£1000 - choice of two

Bar Shaker

Monkeypump wrote:

supersonic wrote:

I am pretty sure Halfords do have some input to Boardman, especially regarding the spec of the bikes - Halfords buying power allows the specs to be what they are.

Hmm... that would certainly make sense...

If they do, there's nothing in this year's accounts to say so. They do list that they own Apollo and Carrera but only say they have the UK exclusive for Boardman.

http://www.halfordscompany.com/hal/ir/fininfo/reports/

From the trading statement:

At the top end, where it is likely
the consumer will have researched the buying decision, we have
the exclusive UK distribution licence for Boardman branded
bikes. Boardman, by association with Olympic performance
and exemplary components, allows us to raise transaction value
further, indeed up to ten times that of a “good” branded bike.
This use of brands to attract a broader audience and drive value
is evidenced in the fact that Apollo is now the best selling UK
bike brand.

The Boardman range, designed by Olympic
Champion Chris Boardman, leads our premium bike
offer through an exclusivity agreement in the UK.
The Boardman range has been widely acclaimed
for its leading designs, construction and price
competitiveness, and is further endorsed through use
by World champion riders including Olympian Nicole
Cooke and by Alistair Brownlee, the reigning World
Triathlon champion. Sales have grown significantly
since the launch two and a half years ago, to 21,000
units over the past year, a level that we believe to be
in line with some of the more established premium
brands distributed via independents.



We are diverging from the OP's original question, he having decided to buy a Boardman on his C2W. If your riding will be trail/XC riding then you may regret going HT. If you will be riding roads and briddle paths then you probably won't. If you can, I would put the extra to your C2W voucher. I have an FS Pro and love it.

thel33ter

cavegiant wrote:

I have just looked at the two bikes, the HT spec isn't that much better, and I can't see and real spec losses on the FS.

No contest hands down win for FS.


I would say that neither seems a great deal for £1000.

Some shop was selling a Mongoose Teocali Super on sale for that much. Fox forks, droppable seatpost, proved suspension design, fox RP23, 145mm travel. The cycle to work scheme isn't that good, you would do better hunting sales.

That shop is Rutland Cycles on Ebay. They only have them in size 16" but for £899 you can get a great spec to put on a fancy frame if it doesn't fit.

Pudseyp

Monkeypump wrote:

Pudseyp - If Boardman had chosen a retailer other than Halfords, would you still have the same opinion of their bikes? Or would you be more willing to acknowledge them as an award-winning British brand who are trying to deliver high quality, maximum value products?

Nowhere have I said they are crap or not good value, I cannot argue that the spec is great and have said that also...my main personal issue is with the frame !! like I keep saying..good on them for selling 21,000 of them..I guess the likes of Trek etc have sold as many if not more worldwide.....my point is with the frame and the brand they have been around for what two years now ?? so how can you compare them to the brands that have been around for years designing bikes that have changed mountainbiking siginficantly...if you look at the sum of the parts...it does well in my tiny mind question the quality of materials and workmanship in the frames.....like I have said all along lets see if there around in ten years time....

Also not aware of all their awards they have won ??

supersonic

But they are using experienced designers! Add to that that many brands have been bought out, used different manufacturers and designers, changed owners then you have to judge the product for what it is really, sometimes time of establishment really doesn't count for much. And at the minute, they are winning awards by the bucket load.

Monkeypump

Pudseyp wrote:

...my main personal issue is with the frame !! like I keep saying..good on them for selling 21,000 of them..I guess the likes of Trek etc have sold as many if not more worldwide.....my point is with the frame and the brand they have been around for what two years now ?? so how can you compare them to the brands that have been around for years designing bikes that have changed mountainbiking siginficantly...

Judged in isolation and in comparison with other brands, multiple reveiwers - both industry and consumer - have praised the value and quality. The sheer amount of positive feedback can't all, IMHO, be wrong. I don't ride a Boardman, but I'd certainly consider it an option when I need a new bike.

