Boardman Road Team Carbon 2011 PAINTWORK!!!

togg

Just been to buy this bike today from Halfords and the paintwork is truly terrible, the worst finish I've ever seen on any bike. It's really patchy, streaky not nice to look at. I enquired and was told this was normal for Carbon, but surely not this bad?

Has anyone else noticed this and purchased the bike, because it would seriously annoy me over time just looking at it.

I'm really interested to hear any alternatives to this bike because I'm definitely not buying it with shoddy paintwork.

saintdracula

It's because it's not painted at all. That's pure, raw carbon you're looking at.

I think it gives the bike quite a primal look.

Cornish-J

naked carbon ftw

rolf_f

Yep - unidirectional carbon. Doesn't affect the way it rides.

You should have seen the bike I saw in Colorado the other week. A Parlee in bare carbon - no finish at all aside from a ghost transfer on the top tube. It looked.........truly dire! No topcoat even. Just raw, rough carbon fibre, with unfilled seams to the lugs etc. Ghastly! Don't get me wrong - my carbon fibre heart is with lugged frames but it did look crap!

designman

Personally if you were not happy with the finish on the bike, why did you buy it?

JRooke

lol this is a brilliant post, its how the majority of carbon bikes look unless it has a paint job, the one your looking at doesn't have a paint job, just shows the carbon weave, its a very desirable look to a bike.

This topic gave a boring afternoon a nice chuckle =]

togg

I didn't buy it, I was going to until I saw the paint finish, I quite like the matt black look as opposed to gloss black but this just didn't look right to me at all.

How come large chunks of the bike frame looked totally fine and not raw, uneven, patchy etc???

If someone could explain this finish to me better than the Boardman website or Halfords staff that would be a great help

rolf_f

JRooke wrote:

lol this is a brilliant post, its how the majority of carbon bikes look unless it has a paint job, the one your looking at doesn't have a paint job, just shows the carbon weave, its a very desirable look to a bike.

It isn't a weave; it's unidirectional. It does look a bit wierd tbh. Doesn't bother me though - I think the carbon on my Ribble is quite a lot wierder looking than I've seen on any Boardman.

@Togg - http://www.velocite-bikes.com/carbon-fiber.html may help.

Cleat Eastwood

Yeah I just come back from halfords. I see what you mean. It looks cheap and it definitely doesnt feel like carbon, theres no weave, infact it looks and feels like a matt alloy. I thought theyd put the bikes on the wrong stands. The other boardman carbon did look and feel liek carbon Most odd, we need an investigation.

togg

It's hard to describe how bad it looks until you actually see it in Halfords, and what makes you notice the finish even more is that large areas of the bike seem totally unaffected by this poor quality finish.

ShutUpLegs

Agreed, totally shocking. How do they get away with this?

rolf_f

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Agreed, totally shocking. How do they get away with this?

Yep, it's a disgrace. I'm writing to my MP.

ShutUpLegs

Rolf F wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Agreed, totally shocking. How do they get away with this?

Yep, it's a disgrace. I'm writing to my MP.

Do they ride a bike?

rolf_f

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Agreed, totally shocking. How do they get away with this?

Yep, it's a disgrace. I'm writing to my MP.

Do they ride a bike?

No idea. If they do, I hope its one with a proper weave!

Gazzaputt

I feel this post should moved to 'road beginners'.

luv2ride

Just had a look on the Halfords webside and, to be fair, the picture of the 2011 carbon frame looks to be a completely matt finish, with no carbon showing. I can undertand the OP being a bit concerned when seeing the bike in the flesh, if it looked very different

However, the 2010 frames had a clear laquer coat over the carbon, so each frame looked pretty individal as a result. I've seen some that looked very peculiar, but kind of cool all the same...

