Boardman Pro Carbon v's Planet X SL Pro Carbon

Cross_Tri

Re: Advice Needed Topic on Road Beginners Forum.

Upgrading my bike and on paper I really like these two.

My uneducated analysis is Boardmans SRAM Force Groupset isnt as good as Planet X's SRAM Red. However Boardmans Ritchey Wheels are better than Planet X B Wheels.

Current Prices are:
Boardman £1279.99 and Planet X £1199.99...

Anyone know these bikes / any advice on which would be better choice?

jonmack

With the Boardman you get full Force, with the PX you get FSA chainset and "cnc ultralight" brakes.

I'd go for the Boardman, I do like the PX a lot, my boss rides one, but the full Ritchey finishing kit and Force groupset would make me lean towards the Boardman, purely because I like matching components, rather than the mish-mash you get on the PX. Plus the build quality on my bosses wasn't very good, and they didn't fit some of the option parts he ordered.

Cross_Tri

Thanks Jonmack, you seem to have good knowledge of both and along with the poll it seems to be leaning strongly towards the Boardman!

jonmack

Guess I should have probably voted too :P

Yeah I built a decent amount of Boardmans when I worked at Halfords, and I now own two myself so although I may seem slightly biased, I have actually ridden the PX and definitely prefer my bikes!

amnesia

You get an Olympic Gold winning frame on the Boardman

amaferanga

The P-X now comes with a SRAM chainset, but it's not a Red one.

Only thing I have against the P-X is the super-compact frame. Its plain ugly in my eyes.

Only thing I have against the Boardman is that they're like the Ford Mondeo of the cycling world.

cal_stewart

if you could find 1350 you can get the px with fulcrum 3s on.

gmb

I have had both Boardman (alu Team Ultegra) and Planet X. I much prefer the PX.

The compact frame is comfortable (many claim it's an all out racing frame but I have ridden it on numerous long days out without problem).

Saying that I was also very happy with the Boardman.

Both are good brands and I'm sure whichever you decide upon will be an absolute joy to ride.

gmb

I have had both Boardman (alu Team Ultegra) and Planet X. I much prefer the PX.

The compact frame is comfortable (many claim it's an all out racing frame but I have ridden it on numerous long days out without problem).

Saying that I was also very happy with the Boardman.

Both are good brands and I'm sure whichever you decide upon will be an absolute joy to ride.

Eskimo427

amaferanga wrote:

Only thing I have against the Boardman is that they're like the Ford Mondeo of the cycling world.

I have a 10yr old Mondeo estate which has done 136k miles, it's never serviced never washed abused every mile it's driven starts every time and has NEVER let me down.

Boardman it is then..................

Eskimo427

...................and it handles brilliantly too

Lagavulin

You don't mention what size you'd be after but it might be worth noting that if you'd take a small in the Pro Carbon it only comes with one set of bosses for bottle cages.

Cross_Tri

I'm 5ft 10", I'm a bit leggy though with 32" leg. My current bike is medium but i have been riding a large raleigh and I like it better than my own bike!
So not sure if i will be buying large or med. I'll go to my local Halfords and get sized up!

P.s. what are fulcrum 3's? (Im a rookie)

p.p.s Planet X is quickly catching up on the vote!!! Getting confused now!

marin_maniac

amaferanga wrote:

The P-X now comes with a SRAM chainset, but it's not a Red one.

Only thing I have against the P-X is the super-compact frame. Its plain ugly in my eyes.

Only thing I have against the Boardman is that they're like the Ford Mondeo of the cycling world.

Funny that, I live in an area which seems to have quite a prolific cycling community, and in the year that I've had my Team Carbon, I haven't once seen another rider riding one.

Squillinossett

I really do like my board man, the only reason it's going is I fancy a change. Frame wise can't fault it.

P x are good (new frame is nano light hi mod) but I don't like the bmx look of the sl pro. Depends on what you like. Tbh both are good bikes.

mogi

pro for me,i have an sl pro with ultegra sl as a second bike and to be honest its as good as my bianchi. Dont be fooled by the model b wheels cheap price...they are good.

marin_maniac

Cross_Tri wrote:

I'm 5ft 10", I'm a bit leggy though with 32" leg. My current bike is medium but i have been riding a large raleigh and I like it better than my own bike!
So not sure if i will be buying large or med. I'll go to my local Halfords and get sized up!

