Boardman CX Owners Thread

meanredspider

bails87 wrote:

That or wave the SOGA at them and get them to take one off a boxed bike?

I've tried emailing Boardman & tweeting CB. Wait and see if I get a response. Tried Wiggle but they don't carry them either (WTF?). Store guy is actually helpful/sympathetic but told by head office he's not allowed to stock them (WTF? 2)

iandennis

That's pretty poor on behalf of Halfords.
Good luck with getting the bike fixed

Much as I like the look of the Boardman, dealing with Halfords is a strong motivator not to buy one.

Will keep looking at other CX bikes.

meanredspider

Well Boardman have come to the rescue and are going to post me a spare. The ridiculousness of neither Halfords nor Wiggle stocking this part is stunning. Wiggle have no plans to stock the part and will only get them for warranty repairs. Quite what you are meant to do if you buy this bike abroad and bash the hanger (it's a CX bike after all). I have no idea. I've hunted high and low for a match - only No 238 (IIRC) looks similar. I will check once I have it.

I'd recommend all CX owners order the hanger (a tenner, apparently) as a spare from Halfords.

bails87

meanredspider wrote:

Well Boardman have come to the rescue and are going to post me a spare. The ridiculousness of neither Halfords nor Wiggle stocking this part is stunning. Wiggle have no plans to stock the part and will only get them for warranty repairs. Quite what you are meant to do if you buy this bike abroad and bash the hanger (it's a CX bike after all). I have no idea. I've hunted high and low for a match - only No 238 (IIRC) looks similar. I will check once I have it.

I'd recommend all CX owners order the hanger (a tenner, apparently) as a spare from Halfords.

I'm glad you've got it sorted. I may give my Halfords a call and order a pre-emptive spare.

meanredspider

bails87 wrote:

I'm glad you've got it sorted. I may give my Halfords a call and order a pre-emptive spare.

I would (have - I'm going to keep the one I ordered as a spare) and have suggested to my bro that he gets one for his CX.

BTW - I emailed a pic of the piece of the hanger I have sat on my desk to BETD and they seem to think that the 238 is probably the right one. When I get the whole hanger, I'll email them again to confirm. Hopefully this will then be a reference to anyone searching for a CX hanger in future. I know how grateful I am when I can find info online.

hotdiggitty

hi guys,

Finally time to de-lurk! Well until quite recently I was the proud owner of a Boardman CX...that was until it was stolen from our communal bike shed anyway! So now having made an insurance claim I've been put in touch with a Cycle replacement specialist (Wheelies Direct). Not my choice but looks like we're stuck with each other now!

I loved my Boardman, having been a first time CX owner and would honestly get another if it was an option but (as we know) it's a Halfords Exclusive. Wheelies have done some calculations and with market value and the fitted accessories they've arrived at a Settlement figure of around £1300 to be used on any of their current models.

So this is where you guys come in - now I'm pretty sure I want another CX, I just can't decide which is best from their range! Spec-wise they've pointed me in the direction of the 2012 Spesh Tricross Elite Disc but I can't seem to find any reviews and I'm wondering if it's worth the money or whether I should get something cheaper and splurge on accessories? I mainly use it for road commuting but it does see some off-road use (although nothing too technical) and I genuinely will enter some CX races in the near future! Welcome everyone's thoughts on this

http://www.wheelies.co.uk/c575/Cyclocross.aspx

hotdiggitty

hmm yeah on second thoughts I'm not really a Boardman CX owner any more! I'll repost somewhere more appropriate!

meanredspider

hotdiggitty wrote:

hmm yeah on second thoughts I'm not really a Boardman CX owner any more! I'll repost somewhere more appropriate!

