Boardman HT Pro 2011 - First Impressions

c00lh4nd

Hi All I am a Noob to the site, been a lurker for about 6 weeks and thought I'd make an effort to contribute...

Friday last week using the excellent advice gathered from the Bike Radar forums, I emptied my piggy bank and plumbed for a new sexy looking and low in mass Boardman HT Pro MTB from the 2011 range at Halfords. This was an eventual choice over the Trek 6300 and a replacement to my trusty 7 year old Carrera Kraken which I will now hand down to my 15 year old son.

The bike is great but, despite having a test ride, is taking a surpising time to get used to and I thought I'd pass on my humble opinion about this hoping my experience will help.

1) Halfords; Above average, certainly 7/10. The bike seems tom be well setup, the staff were very friendly and helpful. Going as far as to even help me load the bike in my car though I would have expected them to have more knowledge about the specifics on the bike such as fork tuning.

2) Boardman Bikes; Very little, if anything, by way of information is given with the bike with regards to tuning the forks, brakes etc. I am even struggling to find information online at Rockshox etc.

3) The bike; A number of little things that I did not notce when I did the test ride.
3 a) The gearing seems to have lower ratios than I remembered, could almost believe the bike has not the capability to out perform the Carrera for flat out speed, so it is prooving a little more challenging to ride, more gear changing needed.
3 b) Odd that I missed this on thew test ride.. There is no indication as to what gear you are in on the handle bars. I guess this is to save on weight, but is a bit of a pain.
3 c) When moving at speed (well my speed) there is a degree of resonant vibration from somewhere.. Fix this on the 6 week service interval.
3 d) The seat.... wow !! Been walking like John Wane with piles since last weekend's ride :P
3 e) The white grips; rough, will dirty quickly and... Gotten rid of as first thing
3 f) Value for money - From my research both of opinions, reviews and the technical spec there is little on the market that can match it

So all in all a a great and light bike for those ready to move to the next level in social trail riding, with a very good spec that I hope will stand the test of time and be the base for future upgrades. It is certainly a bike that I would recomend to a friend and I dare say that once I have overcome the learning curve of tuning the forks etc (Part of the fun) it will be an excellent bike for my style of riding.

Any comments welcome and I am off to sit in a hot bath to ease the pain in my.......


c00lh4nd

cooldad

Some comments

1 - It's indvidual, set the sag, fiddle with the rebound.
2 - No rubbish bike manual (as in rubbish manual, not rubbish bike) I've ever had has useful info. Component webnsites have tech docs.
3 -
a - was the Carrera 8 speed? You have a simliar range but more in between.
b - it's immaterial - change when required - they will indicate when you are at the limit of the cassette.
c - possibly just the tyres?
d- Haha
e - stupid idea white anything.
f - true

Welcome.

Trunkey

I collected my Boardman HT Pro 2011 on Tuesday and was straight out on it for an hour or so of country lanes and paved cycle way riding, then Wednesday it was the part car part cycle comute to work on roads cycle ways and a tiny bit of very gentle off road.

1. Halfords were not bad at all just minor tweaks to saddle position handlebars etc after first ride and after all only I can make those adjustments as they are uniqe to me.

2. Mine came with brake manual, derailure manuals, fork manual and pedal manual.

3.
a. Definately lower geared than my old Raleigh Mirage and hard work staying with a Carrera Subway on the smooth stuff. (But I have a Specialized Alles comp Gerolstiener if I want to stay on tarmac so not a problem)
b. Stops at either end of cassette who cares in between as legs tell me which gear I need to be in.
c. Definately the tyres and they really do sing!
d. I like my seat apart from the colour (White!)
e. Boardman Noooo! white grips not good.
f. Got mine for £850 which whilst I know not everyone will be able makes it unbeatable value if you ask me and yes I would have happily paid £1000 had I had to.

Compare it with £850 for a Trek 6300 and there is just no comparison.

So far I love ths bike smooth ride, smooth gear changes awsome brakes that lock the back wheel even with my mass onboard pretty sure I am going spend a lot of time out and about on this.