P.s. what are fulcrum 3's? (Im a rookie)

p.p.s Planet X is quickly catching up on the vote!!! Getting confused now!

I think you could probably get away with a medium or large Boardman frame depending on what stem size you like to ride. I'm about the same height/leg length as you and my Team Carbon is a large. After a bike fit I ride with a 100mm stem and some short reach bars (3t ergonova). I reckon I could get away with a medium size with a longer reach although my current set up fits like a glove.

Cross_Tri

Interesting to see the Planet X has caught up with the Boardman on votes.. Although few is really commenting on why they would prefer the PX over the Boardman?

Another question - I will be using my bike for 80km/100km tours through hilly and mountainous roads and also for Olympic and Sprint Triathlons. I want a bike that will kick ass in both! Any more opinions?

mercurykev

I took delivery of a SL Pro with SRAM Red just before Christmas and I'm impressed. There's a lot of bike there for the money, it's got a great finish and has been set up well. In my opinion Planet X have included the key Red groupset components and there is just 120g weight penalty between the S350 and Red chainset. Why ride second place components when you don't have to.

To me the two things for a possible upgrade are the chainset and the Fulcrum Racing 7 wheels, although, even with these components the bike weighs less than 8kg and that's a Large frame.

When thinking about the new bike I looked at the Boardman and went against it for a few reasons. Firstly I didn't want to deal with Halfords, secondly they scream newbie 'cycle to work' cyclist and thirdly they are too common. Isn't to say that they aren't a good bike just lacking in the cool stakes.

jonmack

There's a reason they're "common" though, because they're available from a huge chain store for under the cycle to work price threshold, that was the reason they came in at under £1k when they were released.

I've never seen anyone else on a Pro Carbon Race Prepared (which for the money I would have thought they'd be very popular), and I've probably seen less than half a dozen people on Team Carbons. I however own both.

nax-ian

+1 for the P-X rode one last year.
My first road bike ( sweet ride I reckon) got me hooked.
Also gotta add there was a small transportation damage, an after a quck call to one of their tech guys it was sorted at their expense!
Happy days

Cross_Tri

Agree with Squill Don't like the frame shape of the PX as much as the Boardman. -1 PX. Couldnt afford a Nanolight but they look deadly! Not sure if the PX frame would fit on my car rack. it's the one from halfords with picture of a blue golf on the box.

Went to a local Halford's today to try the size of Boardman (Med or Large Decision) and there were no Boardmans in the Shop. Also, the guy working there hadn't a clue about anything really so I left! Dissapointed with that. -1 Halfords (Not Boardman)..

Although both have pro's and con's it seems that alot of people have commented that both are crackers for the £. Good to see I'm not a complete idiot!

dru

Both are excellent choices for that price bracket.

Both have got pros and cons.

With respect to the bmx look, yes on the small, not so much on the larger frames (I'm M btw)

My backstory is I did have a lower range Boardman Team (non Carbon) a while ago and now I have the new Planet X SL with part SRAM red build.

I changed a few bits on my PX with the 'stock items' that I was not happy with. There was noting wrong with the stock items, it's just I wanted to have my own finishing kit on it.

If you really haven't got a preference strongly on one or the other - then flip a coin, otherwise go with the one you'll be a: happier looking at and b: as a result happier and prouder to be riding on

gmb

In relation to the Halfords thing. I took my Boardman to my LBS immediately after buying it. They said it was the worst build they had ever seen. The next day it was ready and in perfect condition. The LBS commented on what good value it was for the money. Forget the fact it comes from Halfords - who cares? Get it set up properly and it's as good as anything else out there. I only changed to PX as I wanted a carbon frame. Has it made much difference to my times? Not at all. In some respects I wish I had kept it, although I do love the SL Pro.

Cross_Tri

99% sure about my choice.

Going for the PX SL Pro, Adding on the Fulcrum 3 Wheels and getting a few carbon bottle cages. Price comes to £1380 (The boardman would cost 1300 when you include the delivery)...

For me now the wheels are as good as ritchey with Boardman. (If not better) This makes the SRAM Red groupset is the winning choice IMO.

I'm picking it all black in colour (because i reckon white would be a disaster on the cow s*** riddled roads I cycle on)..

One last thing! Considering Im a not that powerful (Im marco pantani reincarnated) which would be best????

