Hybrid help

murphymcg

New bike choice cant get past the comparison stage Help !!

1 whyte Stirling
2 cannondale badboy 700
3 New 2011 Boardman team ( will upgrade pedals tires to suit )
4 2011 boardman pro no upgrades as no cash left over

All the above are around £750 - £1000 buying on cycle to work , The chosen one will have to do a bit of everything really , not off road tho got Trek 6300for that.
Commute is about 50 min on a fat day !
Mixed road and path some not great neighbour hoods as well so needs to be a rock solid bike dont need any fancy /flimsy stuff.

Any ideas would help , hoping to buy in next couple of weeks .

Have just seen new boardman team looks good and v light just not sure fav so far is the Whyte . Was the badboy but again just not sure .
Arrrghhh !!!!

Boabym

I've just started commuting on a Boardman team Hybrid (previously on a giant XTC with slicks) I much prefer the mtb but it depends your route to be honest. Mines on a cycle path which to be fair is pretty rough in places. Wish I had kept the Giant and fitted a carbon fork.
Not really helping you with a comparison but dont discount an mtb with slicks.

Drfabulous0

If you already have an MTB then why get a hybrid, they are a compromise and strictly for beginners who know no better. What you need is a road bike or SS/fixed.

If you must get a hybrid then the Badboy is the best of the bunch.

jamesco

Drfabulous0 wrote:

why get a hybrid, they are a compromise and strictly for beginners who know no better.

Complete bollocks. If a hybrid is the right bike for the situation, it's the right bike to get.

The Rookie

Exactly the right bike is the right bike for that rider on that commute, your preferances are irrelevant to it, if you want to pursuade him HIS decision is wrong you need an argument, not just 'why bother'.

A Hybrid is right for my commute so that is what I ride.

Simon

Rep of Seaburn

Drfabulous0 wrote:

If you must get a hybrid then the Badboy is the best of the bunch.

I have a Badboy, very good, I swapped the kojaks off it though, they were lethal in the wet.

obliki

I am looking at ordering the Whyte Stirling next week, ticks all the boxes
My options were more or less the same as yours, also on C2W and I was also impressed by the badboy 700 and the CBoardman bikes.

Unfortunately Halfords could not show me a 2011 bike so lost the sale.
The SRAM on the Stirling won over (for me), the Shimano on the Cannondale
Whyte Bikes are a British company

I would have liked the Whyte Coniston £1099 however cannot get this on C2W

Babber Goo

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/cx/cx_team.html

kevinharley

I commute (and use for work) a Boardman Performance Hybrid Team. I used to use a road bike, which was great for commuting 11 miles on a mixture of open and urban roads. However, now the vast majority of my riding is short urban journeys (lots of stop-start; cars pulling out in front of you / changing lanes without looking etc), and I felt increasingly vulnerable with the inability of the roadbike's cantilever brakes to haul me to an emergency stop, particularly in wet & greasy conditions. The Boardman is perfect for me - very nearly as light (and quick) as my road-bike, but with more confidence-inspiring (for me) flat handlebars, hydraulic disc brakes and 28c (as opposed to 23c) tyres to take the sting out of the increasingly poor road surfaces. The upshot, for the riding I do, is greater confidence, safety and more speed than if I tried to use a road bike.

I've no experience of others on your shortlist, but am very happy with the Boardman.

murphymcg

Cheers for replies - Road bike not for me and not this commute ,
Think Whyte is winning me over spec is damn good for the money .
Badboy is still way cool tho also found a pretty good deal on a 2010 ,700 leaves cash fro tinkering Hmm tempting.

But think I am going to blow the lot on the Whyte ( until i change my mind again) :shock:

Spent weekend drooling in various bike shops Heavily preg wife not happy bunny at all :twisted:

chilling

I'll just throw a Scott Sportster 25 into the mix.

I've had a 2011 one for a couple of months now on CTW. It's a nicely speced hybrid that I use for the daily commute, I swap out the road tyres for something a bit more knobbly for some trail riding at the weekend on it too.

I can't think of any thing that it doesn't do, the frame is nice as it has all the mounts for mudguards / racks etc if you are that way inclined. Only the rear brake tube goes under the bottom bracket but it's hydraulic so it doesn't matter if it gets crudded up. I'd recommend if it floats your boat.

Actually I've though of one bad pont, some of the decals are brown. What were they thinking?

The Rookie

The sporster is a nice looking bike, but there is 1.5Kg of front suspension there to lug around if its not needed.

Simon

chilling

Indeed.

I like the option (they do lock out) when I get the opportunity for some more rural riding.

To be honest though I usually have them working on my commute due to the state of some of the roads (looking at you Islington). I prefer to arrive stirred, not shaken.

The Rookie

Indeed, I did say if its not needed, i am always willing to discuss what is right for someone specifically on their commute, generalisations are a big mistake when it comes to commuting!

My Neighbour used to commute on a 7" travel Norco DH bike, right for him as he already had the bike and his commute was less than 2 miles.

My First commuter used those self same forks, but as I ended up running locked the whole time I switched the bike to rigids, which then moved to my new commuter when I built that, they are realtively lightweight for suspension forks, but always heavier than rigids.

Simon

Conjoy

Can't advise people strongly enough to stay away from Halfords. Staff knowledge is poor and servicing quality is atrocious.

Rep of Seaburn

Conjoy wrote:

Can't advise people strongly enough to stay away from Halfords. Staff knowledge is poor and servicing quality is atrocious.

Yes but there is a very good reason for that. I only go into Halfords if I know exactly what I want. Normally something car related!

The Rookie

Conjoy wrote:

Can't advise people strongly enough to stay away from Halfords. Staff knowledge is poor and servicing quality is atrocious.

You've assessed every single Halfords store in your quest for this information? Taken your Boardman to them all?

As with any national chain, there are good and bad, 3 of my 'nearby' stores aregood (one is excellent) 3 are well below par, but making such sweeping generalistaions is pointless and ill informing those seeking advice.

Simon

sophidog

do let us know which you get, and more importantly, what you think once you ridden it for a while.....

murphymcg

Hmm

Just looked at a Merida speeder T3 at LBS

Nice no nonsense bike, V brakes simply , light , V good bulid .

The owner of LBS was v helpful took the time to look through my list of bikes and sort it out a bit without pushing his own stock,

Thanks for replies I am all towell aware of halfords rep , If I got a boardman local guy would build and service , He is doing this already He wasnt slagging them off just sayin keep your bike simple do feel boardman is a good bike its just a niggle that its not right somehow!!

Taking my time as this bike got to last a few years and be spot on !
Saying that setting a deadline of next week to order or it will be snowing again before i have made up my mind 8)