Andy B

1) without getting into the old Halfords argument, some are good some are bad

2)most manuals for components can be found online

3A) 2x 10 gearing will feel different to your other bike as they use different size chainrings, was it the same bike and spec you tried as 9spd has different sized chainrings

3B) higher end shifters usually don't have the gear indicators

3C) Could be anything without further info hard to say

3D) saddles are a very personal item, it may take time to get used to it, or it might not be the right saddle for you, padded shorts may help as would adjusting the saddle angle & position

3E) Some white parts are easy to keep white some are not

3F) did you check out the range of Cube bikes, £100 more would have got you Fox forks, Formula RX brakes, XT/SLX 30 spd drivetrain, branded finishing kit (Easton) rather than generic OE branded finishing kit, oh & 1.5lb lighter.

d3matt

The saddle...Just look how many Boardman saddles are for sale on eBay all the time! I changed mine to my previous spongy 'comfort' saddle and have now since brought a Charge Spoon saddle, after so many recommendations on this forum. It's just as comfortable (actually probably better) than my spongy saddle, even though the Spoon seems just as hard as the Boardman. So my advise is to spend the £20 and by a Spoon saddle asap. It will transform your bike.
...and get some Superstar grips.

bails87

Andy B wrote:

3F) did you check out the range of Cube bikes, £100 more would have got you Fox forks,less adjustable and more mainentance needed than the Rebas?
Formula RX brakes, apparently better, elixirs are good though
XT/SLX 30 spd drivetrain, X9>SLX, although some of it is personal choice
branded finishing kit (Easton) rather than generic OE branded finishing kit, low end EA30 stuff vs carbon and alu own brand stuff, probably much of a muchness
oh & 1.5lb lightera 24lb trail bike for £950? The Cube LTD Race is £1100, osunds like the bike you're describing except the claimed weight is over 27lbs, vs the Boardmans claimed 25.5lbs

blablablacksheep

welcome

One thing that is a change you would find is the gears being very low compared to old bike, this is probally due to the 10 speed and having more of a XC race feel so you will find you need to find the "right" gear a lot of the time, rather than hit and miss with gears.

By that i mean, with the older bikes it didnt matter too much with the gears, low=hill high=flat, but with these gears on your bike you have to get the right gear ie low= gear number XX


After a while you know where gear is ment for each part of your ride/terrian and it becomes easyer, also getting used to having the right gears also means useally going a lower gear than you think you need, i found this a huge help which somone said:)


boardman bikes dont have great info mainly cos its boardman being the name stuck on the bike and himself having nothin to do with bike make/making of...no issues though google/forums have all the fork tune/advise you need:)


good price yes, another option could of been though canyonbikes from germany insane value for money if you dont mind direct sale

bellys

fork set up will take time....try this http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12629675

i took my fork pump out on my local trails and set it up for the type of riding you do.

also the air pressure on legs are a ruff guild i set mine up harder than info on legs.

gears you will get used to them.

saddle i like mine hard :roll: so i dont mind it but as some body said try diff one's.

cooldad

blablablacksheep wrote:

boardman bikes dont have great info mainly cos its boardman being the name stuck on the bike and himself having nothin to do with bike make/making of...no issues though google/forums have all the fork tune/advise you need:)

That makes no sense on so many levels.

Gregger

Guys

I'm sure we'd be interetsed in knowing some genuine weights v claimed weights

Trunkey

Mine is 25.3lbs including reflectors and a rather mincy bell that will be comming off!

Claimed weight is 25.5lbs.

bellys

mine is 25.8lbs larger tyers and new grips and spd's.

blablablacksheep

cooldad wrote:

blablablacksheep wrote:

boardman bikes dont have great info mainly cos its boardman being the name stuck on the bike and himself having nothin to do with bike make/making of...no issues though google/forums have all the fork tune/advise you need:)

That makes no sense on so many levels.

maybe not to you, suggest reading?

Simple ton put.

Like other products Boardman the guy, doesnt have anything to do with the bike but puts his name on it, meaning the quality of frame/boardman parts isnt going to be as good as lets say "merlin cycles", who actually not just put name on bike but are part of the process of building.

