Help with choice of bikes

sumitkaria

stuck between choice of 2 bikes

boardman team carbon 2011 or giant tcr advanced 3 2010

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon.html

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/giant-tc ... 48898.html

quite similar specs, mainly used for long weekend rides

Soni

'Personally', out of the two i would go with the Giant....

I have previously considered the Boardman bikes myself, I like the look of them and the specs are good for the money, however I have never committed due to two reasons. Firstly the reports of poor set up by Halfords, which i have previous experience of with a GT Aggressor XCR whereby they set up and when i went to collect it noticed it had a Bike Hut Stem fitted, when i questioned it they said the nuts/screws snapped when they tightened them up, i therefore requested it be changed over to a GT as it was a brand new bike, they had to open another bike box and take one out of there....and secondly several people have claimed that the frames are not that high quality on the Boardmans, i'm not sure about this as have no experience of the frames, never ridden them, don't know if its just snobbery or not, however obviously the Giant top end bikes are in the Peloton, so this is a good indicator that the bikes are up to the task....

Also the Giant has a complete 105 group set as opposed to the Boardman FSA Chainset....

geebee2

I have some doubts about the Giant frame - it sounds like carbon tubes with lugs, which I reckon is inferior to a monocoque carbon frame.

The web link is not upfront about the bike's weight, I'd want to at least know how they compare.

Did you consider PlanetX / Ribble ?

clx1

geebee2 wrote:

I have some doubts about the Giant frame - it sounds like carbon tubes with lugs, which I reckon is inferior to a monocoque carbon frame.

Tell that to a Colnago c59 owner!

Brommers76

Or a Look 595 owner.

Different <> inferior.

The giant frame isn't lugged. Personally I like the Giant and having seen one in the flesh would go for that. I think the statement about poor quality frame on the Boardman is most certainly rubbish. Not sure the vast majority of riders would be able to rationalise the difference between a good and bad quality monocoque frame, myself included.