It seems odd that you insist something new and relatively 'unproven' can't possibly be a good product! Good design and engineering will produce a good product - it's got nothing to do with the age of the brand.

Bar Shaker

Pudseyp wrote:

Also not aware of all their awards they have won ??

A quick look at Boardman's website will show you how they are doing. Just google boardman cycles and click Boardman's own website.

neninja

thel33ter wrote:

cavegiant wrote:

I have just looked at the two bikes, the HT spec isn't that much better, and I can't see and real spec losses on the FS.

No contest hands down win for FS.


I would say that neither seems a great deal for £1000.

Some shop was selling a Mongoose Teocali Super on sale for that much. Fox forks, droppable seatpost, proved suspension design, fox RP23, 145mm travel. The cycle to work scheme isn't that good, you would do better hunting sales.

That shop is Rutland Cycles on Ebay. They only have them in size 16" but for £899 you can get a great spec to put on a fancy frame if it doesn't fit.

I bought one of them - very pleased with it - comes up at about 16.5". You could break it and get your money back - crazy.
Fox Float 32 RL140 fork
RP23 shock
SLX/XT drivechain
KS i900r remote dropper seatpost
ZTR Flow wheels
Hayes Stroker Trail brakes
SDG Bel Air Ti saddle
Mongoose branded Odi ruffian grips

baldtony

Thanks everybody for the responses. It really is appreciated.

The way our C2W scheme works is that it has to be from Halfords. But I'm OK with that, as I'll build the bike myself, and if you read around nobody has a bad word to say about the bikes themselves. Was just worried about which particular model.

Have checked, and it's not possible to top up the voucher, otherwise I'd probably just go for the FS Pro. So in the end have decided for the FS Team @ £999. Medium frame.

Had a quick ride around the store, which I'll admit isn't the best test, but it felt comfortable and the proportions were all right for my body shape.

The nearest proper trail is the Marin Trail which is mentioned quite a lot in the Rides forum, with positive reviews. That's only 10/15 minutes down the road, so I'd imagine it will by the #1 port of call for the new bike. The FS looks like it would come in handy there.

The weight doesn't really bother me. The first MTB(if you can call it that) I ever rode was a Raleigh Mustang SIS that weighed nearly 50lbs, lol.

Going to read up on the many tyre threads, and will also have to make a decision about the pedals. But apart from that, it looks good to go.

Cheers all

baldtony

Oh, and forgot to say, the total cost spread over 12 months will be £632. Which is pretty good IMO

butcher of bakersfield

baldtony wrote:

The nearest proper trail is the Marin Trail which is mentioned quite a lot in the Rides forum, with positive reviews. That's only 10/15 minutes down the road, so I'd imagine it will by the #1 port of call for the new bike. The FS looks like it would come in handy there.

Pretty much all modern MTBs will batter any trails you come across, so don't worry about a perceived lack of performance. The FS would inspire more confidence, but again - personal choice. I bought a hardtail with the intention of later getting a full suss as a second bike. Over a year down the line I'm now thinking of building up another hardtail. And perhaps another after that.. FS is the bottom of my list. It would be a nice to have, and I'm sure I'll get there in the end, I just haven't the interest in it at the moment so it's a low priority.

Pudseyp

Did you look at the KHS ???