Also means they focused on cost and getting best value for money on parts, ithus they not going to give you a detailed website full of how to tune this or how to configue their bikes, compared to lets say canyon.com with their measure software or other sites giving detailed information,also im sure their phone help isnt as good as merlin either.

cooldad

blablablacksheep wrote:

cooldad wrote:

blablablacksheep wrote:

boardman bikes dont have great info mainly cos its boardman being the name stuck on the bike and himself having nothin to do with bike make/making of...no issues though google/forums have all the fork tune/advise you need:)

That makes no sense on so many levels.

maybe not to you, suggest reading?

Simple ton put.

Like other products Boardman the guy, doesnt have anything to do with the bike but puts his name on it, meaning the quality of frame/boardman parts isnt going to be as good as lets say "merlin cycles", who actually not just put name on bike but are part of the process of building.

Also means they focused on cost and getting best value for money on parts, ithus they not going to give you a detailed website full of how to tune this or how to configue their bikes, compared to lets say canyon.com with their measure software or other sites giving detailed information,also im sure their phone help isnt as good as merlin either.

You are wrong. Boardman is involved in both the design and the company and has even posted here answering queries.
I also fail to see what the website has to do with anything - 'tuning' a bike? - you set sag, get your tyre pressures right and go.
And I resent being called a simple ton? by someone who obviously struggles with spelling, grammar and clarity of language.

supersonic

Boardman is indeed involved in the design of the bikes - I have even talked to him about it.

The quality of the bike is superb, and the value just about unbeatable.

Halfords should supply manuals for the parts, if not ask them: or simply download, they are all out there.

A note on gearing: the top gear is 42x11, that is fairly high! To spin that out on the flat you would be going some guns, over 30mph.

cooldad

Something else to consider, plenty of people on here have one, and I don't remember seeing many posts with either problems or complaints about the ride.
The only negatives seem to be the 'brand' and Halfords, neither of which actually have anything to do with how good the bike is.
Guaranteed paint one in sexy colours and stick a boutique label on and they'd be right up there.

Something else which I've noticed - the whole range, road, mtb, cyclocross, and hybrid, all look right. There is such a thing as style over substance, but often good design just looks right to the eye, and they do.

diy

Forks take time to wear in, I'd run them soft for a while to compensate. once everything is worn in you can set the sag more accurately.

Vibration could be the tyres?

Gear indicators. Its personal choice, but I can't live without them. Which is why I run SRAM attack shifters on my bike. I like push push and indication, as on training rides I'm watching cadence, gear and HR on certain climbs. It also helps you work out if your indexing is off.

regarding the seat:
1) makes sure its correctly set for you (and this is why in my experience a bike shop will typically be better)
2) check its actually the right size
3) get some quality gel padded shorts
4) it takes 3-4 weeks to leather up your bum.

I think 2 x 10 is wrong on a XC bike - a big compromise 27/42 on the front and 36/11 (or is 12) on the rear - Wtf??. In fact I'd go as far as saying a f***up.

You loose loads on gearing. This bike is fine for light XC use, but unless you are a top end athlete it will never work as mountain goat. In the avg riders hands, if you are out with other riders on 9sp 22/32/44 & 34/11 you wont keep up on the climbs or the sprints. Which is not great on a 1K hard tail.

This to me sums up boardman bikes, they basically look at the decent brands for the same price bracket and they up spec theirs to be better. But putting 120mm forx and 2x10 gears on a bike does not make it better in my view.

ThanksBye

^^^^
He's right though. Boardmans are for bummers.

The Northern Monkey

tomatoevousparlour wrote:

^^^^
He's right though. Boardmans are for bummers.

Says the hippie on an On-One Inbred and a rigid forker?...

ThanksBye

Sorry left it logged on at work, and niether of those two are left

c00lh4nd

Thanks all for the input, and tomatoevousparlour if I enjoyed having things painfully inserted I my arse.. Ergo "a bummer" I would have stuck with the boardman saddle..


After a number of weeks and changes to the bike things are going very well, seeing plus 3 mph on my average speeds and minutes coming off my sector times..

I have changed the seat and the grips, getting used to the "no selector indicators" but I do agree with you DIY I am changing gear far more and the step down from 3x9 deor to 2x10 SRAM is not a good one. My last change will be the tyres. Everything else though is sweet having spent time on reading the posts in this forum and setting the bike up correctly for me... I am very pleased with the bike and maintain it is still a good buy and one I would recommend for anyone looking for a bike around the £1000...

Cheers all

C00lh4nd