boardman pro carbon vs ribble

machine head

does anyone have any advise or a preference as to what bike to get? im torn between a boardman pro carbon with the sram rival groupset or the ribble sporting racing with shimano ultegra. the biggest worry i have is that the boardman only has 170 cranks to the ribbles 175. will it make a big difference riding the shorter cranks? thanks

rake

i dont think you mean pro carbon, it has force groupset. my tc is large came with 175 cranks.

Berk Bonebonce

Crank length might vary throughout the range. As in, small frames have 170, medium sized frames 172.5 and large frames 175. But if the Boardman was built up in Vietnam or wherever they might have not been clever enough or bothered enough to fit appropriately sized cranks. State your crank length prefernce to Ribble and I am sure they will comply.

Bar Shaker

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

Crank length might vary throughout the range. As in, small frames have 170, medium sized frames 172.5 and large frames 175. But if the Boardman was built up in Vietnam or wherever they might have not been clever enough or bothered enough to fit appropriately sized cranks. State your crank length prefernce to Ribble and I am sure they will comply.

Both bikes are made in China and both are very good. If you found something wrong with your Boardman, you would pop it down to your nearest Halfords and get it replaced. As opposed to disassembling you bike, putting it back in a box and posting it off.

If you wanted different crank lengths, I would be certain either company would do a special order.

The quality of the naked carbon frame and the feel of the Rival gearset is what made my mind up.

Berk Bonebonce

Both frames are made in China.

I would guess that Ribble do their own builds, so you could spec what crank length you require.

I can't imagine Boardman builds being done in the UK. But even if they were, I doubt if you could spec the crank length you want at your average Halfords. It never ceases to surprise me how many builds are done in Vietnam these days, even though the frames are made in China.

Bozman

Two points, first.. i ride 53/54 frames and when i changed my cranks an order error left me with 175mm cranks instead of the 170mm that i've always use. At the time i didn't notice and put the cranks on with a new saddle and seatpost. I rode with this set-up for over a year without noticing the change in crank size. Personally i think that the 5mm difference isn't an issue.
Boardman bikes! I haven't got one but a mate has the pro carbon, i've ridden it... it's light, rides a treat and i couldn't fault it. The industry always give the bikes a good review so why do so many folk on here diss the bikes. We all know Halfords are shite but that's where any issue should end because you get alot of bike for your buck.

Bar Shaker

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

I would guess

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

I can't imagine

Berk Bonebonce wrote:

I doubt if you could

So despite dissing the bikes, its all guesswork.

Bozman, most people who diss them are either LBS owners (so can't sell them) or have bought something much more expensive that turns out to be inferior. You can understand their anger.

gkerr4

ribble will put on whatever lenght cranks you want!

just call them - none of the bikes are "off the shelf" they wil change any components you want!

Berk Bonebonce

Not sure I am cool enough to know what 'dissin' means. Is that the language the kids use at Halfords?

Boardman bikes do in fact offer excellent value for money, and 'no' I don't run a bike shop. But I will have to try a little experiment at my local Halfords one day and ask one of the kids there, or the 'token woman' assistant, if they could have a word with the chappie who puts them together in Vietnam, or wherever, if he could get one built up with 170 cranks.

sundog

Assuming both bike ride the same, go for the higher spec and groupset

I wouldn't get too hung up on having the 'lightest' bike

Sram Rival is clunky and there are threads on the problems with the front mech not changing smoothly

rake

sundog wrote:

Assuming both bike ride the same, go for the higher spec and groupset

I wouldn't get too hung up on having the 'lightest' bike

Sram Rival is clunky and there are threads on the problems with the front mech not changing smoothly

my front mech changes faster than my shimano does. it hardly needs trimming either. sram makes a more positive click but changes faster i have found. most of the feel is due to the longer cable pull of sram, shimano's only feels smooth because the lever is geared down more, which feels more vague to me and causes longer lever throws, doesnt feel as snappy.

Bar Shaker

I've never seen any posts saying Rival is anything other than excellent. From mech changes are instantaneous, up and down.

People are very brand loyal on groupsets but all intermediate and higher end stuff is excellent.

The one exception to the similar performance is SRAMs double tap system. Once you have ridden with this, it would be hard to go back to twin action shifters.