Boardman HT Pro '10, flexy as?

incog24

Long time road Bikeradar member but this is my first post away from the roadie section!

I picked up a boardman ht pro second hand (practically unused) to get into a bit of MTBing, and the spec seems great so far. However, its really not a stiff frame...Is this a known issue with them? I'm riding a size large which presumably exacerbates the issue, but its not like its an XL. There's plenty of front mech rubbing under power which is a little disconcerting, and it generally feels a little soft around the BB. It seems odd to me that you'd bill it as a racey hardtail and then skimp on stiffening the frame up?

Maybe I'm just being fussy because my road bike (tcr advance) is pretty stiff, but I think the frame is probably the weak point in the bike. I might make an upgrade something carbon after a year or so...

bails87

I think a road bike will feel very 'direct' compared to an MTB, could be the tyres as much as anything else. 23mm at 100psi will feel very different to 2.1" at 30psi.

incog24

Well yeah it does feel less direct in that manner, but I doubt the tyres are influencing the front mech rub...?

cooldad

Must be those mighty roadie thighs.

jairaj

I have a 2010 Pro HT frame too and can feel flex when putting the power down and in hard turns. I wouldn't really consider my self as being particularly powerful either. Been biking for a few years but I'm only a few steps up from a weekend warrior.

My local trails are mostly wooded trails and grassy hiils so the flex is noticeable but I don't think it affects my riding too much to spoil the ride. Maybe if I was racing with it I would get a bit annoyed with it.

bails87

incog24 wrote:

Well yeah it does feel less direct in that manner, but I doubt the tyres are influencing the front mech rub...?

No, obviously not, but it could account for some of the feeling of flex.

Dirtydog11

Could it be flex in from chainset /rings?

incog24

Good point, it could be. Although a side on push does produce a fair amount of deflection from the frame. Possibly both though? I'd have thought the stylo chainset is reasonable stiff? Possibly an upgrade though anyway, I'm looking to switch to a double at some point.

cooldad

Sometimes a bit of flex is good off road, too stiff and you feel every tiny ripple.

incog24

Yeah I did wonder about that. I'd have thought though its better to be on the stiffer side and then tune the comfort with tyre volume/pressure/tpi and fork choice. That leaves it open to more people's set ups whilst there's not really anything you can do to stiffen up a flexy frame.

Still, despite all of this, I doubt its going to be hold me back in races! I'll start looking for a new frame once I've got the skills up to scratch...And anyway, I think the upgrade order is going to be tyres - saddle - finishing kit then chainset/frame.

supersonic

How much do you weigh?

incog24

~75kgs @194cm. I'm no gorilla but I do push a big gear occasionally. As long as it doesn't mean I ship the chain (which I'm yet to do), I imagine this won't be a massive issue. Just undesirable.

lastwords

I weight about 73kg and have a 2009 boardman ht pro, yes there is a bit of flex but this makes for a compliant ride, i used to have a carrera kraken which was pretty stiff and when i got the boardman it felt a lot more comforatable.

I would not compare it with a road bike frame as far as flex goes as they are built for different things.

Shaggy_Dog

Personally I like a whippy frame on a mountain bike (within reason) for handling's sake as much as for comfort, a bit of lateral flex can give the bike tremendous grip and a 'pop' out of corners.

However, the early Boardmans were not noted for their awesome handling but for their excellent component spec, I've always maintained that they're great mechanically but lack a certain 'soul' that other bands' bikes posses