Based upon specifications, which would you buy ?

weeksy59

Bike 1.
Frame Alpha Black Aluminum w/externally relieved head tube, hydroformed bi-axial down tube and top tube, monostay seatstays, forged disc ready dropouts
Front Suspension RockShox Recon Race Solo Air w/positive air, rebound, TurnKey lockout, alloy steerer, 100mm
Wheels
Wheels Shimano M525 SL rear hub, Bontrager sealed front hub; Bontrager SSR, 32-hole welded rims w/eyelets
Tires Bontrager Jones XR, 26x2.2/2.25"; 60 tpi, folding
Drivetrain
Shifters Shimano SLX, 9 speed
Front Derailleur Shimano SLX
Rear Derailleur Shimano SLX
Crank Shimano SLX 44/32/22
Cassette SRAM PG970 11-34, 9 speed
Pedals Platform ATB style
Components
Saddle Bontrager Race Basic
Seat Post Bontrager Race, 31.6mm, 5mm offset
Handlebars Bontrager Race Riser, 40mm rise, 650mm width
Stem Bontrager SSR, 10 degree, 31.8mm
Headset VP-A58ACT-TK, 1 1/8" w/alloy cups, semi -cartridge bearings, sealed
Brakeset Shimano SLX; 180mm front rotor, 160mm rear rotor

Bike 2.
Frame - Alu Superlite 7005 Double Butted, RFR-Geometry
• Size - 16", 18", 20", 22"
• Colour - Black Anodized or White Candy Black
• Forks - Rock Shox Tora SL Solo Air 100mm, PopLoc
• Headset - FSA No.10 semi-integriert
• Stem - Easton EA30
• Handlebars - Easton EA30 Lowriser
• Rear Derailleur - Shimano Deore XT Shadow
• Front Derailleur - Shimano SLX
• Gear shifter - Shimano Deore Rapidfire-Plus 9-speed
• Brakes - Stroker Trail hydr. Scheibenbremse (180/160mm)
• Crank set - Shimano Deore 2-Piece 44x32x22Z., 175mm, integr. Innenlager
• Cassette - Shimano HG50 11-32T, 9-speed
• Chain - Shimano HG53
• Rims - RFR ZX24
• Shimano Disc M525
• Tyre - Schwalbe VR: Nobby Nic Triple Compound 2.25/HR: Racing Ralph TC 2.25
• Pedal - Fasten Alu
• Seat - RFR Natural Shape 0.1 M
• Seat post - Easton EA30 31.6mm
• Weight - 1850g

Geometry:

• Size - 16” / 18” / 20” / 22”
• Top Tube - 536 / 555 / 574 / 596
• Head Tube - 100 / 110 / 130 / 150
• Wheel Base - 1032 / 1054 / 1076 / 1094
• Seat Tube - 405 / 450 / 490 / 540
• Seat Tube Angle - 72°
• Chainstay - 420
• Head Tube Angle - 70°


Bike 3.
Frame Material: Aluminium
Frame Size: 17-18
Gears: 21+
Gender: Mens
Suspension: Front
Alloy Rims: Yes
Brake Type: Hydraulic Disc
Chainset: Truvativ Stylo 3.3 Team 44/32/22T
Exact Frame Size: 18"
Fork Lock-out : Yes
Fork travel: 100mm
Forks: Rock Shox Reba Race
Forks - Adjustable damping : Yes
Frame Colour: Matt silver
Frame-: 7005 Aluminium frame with triple butted main tubes and double butted stays
Front Brake: Avid Juicy 7 - 160mm rotors
Front Mech: SRAM X9
Gear Shifters: SRAM X9 triggers
Handle Bars: Ritchey WCS Over-Sized
Headset: FSA Orbit Z
Hubs: Formula disc hubs, sealed cartridge bearings
Number of Gears: 27
Quick Release Wheels: Yes
Rear Brake: Avid Juicy 7 - 160mm rotors
Rear Mech: SRAM X0
Rear Shock: NA (rigid)
Rear Shock Adjustable Damping: NA (rigid)
Rear Shock Lock-out : NA (rigid)
Rear wheel travel: NA (rigid)
Rims: Ritchey Disc WCS OCR 32H rims
Saddle: CBoardman MTB Pro saddle, Titanium rails
Seatpost: Ritchey WCS
Stem: Ritchey WCS Over-Sized - A-head
Tyre size: 2.1
Tyres: Continental Vapor
Wheel size: 26"

BoardinBob

The Boardman

baser

Bike 3

I bought the 08 Boardman MTB pro about 6 months ago and its brill, can be a bit skitish when really hammering it but at least you know you are getting close to the limit. The only thing I will change on mine are the conti explorer tyres, great in the dry / ice / snow but useless with all the mud around at the moment.

adb1006

Bike 3.

