Ridgeback Flight 01 '09 or Boardman Urban Comp '09?

mitchep

I have been driven mad by my indecision in choosing between these two bikes and welcome any comments by people that will know more than me about specs.

I'm will be getting the bike through the cycle2work scheme and have to go through Halfords for either bike, so the usual negative Boardman comment of poor Halfords service will unfortunately apply to both!

Anyway, I currently have a very average Raleigh bike which is too slow due to gearing and I'm looking forward to getting something fast for a resonable budget...

The first bike is the Boardman Urban Comp

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_165534

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/Boardman09_Hybrid.pdf

My Pros:
Quality Components (I believe)
Brakes are low maintenance (again I believe)

My Cons
Bike with disc brakes at station cycle rack could be more of a target
After looking at the tyres in store they seem very much dry weather only and not puncture resistant. I could get new ones from Halfords with the 10% accessory allowance but they don't seem to do any decent ones

The Ridgeback

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/rid ... e-ec017056

Pros
Carbon fork ideal for the not so perfect roads on my ride
Tyres seem good alround and puncture resistant

Cons
Just the feeling I might be missing out on the components of the boardman

My views might be all misguided so I hope you guys can help!

Cheers.

Wrath Rob

Welcome to SCR! Sorry, Commuting!

I've got the Boardman '08 Road Comp. Its a great bike, though I did have to tighten up the front brakes and adjust the rear deraileur slightly once I'd got it home.

My advice? Get a road bike. Unless you really, really need a hybrid you're better off on a more manoeuvrable, faster machine. You'll regret the hybrid after a couple of months.

mitchep

Thanks. It's good to know someone who has a Boardman likes it, even though it sounds like you had the dreaded Halfords setup issues.

The Boardman road bike is out of my price range anyway, but I just worry how fragile they are if you're going up and down a few curbs on the way?

biondino

Road bikes aren't fragile! And slick tyres aren't dangerous in the wet! There needs to be a "cycling myths" thread, perhaps.

gtvlusso

biondino wrote:

Road bikes aren't fragile! And slick tyres aren't dangerous in the wet! There needs to be a "cycling myths" thread, perhaps.

Agreed on all fronts!! Can be interesting on a light bike in a bit of wind though.....

The Chingford Skinhead

gtvlusso wrote:

biondino wrote:

Road bikes aren't fragile! And slick tyres aren't dangerous in the wet! There needs to be a "cycling myths" thread, perhaps.

Agreed on all fronts!! Can be interesting on a light bike in a bit of wind though.....

Aha, think you just answered the question that I was just about to ask. I have a hybrid and I don't regret it at all. That said I recently got a road bike but while the speed is nice I find it puts every little bump in the road right through my body (tmy ridgeback is far more forgiving). But the two biggest problems were:

Wind - the bike is very light. I'm not. On my very first ride I was hit by a sidewind and I was rather alarmed at the sensation of the bike almost vanishing from beneath me :shock: I presume I'd get used to it? Rain - there is no room for mudguards and in my only wet ride so far I found the muddy-wet rear and back rather unpleasant. Give me mudguards and a pannier rack any day

mitchep

Okay, so after the above views and some myths dispelled, I've still not been swayed into getting a road bike just yet, and adding more bikes into the mix would only do my head in! But thanks for the comments.

So, going back to my original post, any views on the bikes I've been looking at?

Wrath Rob

Yes. Get a road bike

I regularly bunny hop the Boardman down a 6" curb to get from a cycle path back onto the road. I've also ridden it for getting on for 3k miles on my commute in the last year and the wheels have been faultless and are still true (as was noted at the last service). The carbon forks take the fizz out of the road too and once I got a decent saddle on it (a Charge Spoon) its been a comfortable bike to be on. The only reason I'm using the past tense is that I've just gone single speed on an old bike for the winter as I like the Boardman too much to take it through another winter!