Why on earth do you need to accept something from Wheelies? Just insist on a Boardman if that's what you want. Or is th policy a crappy one?

hotdiggitty

Not the greatest policy but you never really find this out till you try to claim! It might be possible to go back to Halfords but then I'm not sure if my accessories would be covered then

meanredspider

hotdiggitty wrote:

Not the greatest policy but you never really find this out till you try to claim! It might be possible to go back to Halfords but then I'm not sure if my accessories would be covered then

I think they just try it on. You could/should insist on a like-for-like replacement (including accessories)

hotdiggitty

I'll give it a go but then the idea of a free upgrade does sound appealing! Will be hard to beat the Boardman for the money though

essex-commuter

Mmm, one weeks worth of commuting grime. Good job I'm working from home...now where's the hose, bucket, degreaser, polish......

bails87

Yuk, mine's not quite that bad, even with my mudguards way above the tyres (set up for 35mm Winters, but currently on my 25mm Gators).

In other news, my BB started groaning again on the way home on Tuesday. I figured there was no point taking it to Halfords. A few days to get the bearings in and it would be Xmas, so nothing would happen. So I took the cranks off, cleaned the muck off them, greased the spindle, both sides of all the wavy washers and external seals, put it back together and the creak is gone. We'll see how long it lasts.

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

My front mudguard eyelet popped out mid ride yesterday and the left one is turning inside the cut out in the fork. Super glued that back in last night.

My left SRAM shifter seems a bit buggered, gusessing it is due ot the stiffness and the amount of pressure needed to get it to shift up. (keeps coming to rest on the outside of the brake lever)

Halfords did exactly the same as what Bails has done with my clicking BB30, and it was "good to go" hmmm, they did offer to put new bearing in when they arrived to be fair. But without going in to great detail the really didn't inspire me with confidence.

Seeing Bails description I do wonder if the BB30 is too exposed to grime as it pretty much goes with what Halfords said was wrong with mine, but I am no expert!

bails87

The outside seals were filthy, but once I took them off the inside, the bearing itself, was still clean, so I'm not sure why they're so poor.

Halfords have already greased, and then replaced the bearings on mine.

essex-commuter

Well that was an hour well spent. Chain off and cleaned, rest of drivetrain degreased. Washed and polished, rotors cleaned with white spirit. Re-oiled. All ready for Christmas!

Fat-Boy-Roubaix

When are you coming over to do mine?

essex-commuter

Oh and notice the new addition...a mudflap made from a plastic milk bottle! I've always used a milk bottle to make a mudflap, it's perfect especially if you use the corners to your advantage as it stops it from bending back at speed.

Finally got round to doing it for the Boardman.

meanredspider

Polish? Polish what? When did people start polishing bikes?

meanredspider

So the spare hanger from Boardman arrived - clearly taken off a bike BTW (not sure what that tells us about the availability of spares)

Anyhow, it does match the BETD No.238

http://www.mountainbikecomponents.co.uk ... %2FDropout

for future reference. The BETD is twice the price of the Boardman spare from Halfords though. At least it's available!

jt657

Hi,

I've just bought a cx, and although I took it out today, it's impossible to tell what I think of it yet. This thread's been very useful for all the info it's provided, but I just hope my BB's ok. I asked them in Halford's if they'd greased it and they said they had. I suppose we'll see.

With regard to mudguards, SKS 45 seem to be the consensus, and look good on the photos on here. I'm sticking with the standard tyres at the moment, although may put some Marathon pluses on at some point. I'm a relative newbie; will I be able to fit SKS 45s satisfactorily close to the tyres as they come from box, or will some adjustment be required>?

In an unrelated matter, I may consider replacing the saddle- any recommendations for an ultra comfy option? It's ludicrously early days but the one supplied doesn't seem the best. I've never owned a cx or a drop-barred bike before. The ride today went ok apart from the gale-force winds, my lingering chest infection and riding inadvertently into a 'puddle' under a bridge which ended up stopping me in my tracks and coming up to mid-thigh level. A cold start to the ride. The ride ended going over an undulating local trail over some moors, and a high-speed descent over very rough ground. The CX felt very assured, compared with both an MTB and a hybrid which I've ridden down that route before. I can see myself having a lot of fun on the bike.

