Boardman carbon VS Cervelo S1

megatron

I'm looking to upgrade from my Allez sport, price is a factor and i'm looking to get the most bang for my buck, think i've narrowed it down to either a Boardman team or pro carbon or a Cervelo S1. I don't tend to spend all day in the saddle preferring to spank it over shorter distances, I prefer to turn a high gear on the flats but unfortunately live in a hilly area so it has to climb well, I also plan to do the odd triathlon.

Very seduced by the amazing value and great reviews of the Boardman, but have a feeling the Cervelo might be faster and better suited to my needs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers!

Rich Hcp

I'd upgrade the Allez, put 105 on and new wheels.

Otherwise, its the one that fits best

asprilla

Hmm, pity I dont have my time machine as I'll be riding both in the Pyrenees in September. I can however tell you that I love my S1.

Most of my riding is commuting or sprint triathlons / training and so I like to, as you say; spank it. It's just such a solid platform with a rock solid BB and it's very, very responsive. I just love it.

SmallerPlatypus

I'd go for the S1 every time. Being Aluminium its more rugged than Carbon, which gives piece of mind if you intend to travel abroad with it. Plus, with it's reversible seat post head, you can get a great tri-position.

What size are you? I'm considering selling my 2009 S1.

Matt.

chriskempton

SmallerPlatypus wrote:

I'd go for the S1 every time. Being Aluminium its more rugged than Carbon, which gives piece of mind if you intend to travel abroad with it. Plus, with it's reversible seat post head, you can get a great tri-position.

What size are you? I'm considering selling my 2009 S1.

Matt.

+1 S1 sounds ideal with the seat post

cooper.michael1

Rich Hcp wrote:

I'd upgrade the Allez, put 105 on and new wheels.

Otherwise, its the one that fits best

Indeed, i'd look at upgrading the Allez, Wheels are the biggest upgrade, as rotational weight is the weight that you want to keep as low as possible.

A pair of Wheelsmith handbuilt 1400g wheels, with some top notch tyres, could loose you a fair bit of weight off your existing set up for £300-400.

If you are travelling with a bike, unless you have a hard bike case, avoid carbon, baggage handlers are not known for thier light hands.

cougie

The Boardman bike has won races so its plenty fast enough ? I travle with my carbon bike abroad and its just as sturdy as an aluminium bike.

Youd need to wrap both of them up to protect from the baggage handlers, but I dont see a carbon one being more fraglile than alu ?

asprilla

chriskempton wrote:

SmallerPlatypus wrote:

I'd go for the S1 every time. Being Aluminium its more rugged than Carbon, which gives piece of mind if you intend to travel abroad with it. Plus, with it's reversible seat post head, you can get a great tri-position.

What size are you? I'm considering selling my 2009 S1.

Matt.

+1 S1 sounds ideal with the seat post

That's actually the only thing that annys me about mine.

I've been waiting two and a half months for a replacement carbon seat post, and am currently using an Alu one that one of Cervelos UK retailsers had been sent in error. Without that I would still be postless.

The reversable post attracted me as I do commutes, weekend runs and triathlons, but I've found that occasionally I knock the saddle out of true and have to stop and shift it. I als have an undefined squeek coming from my nether regions and I don't know whether it's the saddle or the reversible post mount.

Anonymous

Asprilla wrote:

I als have an undefined squeek coming from my nether regions and I don't know whether it's the saddle or the reversible post mount.

or your nads.

megatron

SmallerPlatypus wrote:

I'd go for the S1 every time. Being Aluminium its more rugged than Carbon, which gives piece of mind if you intend to travel abroad with it. Plus, with it's reversible seat post head, you can get a great tri-position.

What size are you? I'm considering selling my 2009 S1.

Matt.

I'm 5'10" so was thinking a 54

megatron

cooper.michael1 wrote:

Rich Hcp wrote:

I'd upgrade the Allez, put 105 on and new wheels.

Otherwise, its the one that fits best

Indeed, i'd look at upgrading the Allez, Wheels are the biggest upgrade, as rotational weight is the weight that you want to keep as low as possible.

A pair of Wheelsmith handbuilt 1400g wheels, with some top notch tyres, could loose you a fair bit of weight off your existing set up for £300-400.

If you are travelling with a bike, unless you have a hard bike case, avoid carbon, baggage handlers are not known for thier light hands.