Also ref my point on the frames....this is a customer review of the bike:

Overall Rating
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
Great until the frame snapped,
February 08, 2010
By JBxc
(read all my reviews)(read all my reviews)
Quality
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
Value
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
Performance
1 out of 5
1 out of 5
Pros: great kit-you can transfer it to a stronger frame
Cons: poor very snappable frames
"I must admit that this bike is brilliant. The kit that comes with it is unsurpassed at this price and the ride is great fun. Up to a point. This point is when the frame breaks. The quality of the frame material is terrible. I have had two of these frames and both have broken. The aluminium of both frames has snapped through normal riding. Once, one of the chain stays and secondly the seat tube. Frame breakages should be very rare but to have two on two frames is unforgivable. Needless to say I cannot recommend this product and would advise you to stay away from Boardman mountain bikes."
Would you recommend this product to a friend? No
Age Group: 25 - 34
Gender: Male

gezzza

Whoopee

you found some one who snapped a frame well done you.

you can always find some one who's snapped a frame no matter who made it
And when its new and they are looking for a warranty replacement its always the same story i was just riding normally i never jump or crash

Bar Shaker

You found one bad review and posted it up here? Pudseyp your attempts to diss these bikes seem to be getting a bit desperate now. What was the overall rating?

There are very few bikes with such glowing reviews and mag test results.

chrisski

i too have 1000 to spend on a bike! im looking at a specialized rockhopper sl Pro (1099) bt not sure if there are better bikes out there. boardman bikes look good and doesnt bother me if its halfords sell them esp as what mountainbike seem to rate the bikes highly!

Monkeypump

Pudsyp - why are you so blinkered? Do you work for KHS? Do you have some personal vendetta against Boardman? All very odd.

Pudseyp

No I don't work for KHS lol....I was stating that they are also good value in comparision to the Boardman....if you read my other posts I have never questioned Boardman's value for the specs offered...my main personal view which I have allways stated is that ok they are sold in the thousands and ok get great reviews...I cannot deny that, it's just that after two years of selling thousands they are considred by some to be on a par with the likes of Giant and Trek etc..which have had years of bike design behind them...but again it's my opinion.

You could say that people are blinkered towards Boardman...there is a lot of choice and other brands that offer decent spec's bikes..if I buy a bike I expect to own it for a good few years...so I would be cautious in buying a bike from a brand which appears to have such a high reputation when they have only been around a couple of years...

If people want to rush to Halfords in their droves to buy one, then that's fine. The only point I was trying to make is that if you have a company that has been around 25 years then they must be doing something right..otherwise they would not survive....Boardman have been around a couple of years so quality cannot be measured over time..

Bar Shaker

It's a good job our Olympic team didn't think like that in Bejing. Which company and its designers made their bikes, two years ago? Perhaps it was beginners luck.

submityournentries

i do appreciate as well that some halfords stores can tarnish the rep of the bike (although not with the frame, as we dont touch that), but some of them arent bad, and it makes me sad seeing them all labelled with the same brush. i do however have an example of a good and a bad store

good; one i work in, bikes is admittedly understaffed, but all the full time staff know and are interested in bikes, and most of them ride in their free time.

bad; one near my uni, staffed by rude ignorant and lazy staff.

so i do apreciate the plight. but as for the actual bikes, if you genuinely have a problem with the frames, buy the bikes and another frame, by far and away the cheapest way to get those bits

baldtony

The bike has to come from Halfords, so the THS bikes are out of the question.

Pudseyp

That is a tottaly different argument, they are very specific bikes with minimal input from Chris Boardman.... the apparent replica cost over 3 grand and is nothing like the team GB bikes so it is no comparision...stick Sir Hoy on a standard retail bike and see if he fairs the same ! it's like comparing F1 technology with a road car...

Ok the the team did well in the Olyimpics...but some of the bikes were Dolan's..plus the black bikes used on the track were designed by many inc Dimitris Katsanis and some aerospace and university brain boxes a reported cost of £60k each and were made by Advanced Composites http://www.advanced-composites.co.uk/sp ... olysuccess and nowhere on them was mentioned Boardman.... So at 60k each it's hardly apples with apples so you can't use this as a vaild arguement...

Plus were talking mountain bikes...how many UCI wins ?? Giant and alike have 100's of race and worldcup wins...in all cycling disciplines

Pudseyp

Like I said KHS can take all cyclescheme, cycle2work etc.....inc halfords !!