50-34
50-36
or
53-39???

JKHinton

They are both good bikes ( very little difference in the components)

Its know all down to the one that you, like the ride of and the look of :?

Make sure you have a test ride on both bikes before you make your final choice :!:

cal_stewart

IIRC the ritchey wheels are ritchey rims on cheap hubs, so they will be on a par with the model b's which are very good wheels for their price

wakeywarrior

I had a Focus Cayo Shimano 105 ltd edition. It was a lovely stiff frame, but I had major issues with the drive train on two bikes, leading me to believe there was maybe a production fault. The problem was the front mech could not be set up right so it changed smoothly, and did not drop the chain. On the first bike, Wiggle said they thought it was frame alignment and swapped it out. On the second, they said this time the front mech braze on was not in the correct position and sent it back to Germany where they swapped the frame. It came back from Wiggle in rotten condition, with even the back mech not changing correctly and I had enough. Wiggle refunded all my money and the guy there was good to deal with but I lost my faith in Focus and Wiggle a little and looked around for an alternative.
I counted out the Boardman because everyone around this area (Leeds) is riding on them and wanted something a little different.
I emailed Planet X and Rob there agreed to do me an offer of a Pro Carbon with an Sram Force build for £1000.00. It was a toss up between this and the Red build, but I had read there was little difference in the groupsets, so decided instead to invest the extra cash in the Fulcrum 3 wheels.
Not only that but for £1175.00 I ended up with some upgrades such as the Sram crankset they are currently fitting on the Red build, some red Hudz covers on the shifters, better saddle with titanium rails and upgraded stem. Overall, phenomenal value really with the wheels (which this time last year were £475 a set).
I went to the store in Rotherham to buy mine and the staff there are great. Because it is a small store above their factory and not a general bike shop, there are only normally one or two other customers there at the same time, and they measured me up, changed stems etc to get the fit. Much better than buying on line if you can make the journey.
There has been one problem- by accident they fitted a double rather than compact chainset (hence the upgrade when they swapped it over to compensate me) but apart from some delay in getting it back to me (they can be a bit slow in the build phase) no problem there.
Unfortunately since I got it I only managed to take it out once in this bad weather, and that was when I had the double chainset. It nearly killed me with the big hills around here compared to the compact. As a result I was not as fast on it as I was my Cayo (also I am not as fit as I was in summer when I was doing a hundred miles a week). The frame is definitely not as stiff as the Cayo and I am not convinced it is as an exhilarating ride as the Cayo, but even so it is very very good. It also soaks up the bumps much better than the Cayo which at times was very uncomfortable on poor road surfaces. The riding position is more upright.
It has more of an upright riding position than the aggressive riding position of the Cayo. I think it will be more comfortable over long distances, and I just have to get used to the differences in the bikes.
It looks awesome in red and black- I have the red frame and the new graphics on the frame transform its looks. It really does look the business. The seat is black, the tape is black but it looks great with those red shifter covers and red pedals. I would say it actually looks better than the Cayo and I did not think this would be possible with an Planet X bike!
It is very light at around 7.5kg. The Sram Force groupset seems very solid indeed (so the Red will be at least as good) and it seems much better at shifting than the Shimano 105 on the Cayo.
The own brand brakes are nice pieces of kit, albeit do not have quite the same stopping power as the Shimano 105 brakes on the Cayo which were really good brakes. However, they are still very good.
Time will tell though and I need to get some decent rides in, but at the moment I am very happy.

wakeywarrior

I prefer the looks to a Boardman. This has the old chainset on before it was changed.

JKHinton

Not a bad looking bike if you like red

But I still prefer my sleek black Boardmans

each to his own

enjoy

kmcd21

I am in exactly the same position of trying to decide which bike to buy for last 6 months

At the moment I am for a black SL pro carbon as I like what I read about it, the subtle look is also good.
But some days I like the Boardman !

I have got a test ride next week in Belfast on a boardman and a PX sl pro.

To put a spanner in the works, a friend of mine has a great deal on a Trek 4.5 madone which I will try as well, although not holding out much hope for it.

Someone mentioned I should look at some Dolan bikes too.. just too many to make my mind.

Basically it will come down to the test ride PX , Boardman and Trek. Deepdown I want the PX to come out top !!
This time next week I would like to have my mind well and truly made up !!

I