My initial thought was to upgrade the wheels, but realised i could sell my bike for £450 - £500 on ebay and with the extra cash i would have spent on wheels i could easily afford a 2nd hand boardman team carbon. Seemed like the better option to me.

richardfj

Hi,

I Have an Allez as well the advice i got was to change to a new bike after all it does seem odd to spend £300-£400 worth of upgrades on a bike worth £600.

I'm saving for a new one now cicra £1600 - £2000, i'd be more comfortable spending £400 to upgrade that when the time comes...

good luck

ScottieP

I have an older Allez Elite (with 105) and have done quite a bit of upgrading ... apart from the wheels - to be honest I'm not sure it's worth it as I think they're a great but reasonably basic bike. A good starter bike (although I'm still riding mine 5 years later). If you upgrade the wheels I think you really want to be spending circa £500 to get a really good upgrade and then you can take these onto your next bike. This is what I've done anyway - got some Easton EA90 SLX for sunday best and some Mavic Open Pros on Hope hubs for everyday riding. I don't think it's worth upgrading the groupset unless you've worn out the old one (unlikely).

Relatively new Allez's do sell well on ebay .... not so sure about the 5 years plus ones like mine (not that I'm thinking of selling anyway - mine will ultimately become a turbo bike in time).

Good luck.
ScottieP

asprilla

megatron wrote:

SmallerPlatypus wrote:

I'd go for the S1 every time. Being Aluminium its more rugged than Carbon, which gives piece of mind if you intend to travel abroad with it. Plus, with it's reversible seat post head, you can get a great tri-position.

What size are you? I'm considering selling my 2009 S1.

Matt.

I'm 5'10" so was thinking a 54

I'm just under 5'10" and I riide a 51 S1.

cooper.michael1

megatron wrote:

cooper.michael1 wrote:

Rich Hcp wrote:

I'd upgrade the Allez, put 105 on and new wheels.

Otherwise, its the one that fits best

Indeed, i'd look at upgrading the Allez, Wheels are the biggest upgrade, as rotational weight is the weight that you want to keep as low as possible.

A pair of Wheelsmith handbuilt 1400g wheels, with some top notch tyres, could loose you a fair bit of weight off your existing set up for £300-400.

If you are travelling with a bike, unless you have a hard bike case, avoid carbon, baggage handlers are not known for thier light hands.

My initial thought was to upgrade the wheels, but realised i could sell my bike for £450 - £500 on ebay and with the extra cash i would have spent on wheels i could easily afford a 2nd hand boardman team carbon. Seemed like the better option to me.

The boardman which weighs 18lbs and has pretty basic tyres and wheels. The cheap carbon bandwagon is just good marketing (the pros ride it so you have to), as I bet you'd never consider buying say a CAAD9 aluminium frame as an upgrade, which it obviously would be.

Given the choice i'd rather ride an allez with top notch wheels, than an average carbon jobbie. I'm not saying the boardman is a bad bike, but reality is that its not going to be that much better than an Allez.

cooper.michael1

richardfj wrote:

Hi,

I Have an Allez as well the advice i got was to change to a new bike after all it does seem odd to spend £300-£400 worth of upgrades on a bike worth £600.

I'm saving for a new one now cicra £1600 - £2000, i'd be more comfortable spending £400 to upgrade that when the time comes...

good luck

The law of diminishing returns suggests you'll improve your Allez a lot more if you spent £400 on top notch wheels and tyres, than if you spent an extra £400 on a bike worth £2k.

The bottom line is most people look to upgrade the obvious things the typical 'I've got tiagra if I get ultegra will i go quicker'...which in reality the last thing you really should upgrade are the Shifters and Mechs. But people love to say i've got a bike with Ultegra, becuase It sounds and looks a bit more bling, in reality it shifts a chain sideways, and when you are in a certain gear, with the exception of the chainset the groupset does nothing. 52x12 in Tiagra or 52x12 in Dura-ace would prove to be almost identical.

Wheels and tyres on the other hand make a bigger difference. No one looks at that boardman and thinks hold on, there is no information about the quality of the wheels they just read carbon and sram, so it must be good. The wheels on the boardman on this forum seemingly get consistently poor reviews, especially regarding the spokes snapping, nipples coming loose etc...So really you've got to factor in an extra £150 in the first year to buy some alternatives.

