Boardman comp... thoughts

dcvh007

I'm looking for a new road bike. I am new to road biking, but want to get into it... and am planning to do Lands End to John 'O Groats next year for charity. I've been looking into bikes and am considering either...

• The Chris Boardman Comp
• The CUBE Aerial
• The CUBE Peloton
• The Specialized ALLEZ

I have around £600 / £700 to spend. Any thoughts? The boardman seems to get good write ups but looks like it only goes up to 57.5cm frame [XL]. I am 6'4" so thought that I would need at least a 60cm frame? Would I be right in thinking this? Would a Boardman 57.5cm be too small?

Any help or thoughts greatly appreciated...

D

jezcc

you'd also be lucky to get a Boardman.

I went in to BikeHut at St Pauls and they didn't have any. Told me I'd have to put a deposit down if I even wanted to see one!

I left.

toshmund

Have you seen these? Going by their sizing chart, which is linked from the page - they reckon you would want a 58. Tricross looks a lovely bike, which would be better for longer distances by the look of it.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.SPECIALIZED-Tri ... _13089.htm

Gary D

dcvh007 wrote:

I have around £600 / £700 to spend. Any thoughts? The boardman seems to get good write ups but looks like it only goes up to 57.5cm frame [XL]. I am 6'4" so thought that I would need at least a 60cm frame? Would I be right in thinking this? Would a Boardman 57.5cm be too small?

Yes. Most probably.
Depends on your proportions, but I would say you should be thinking about at least a 60cm.
I am 6'11/2" and both my bikes are 58cm. However, I am long in the body but have quite short legs. I was recently fitted "properly" and we decided I could even have gone for a 60cm myself.

Gary.

giant_man

My only thought is that you have to get it from Halfords. Probably a good enough bike for the money but I wouldn't buy any bike from Halfords. Shame really.

jezcc

There are a couple of standalone BikeHut shops, not sure they're any better though.

Juju_uk_68

The Dorking Bikehut I got my c2w Bianchi was fine.

Enthusiastic staff who managed to be really helpful without beong patronising, happy to offer me test rides, even on bikes far pricier than I was looking to buy just to nail down sizing. Recommended. Forget the Halfords thing. Even though ?I chose a bike brand they dont sell, the bike when I picked it up was well assembled, and contrary to Health and Safety policy, they'd asumed I'd not want my new carbon forked Italian steed festooned with bells and reflectors, which was fine by me!

Mixed experiences with the Brighton store though although you will find being young and atrractive (and female) will get you enough attention there (I am not, and on the three occasions I went in, was ignored for 20 ms tpically each time) , ironically trying to buy a Boardman. Had one in stock my size, but not built up. Took my number and said they'd phone when it was ok to test. Phone never rang. When I went in next they just shrugged shoulders and said they'd sold it - no apology, just a "they're popular".

An ok Thailand frame with some decent finishing kit and ok gears and crank but still 9 speed. Possibly not quite as great as the press would have you believe. The amount of people wandering into a Halfords, who generally wont have much other brand stock at those price levels asking about Boardmans on a typical sat pm is unbelievable! They sell themselves despite, rather than because of Halfords name.