Better fork, better groupset and good brakes IMO.

weeksy59

LOL you're not supposed to cheat and know what models i'm talking about

Hahahaha

baser

Sorry Weeksy59, I spent a couple of months looking last year and recognised the spec straight away although there are a couple of giveaways in your discription ( boardman MTB pro saddle ). Seriously its a great bike well worth the money!!!

Bikerbaboon

Boardman again... great bike from a bad shop.... but you dont ride the bike in the shop.
I got a 08 and it was an ace till i broke it but that was all down to me and not the bike. I have take all the kit off the fram and put it on my On one frame with a new fork for more bounce.

After rideing for a year 3-5 times a week 10-30 miles at a time i managed to wear out the rear hubs bairings and i needed a new casset and a new front cahin rings and chain.

Cost me 130 ish to replace and swap some bits over to Shim SLX so i cant complain about how hte bikes fairs in hte long term with repairs.

New rubber is a must though.

weeksy59

Bike 1 is the Trek 6700

Bike 2 is the Cube LTD Race

Bike 3 is the Boardman indeed.

I guess when you also consider the fact that i can get the Boardman for about £550 through Cycle2work in April, whereas the Cube is £800 and the Trek £700ish then the decision becomes very very simple.

It's just a terrible shame that the Boardman isn't as pretty as the other 2.

weeksy59

Bike 1 is the Trek 6700

Bike 2 is the Cube LTD Race

Bike 3 is the Boardman indeed.

I guess when you also consider the fact that i can get the Boardman for about £550 through Cycle2work in April, whereas the Cube is £800 and the Trek £700ish then the decision becomes very very simple.

It's just a terrible shame that the Boardman isn't as pretty as the other 2.

Stoo61

Boooooooooardman.

weeksy59

OK OK OK.

THe Cycle2 work scheme is April.

zero303

Always buy on fit, feel and comfort, spec second...

dataapp

Bike 2 looks like the spec for the LTD Comp rather than the LTD Race

weeksy59

zero303 wrote:

Always buy on fit, feel and comfort, spec second...

I'm very limited on experience, so would have bugger all idea what fit feel and comfort are 'right' to be honest mate.

Stoo61

weeksy59 wrote:

zero303 wrote:

Always buy on fit, feel and comfort, spec second...

I'm very limited on experience, so would have bugger all idea what fit feel and comfort are 'right' to be honest mate.

Its fairly intuitive.

zero303

Go with your instincts - my wife had never sat on a modern mountain bike and she was quick to tell me the 15" Gents Orange Evo wasn't right (even though it had a ladies saddle) but the Size M Spesh Myka FSR was just right...

My personal feeling is too many folk are worrying about specs which are easy to compare online, then hunt down the deals online.

In my experience, the best period of bike ownership often comes from finding a good bike shop with helpful staff that'll set up a bike for you, preferably take it on a real demo (often limtied to top end rigs though) and just buy what you enjoyed riding the most.

I don't mean this to sound horrible but if you can't tell the difference between what feels right and wrong when you sit on them - you deffo won't notice the difference between spec items (I expect many to argue this to death but re-read what I've just said before you do)

Now it may turn out the best specced bike will feel the best but it may be the best specced bike is uncomfy and or feels nervous to ride on and if that's the case, I'd rather have the lesser specced bike.

I could go on about not choosing on spec alone but I'll limit it to one more...

I know you're not looking at FS but here's an example of things that the spec sheets won't tell you. The recently reviewed Boardman FS has great spec but a segment in the review mentions it's a pig to set up.

My experience is most people aren't too hot at setting up suspension, so for most people, the boardman FS is actually going to be a not overly great bike to ride even though it's outspeccing everything for the same money by a mile... The bike doesn't seem to get particularly marked down for this and many will buy it ignoring this important point.

My point is, there's just so much more to consider than buying on spec alone.

homerjay

and theres me thinking the internet it the future....doh

good post zero303

weeksy59

An excellent post indeed.

Cheers.

I can sit on the Trek, and sit on the Boardman... Not sure about the cube... but to me "yeah it feels like a bike" is the likely outcome to what i feel when i sit on it.

And you may be right, if i can't 'feel' the difference, then will i notice if it's actually good or bad in the real world.

zero303

If you're not experienced with bike feel, you'll only likely spot things when riding the bikes back to back which you're not going to be able to do.

The one thing that even the least experience of riders may notice is a really appalling fork, which none of those have particularly (The Recon and the Reba being quite a bit lighter and better than the Tora but the Tora isn't a rotter by any means).

My point is, on paper it's clearly the boardman, but if the boardman was more awkward to ride for your body shape, it brings the others into play.

When sitting on them, preferably riding around the car park at least and riding for more than just a minute, areas to focus on are reach (arm ache, back ache?) how does it feel under your arse? Does it feel quite upright and relaxed or does it feel like you're laying down towards the bars - which feels better? Try riding standing and sitting, sprint, turn, which feels more enjoyable to ride.

If after everything, you really can't tell any difference, chances are you've picked a good bunch of bikes and feel free to buy on spec!