Boardman TRVL 8.9

https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2410-trvl-8.9-fb.html

I was hoping for it to be a little cheaper, but I do really like it. £1600 for a hybrid does seem a bit much even if it is labeled as a flat bar gravel bike. Any thoughts/ alternatives and has anyone actually seen one? Marin DSX Fs is the only bike similar that I can think of.

30 years later we’ve almost come full circle

I like that Boardman. Doesn’t look a horrendous price?

Rudy fork and GX/SX mix. I think that’s ok. If I was in the market I’d be tempted.

My goodness that Klein looks both fantastic and bloody awful. Was it the Klein Adept which was the hybrid bike of the time? In fact didn’t someone race an Adept as a cyclocross bike way back when? Back to the Boardman, maybe the price is ok (Halfords putting me off) especially as a Specialized Diverge Evo was £3000!

It looks fantastic, but…

If I was in the market I’d be tempted.

What IS the market? I can’t help but think if you bought one, you’d quickly end up thinking that it could be much improved by the fork having 100 of travel, not 40m, and it fitting 2 point something inch tyres….

Or that you wish it was lighter, and maybe a bit faster, and what would it be like with curly bars…?

Its very much in the vein of the old Specialized Diverge Evo, which I thought was really cool, and until I kept thinking some more and then went full circle till I didnt really understand what it was for.

9/10 for the paint job, though!

(10/10 reserved for if they persuaded RS to do them some colour matched fork lowers).

What IS the market?

Me.

I want a bike that will rip around farm tracks, knackered roads, towpaths, converted railway lines etc, and I don’t want drop bars cos I don’t see the point. In fact, I have a Spesh Diverge Evo on order.

I’d have looked at that Boardman to be fair if it had had a rigid fork (for me a 40mm fork is just adding too much weight for too little comfort benefit)

“30 years later we’ve almost come full circle”

Only on the surface. This comment comes up every time a bike like this is announced. I get the sentiment, and it has some truth in it, but there’s more to it. The 90s mountain bike was meant for mtbing, whilst this is a flashy hybrid (which isn’t a bad thing at all!). The geometry of the modern bike is going to be different in a good way, all the componentry improvements (discs, 1x, etc.) will make it better, the suspension (all 40mm of it) will be leagues ahead of the 90s bike. Ultimately it’s a better bike built for a slightly different – and probably more appropriate – purpose, but proudly wearing some of its DNA. It’s good that it has echoes of the 90s mtb, but it is just that, an echo.

The other issue is about how it is at the mtb end of the ‘gravel’ spectrum, so you may as well get a xc mtb. I’d certainly prefer a light 29er as it’ll be more capable as well as more versatile. Still, it’s a good looking, good value bike that’ll no doubt do a good job too..

It’s probably the correct bike for certain areas and customers. I love the colour, I’m not throwing myself down mountains anymore and where I live it’s a mix of terrible potholed country roads and gravel paths into the forests. I could always get a rigid fork for it but by all accounts that Ruby fork is pretty good.