Not sure it would stop me in my tracks if i was about to buy one though - they were blinding VFM. Not so sure about the value of the new 2011 version...

bendertherobot

I blame Wiggle

togg

I'd love to see some close up pics of anyone who's got this exact bike, the website pictures don't show the patchy carbon even when zoomed in. I'd still like to buy this bike ideally while the 10% off deal is still on.

rolf_f

togg wrote:

I'd love to see some close up pics of anyone who's got this exact bike, the website pictures don't show the patchy carbon even when zoomed in. I'd still like to buy this bike ideally while the 10% off deal is still on.

But you've seen it in the flesh - how are photos going to help?!

togg

Very interesting review of the bike and frame issues, pleased it's not just me being picky

http://philsroadbikingblog.blogspot.com ... eview.html

Pseudonym

togg wrote:

Very interesting review of the bike and frame issues, pleased it's not just me being picky

http://philsroadbikingblog.blogspot.com ... eview.html

the 'paint' finish - while ultimately irrelevant to the bike's performance - is obviously a major issue for you - can I suggest you buy another bike instead..?

rozzer32

It's uni-directional carbon ffs, it's going to look like that. My Cervelo R3 looks patchy because of it's unpainted uni-directional carbon. It's not shoddy paintwork or poor quality finish.

If you don't like it then don't buy it, simples.

juankerr

It is what it is I suppose but the 2010's did look better.

rake

the frames look identical to the mk 1 but with a matt finish.

on-yer-bike

Its called minimum finish. This is the main reason why most frames are wrapped in 3k weave and lacquered. My Cervelo is lacquered but you can still see patches and blotches in the carbon. It seems as though using weave wrap is going out of fashion.

nferrar

As has been said, the usual carbon weave pattern is just a cosmetic layer applied, on most frames it's just there for looks and adds weight. A lot of high-end frames are dropping this as frame weight still remains a big selling point for ppl looking at that sort of bike. On a raw unidirectional carbon frame it's always going to look like there are blemishes/defects but they're not it's just the edges of the sheets and and bits of resin.

ShutUpLegs

nferrar wrote:

As has been said, the usual carbon weave pattern is just a cosmetic layer applied, on most frames it's just there for looks and adds weight. A lot of high-end frames are dropping this as frame weight still remains a big selling point for ppl looking at that sort of bike. On a raw unidirectional carbon frame it's always going to look like there are blemishes/defects but they're not it's just the edges of the sheets and and bits of resin.

Have you actually been into Halfords and seen one!?

rolf_f

nferrar wrote:

As has been said, the usual carbon weave pattern is just a cosmetic layer applied, on most frames it's just there for looks and adds weight. A lot of high-end frames are dropping this as frame weight still remains a big selling point for ppl looking at that sort of bike. On a raw unidirectional carbon frame it's always going to look like there are blemishes/defects but they're not it's just the edges of the sheets and and bits of resin.

My Look is interesting here - I ordered a special edition white one. AFAIK, the black ones had full carbon weave (still a light frame though). I assumed mine would be the same. However, I noticed that whilst on the top and down tubes, the black Look name is masked to display the weave underneath, the lettering on the forks and seat tube appeared to be painted black which peeved me mildly until I looked closely and noticed it was a very fine raw unidirectional CF. So, they've only used two weave covered tubes and then only so that you can see it through the paintwork! And they still went to the trouble to show the CF through the other tubes even though it is almost impossible to tell.

togg

Unless you've seen it in Halfords with your own eyes, you can't really comment on it and say it's unidirectional or whatever, I still really want to buy it while the 10% reduction is still on. I've not been convinced so far, still undecided.

gmb

I can't believe you people - you seem to be more interested in how a bike looks rather than how it handles! The Boardmans have got good reviews - stop being so shallow...

While I'm on, does anyone know where I can get bar tape in bone, my LBS only has eggshell blue or pale nimbus. I'll never go back there again.

rozzer32

togg wrote:

I still really want to buy it while the 10% reduction is still on. I've not been convinced so far, still undecided.

Well go and buy it then! If the finish is going to bother you then don't buy it and look for something else. Quite simple really.

End of thread.