FransJacques

Get the Cervelo and put the Allez parts on it. You'll notice a huge difference in stiffness and handling. You'll be on a proper race bike. It will push you to greater things.

The Boardman is good but compared to the Cervelo I know which one i'd take. Only consistent feedback I hear on the Cervelo is that the S1 isn't the most comfortable frame, but then tyres and tyre pressure are 85% of the comfort equation.

Go for the Cervelo and push your riding to a new level!

rake

cooper.michael1 wrote:

richardfj wrote:

Hi,

I Have an Allez as well the advice i got was to change to a new bike after all it does seem odd to spend £300-£400 worth of upgrades on a bike worth £600.

I'm saving for a new one now cicra £1600 - £2000, i'd be more comfortable spending £400 to upgrade that when the time comes...

good luck

The law of diminishing returns suggests you'll improve your Allez a lot more if you spent £400 on top notch wheels and tyres, than if you spent an extra £400 on a bike worth £2k.

The bottom line is most people look to upgrade the obvious things the typical 'I've got tiagra if I get ultegra will i go quicker'...which in reality the last thing you really should upgrade are the Shifters and Mechs. But people love to say i've got a bike with Ultegra, becuase It sounds and looks a bit more bling, in reality it shifts a chain sideways, and when you are in a certain gear, with the exception of the chainset the groupset does nothing. 52x12 in Tiagra or 52x12 in Dura-ace would prove to be almost identical.

Wheels and tyres on the other hand make a bigger difference. No one looks at that boardman and thinks hold on, there is no information about the quality of the wheels they just read carbon and sram, so it must be good. The wheels on the boardman on this forum seemingly get consistently poor reviews, especially regarding the spokes snapping, nipples coming loose etc...So really you've got to factor in an extra £150 in the first year to buy some alternatives.

most of the wheels is scaremongering. i have about a year on them and they are fine it was just lack of spoke tensioning caused the nipples to unwind i havent heard of spokes snapping(had neither of those happen)it was an early problem.. . i dispute it wouldnt be much upgrade from an allez. they are well worth the money.

olddgreg

I Have owned a 2010 Cervelo S1 since April. 10 out of 10 for stifness, handling and all-out speed. Not so great in the comfort stakes. You feel every bump. The best way to describe the S1 is that in order to get the most out of it, you really need to be able to push it hard. Put the power down and it is brilliant, no better bike for the money. If your'e after a more gentle steed for an amble through the countryside I wouldn't recommend it. FWIW I love mine but it is a proper race bike, don't underestimate it!!

warrior4life

I have 2010 58 s1 and 6ft, One of my training parteners has the boardman pro carbon in a large and i've used it many times.
Side by side our saddles and bars are set up in pretty much exactly the same position and to ride there isnt that much difference, i was very close to buying the boardman but i wanted something a little different.
The boardman feels a little smoother over the bumps but the cervelo feels tougher.
We both have sram force but my wheels are lighter so weight wise there isnt anything in it either.
You do get the lifetime frame gaurantee with cervelo... whichever you get you'll be happy.
Have a good look on the cervelo website, its great and the forum on there helped me decide.

mfin

You've gotta look into sizing yourself for what suits your torso/leg length, flexibility and riding style. You said 54 for 5ft 10, someone else said same height and rode 51. Then someone 6ft said they rode 58.

Just noting, cos Im 6ft, had a 56 S1 and now ride a 54 R3 as I could get the same position and lower if I wanted, with a longer stem. 56 wouldnt go any lower for me so 54 is right.

A lot of people get caught umming and ahhing between 2 Cervelo sizes it seems to me.

megatron

mfin wrote:

You've gotta look into sizing yourself for what suits your torso/leg length, flexibility and riding style. You said 54 for 5ft 10, someone else said same height and rode 51. Then someone 6ft said they rode 58.

Just noting, cos Im 6ft, had a 56 S1 and now ride a 54 R3 as I could get the same position and lower if I wanted, with a longer stem. 56 wouldnt go any lower for me so 54 is right.

A lot of people get caught umming and ahhing between 2 Cervelo sizes it seems to me.

Well i ride a 54 at the moment and it fits me perfectly, i compared the dimensions of the 54 S1 with my allez and they were similar enough not to cause concern. Hoping to find a second hand one at a reasonable price so don't really have the facilities to test ride and be professionally fitted.