What size Boardman Comp

deffler

Hi,

Ive decided to buy a Boardman Comp as my first road bike.

I appreciate the best thing to do is try the bike for size before purchase however Halfords do not allow this, they only allow you to sit on it instore which is not really gonna give me a feeling for the bike. I went to one Halfords store (Durham) on Friday after waiting 45 mins for the bike guy to serve one customer I gave up & walked out.

Im 5ft11" , with a 32" inside leg, my arms are short for my height & I would class myself as been quite stiff in the lower back area. Im torn between a MEDIUM or a LARGE frame size, im seeing that itsalways best to go small than too large. Any advice/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks

squigs

Shop around, your local bike store will be far more helpful and you might find a different bike you like. From my experiance of Halfords wether it is a car stereo or bike they are never helpful.
you would'nt by a car without a test drive!

seanoconn

I'm 6ft, long legs and arms and a large frame in a boardman suited me but I wouldn't have wanted anything even slightly bigger. With the long top tubes of the boardman and your description of yourself, i'd say a medium for you would be fine.

deffler

squigs wrote:

Shop around, your local bike store will be far more helpful and you might find a different bike you like. From my experiance of Halfords wether it is a car stereo or bike they are never helpful.
you would'nt by a car without a test drive!

Hi , thanks for the advice. To be honest ive got my heart and mind set on the comp due to the excellent reviews its had everywhere, the very low price im getting it for (just under £450) and its a very good looking machine.

Unfortunatley theres not many LBS in my local area plus i m certain they could not get me a bike that matches the comp for just under £450

Bar Shaker

I am 5'11" with a 32" inside leg and my medium Team is a perfect fit.

Garz

I am 5'6" and went for a small. I think this was the right size as seanoconn mentioned it felt spot on.

However on my new bike fit I was sized to a medium but this has different frame geometry (I must fall in between).

velvetytoast

I'm 5'10'' 32'' inside leg and have got a medium team that fits just right (oh and fairly stiff in the back as I've got 2 18'' steel pins in there)

go for the medium

rake

sounds good. your kind of on the border, if the geometry is the same as mine which i think they all are probably medium as theyre quite long. you could probably manage to fit a large but youd be in a low racing position. im 6 foot and ride with the bars a liitle closer on mine.
and at the price i dont think you could come close to matching it . think theyre pertty good with warranty for a big store as well. If you can tweek things yourself you're onto a winner.

deffler

Hi all

decided to go with the medium, will be picking it up tomorrow, cant wait to get out on my first road bike

Bar Shaker

deffler Good luck with your new toy

dinyull

Deffer, I'm 5ft11'' with 32'' inside leg too and went with a Medium Comp in Jan - spot on.

Be carefull with Halfords though (as many will tell you) as they are hit and miss with setting up bike. Mine's due a service next week but the mech wasn't set up correctly and is slipping - hopefully they get it sorted next week.

Enjoy!

deffler

update

Ordered the Boardman Comp on monday online through Halfords, said I should collect it by close of business Tuesday. Due to previous experiences with Halfords I rang them to query this was enough time for them to build it for me. Guy says yes mate Ive got your order here, it will be built by close of play that day (monday), I said no worrries as Im not collecting until Tuesday night.

On Tuesday evening I realise Im not able to get to the store so I ring to say I will be collecting on Wed afternoon. Rang them today to make sure its ready before I go, guy says" yes its out the back in the box", so i asked if it was built," no mate its boxed" he says. WTF??? Ok no worries I said, couldnt be bothered to get arsey, I'll collect it tomorrow afternoon, will you make sure its built. "Not a problem" he replies.

Whats the betting something goes wrong tomorrow???[/b]

DCowling

I took mine out for the first time and they had not set the rear gears up correct and the chain dropped off between the cassette and the spokes.
It has just come back from the 6wk service ( the lad was very very helpful ) but I had to re-do the brakes as he had them adjusted to within a couple of mm of the rim.
Still a great bike though.
One piece of advice, get some stickers / lizard skins as the paint job marks very easily from cable rubs etc

deffler

DCowling wrote:

I took mine out for the first time and they had not set the rear gears up correct and the chain dropped off between the cassette and the spokes.
It has just come back from the 6wk service ( the lad was very very helpful ) but I had to re-do the brakes as he had them adjusted to within a couple of mm of the rim.
Still a great bike though.
One piece of advice, get some stickers / lizard skins as the paint job marks very easily from cable rubs etc

Yeah thanks for the advice bout the lizard skins. Have you put anything on the chainstay?

DCowling

deffler wrote:

DCowling wrote:

I took mine out for the first time and they had not set the rear gears up correct and the chain dropped off between the cassette and the spokes.
It has just come back from the 6wk service ( the lad was very very helpful ) but I had to re-do the brakes as he had them adjusted to within a couple of mm of the rim.
Still a great bike though.
One piece of advice, get some stickers / lizard skins as the paint job marks very easily from cable rubs etc

Yeah thanks for the advice bout the lizard skins. Have you put anything on the chainstay?

Yes, put a Lizard skin on
Have you got your bike yet and if so how are you getting on with it, I am coming up your way in the summer to visit Ma and Da and plan to bring my bike and head out to Seaham or Shields , so will look you up on here if you are about

Garz

How did it go deffler?

DCowling

Hi Deffler
Was wondering how you are getting on with the new Boardman

deffler

Hi all

Update

Had the Comp for a good few weeks now, Ive not been out on it as much as I would like. Ive found the bike quite difficult to get used to tbh compared to riding a mtb. I Find the handling a bit weird & the road buzz on certain roads has been a killer. Also my back is going to take a while to get used to the new riding position, same as my arms & I cannot comfortably ride on the drops atm. Also when im on the drops i find i cannot comfortabley reach the brakes :oops: . All of this i did expect & it is work in progress, I never expected to get on with it immediately. Gonna flip the stem & start making adjustments now im used to the bike, im sure this will help.

Ive added helicopter tape to the frame and changed the tyres to Ultremo ZX in yellow to tart it up a bit and im currently looking for a new saddle as the spec one is massive & uncomfy lol.

Garz

The bar tape is a given, however I found the boardman stock saddle pretty comfy in comparison to a couple I have tried since.

Fenred

Defler - Agree with everything you 've mentioned in your last post. I've had the same bike and the same issues for the past 3 weeks. Tried flipping the stem, moved the bar angle etc to no avail. I then switched the 120mm stem for a 100 mm and bingo! Everything fell into place, could rotate the bars into a "proper" position, could reach the brake levers from the drops and took my weight back to where it should be.worth baring in mind also is it takes time to get used to sitting on a road bike compared to a mtb....Funny enough it almost seems wiered getting back on my mtb after spending time on the roadie recently!