I have them on my bike, light, stiff, tubeless. Got great reviews as well.
For 3k I think the tcr is a no brainer, even if not di2. Note though, it is a bit if a head down racer. I also have a defy and it's a bit more civilized for most applications
I don’t know much about the Alex rims on the Boardman but they can’t be wildly heavy if the whole bike comes in at 7.6kg surely?
My Caad12 disc is about 8.5kgs I think (analogue luggage scales) - that’s a frame of about 1100g I believe, 1550g hunt wheels, Conti gp4000’s in 25c size, si cranks with Spiderings and Ultegra Di2. The rest of the build kit is standard Cannondale the at came on a 105 discs build so won’t be especially light, but even still - it’s nearly 1kg heavier than the Boardman.
The Boardman is 8kbtw, the 7.6kg came from a review of the rim brake version I read.
I know of two TCR's - an Advanced Pro 2 disc Ultegra for £3k and an Advanced Pro 0 Di2 Disc for £3800. I also know where there's an Oltre XR3 CV Disc for £3300...
The more I think about this the more I think about my current Rim brake, 50mms shod 105 bike which is 7.2kg and rides so well, so I really need a new one? Not really...
The annoying thing about this search is that there's always a compromise. Well maybe except for the TCR but then its "just" a Giant....
The more I think about this the more I think about my current Rim brake, 50mms shod 105 bike which is 7.2kg and rides so well, so I really need a new one? Not really…
I felt the same about my CR1 with 404s on it. Until, that is, I rode a new carbon aero frame and realised just how much things have come on in frame stiffness / efficiency.
Despite the OP I do think riding around Herts & Essex on a club run with an aero bike looks a bit odd...
I rode a new carbon aero frame and realised just how much things have come on in frame stiffness / efficiency.
Maybe, from an old scott. But you certainly don't need to spend 3k to get a very stiff well sorted frame nowadays. My tcr is no stiffer than the canyon ultimate it replaced from 2015. Road bikes haven't come on that much.
Unless you are racing and you need every last drop of extra speed a modern bike may give you, then buying a new 4k bike is pointless from a 'performance perspective'. It isn't pointless from a 'having a nice shiney new bike that puts a smile on your face' perspective however, which I reckon is far more important to most of us, and the reason I bought mine.
Despite the OP I do think riding around Herts & Essex on a club run with an aero bike looks a bit odd…
I'm amazed at how many top end bikes I see out and about now, deep section carbon rims used to be really rare, they're pretty ubiquitous now....
If you’re snobby about Alex carbon wheels, then I think you should be snobby about it saying Boardman on the side. 😉
I thought Alex rims made more rims than anyone else and make a lot of rims for other brands.
If you have a problem with an Alex rim carbon wheel then you've answered your own question, you will never be happy with a special bike that says boardman on it because boardmans are in reach of most people, especially those thar aren't "proper cyclists"
Some "proper" cyclists don't know anything about the different versions of boardman bikes, they have already snubbed them and don't get past the boardman sticker.
But when you say I have a cannondale, giant or canyon to pick a few mentioned in this thread, you follow that up with a supersix, synapse, tcr, aeroroad etc to determine how good it is but never really ask the year as they have pedigree and a good bike is a good bike.
If your planning on keeping it for a while then I think the boardman will get old quickly in yours and other people's minds rather than in reality.
I'd have one BTW, I don't care about brands, just how they ride, how they wear and how much they cost. Major factor for me buying new is warranty cover. I don't even touch brands than have 2 years unless it's cheap (e.g px scandal)
Personally I wouldn't even think about buying a bike now until the market has matched supply with demand and prices come back down a bit. May take a while though so if you can't wait be prepared to pay a premium aka rrp 😉
