& he’s on about this one,

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/fs_team.html

What’s the verdict? I’ve given him my advice (ie spend a bit more & you’ll get a bit more) but is it good advice or not. Is the Boardman as good as a 1.5K bike say. He’s 28 & therefore knows everything. 🙄

I like the look of the new Boardman FS. A lot of bike for the money and it gets great reviews.

I suspect the Canyon brigade will be along shortly to suggest that as an option.
http://www.canyon.com/_en/mountainbikes/bike.html?b=2072

I’d rather look out for a good deal on a 2011 bike. Specialized Stumpjumper’s can be had for about £1699 at the moment, although they are obviously limited.

The Boardmans have had rave reviews as the link shows. Don’t see how you can go wrong with it – a horst link frame, Rockshox maxle forks, 2 x 10 and no obvious compromises?

Or you can pay ~£700 more for an only marginally better spec?

The old boardman bikes were great value. The new ones are a step up in niceness but have had a price hike – but still very much worth it looking at the spec and build quality compared to more expensive bikes.

The carbon hard tail is lovely but a lot. The FS definitely seems a good buy but I woulnt pay full retail – not based on them not being worth it. But because I know that halfords will have a few hundred off in their sale.

One of my friends has the Boardman FS Team in the link above – seems amazing for the money. Had a go myself and it seems great.

Of course Halfords set the shock and fork up with completely the wrong pressures (and it came without a shock pump), but once we sorted this out it’s been great.