I am a little worried about the gear ratios; going up an admittedly very steep hill the old thigh-burn kicked in sooner than it used to on even an old cheap MTB. This could have been down to my lack of recent riding due to aforementioned infection, but I'll see how it goes.

I ordered the bike on Christmas Day and ended up paying £687, which I think is a phenomenal price. I didn't even use the vouchers from britishcycling.

This was only meant to be a mudguard query, sorry about the general review etc....

61Sigs

Nothing wrong with a general review.

I too don't find the gearing that great for steep climbs, but at the moment I don't have that many steep climbs to worry about. I did take the bike to Northern Spain in October, but as it was only a quick trip I didn't have the time to have a go at the Pyrenees. If/when I get to go back then I'll need to think about changing things.

Not being much of a fettle-ist I bottled out on guards and just put half guards on. I may regret this!

meanredspider

Provided you are half-competent, fitting guards is pretty straightforward - the only adjustment is to bend the front support stay around the front brake caliper.

Interesting about the puddle under the bridge. It's almost a year to the day that my parents wrote their car off doing exactly that - "puddle" under a railway bridge filled the engine with water.

I think that the gearing is fine for most situations. You probably need to just get a tiny bit fitter. In fact, I've swapped to 105 with a 28 lowest gear as I found the 32 too low (and not available in 105) and it's pretty hilly around me. It isn't as low as an MTB but MTB gearing is pretty extreme.

Great price BTW - how did you manage that?

PPlum

My c2w LoC arrives in January and I have decided on the Boardman CX to replace my commuter hybrid. The LoC is for £1000 and I'll be reserving the bike at it's current price of £850. This will leave me with £250 (£150 + 10% of value of LoC) to spend on bike accessories.

I'm already a cyclist so I don't need any clothes, pumps, lights, rack, panniers or cycle computer. I'll probably get some commuter tyres, inner tubes and spd pedals and look elsewhere for mudguards. What else would you buy?

meanredspider

PPlum wrote:

I'm already a cyclist so I don't need any clothes, pumps, lights, rack, panniers or cycle computer. I'll probably get some commuter tyres, inner tubes and spd pedals and look elsewhere for mudguards. What else would you buy?

In common with most bikes, the OEM saddle is not the most comfortable. Whether Halfords stock anything better is very much open to debate.

iPed

I pulled the wallet out on the Boardman Team CX on Christmas Eve - taking advantage of the sale price of 850, less the 10% online discount for pre Christmas order, less 10% NUS voucher code (I was a student once - still have an outstanding loan so I can sleep easy..) Paid for with vouchers bought with British Cycling discount.

£620

I was looking for a bike to use on my local tame and flattish off road trials where the MTB is overkill and lunching on its own drivetrain, and to ride on the road through the winter to stop me killing the road bike - replacing the wheels on that would cost the same as the Boardman.... Commuting and the ability to 'bike pack' / Tour needed to be accommodated - disc brakes were on my wish list.

Last year I battered a Pompino through the winter and while its a brilliant economical bike and still going strong you have to be choosy where you ride with singlespeed gearing.

As it was Christmas Eve Halfords couldn't provide it fully assembled - no problem - I don't know if the BB30 issues mentioned here are batch specific but my BB has plenty of grease in it from the factory - I also read somewhere about the rim tape not being great - I'm sure the offset spoke holes on the Rtichey rims can cause problems for narrower rim tape - my wheels came with 18mm wide green plastic tape.

I have put the bike through a muddy 20 mile off road route with the supplied tyres, hosed it down, switched the tyres to Schwalbe Delta Cruiser 28mm pinched from my Pompino and hit a 32 mile road loop and overall I'm pretty impressed.

At just over 6ft with 34in inside leg I went for the large frame - which has a pretty long top tube.... ordinarily I'd switch the stem for a shorter one - but due to the higher BB and long crank arm when wrestling the bike up steep hills out of the saddle my knees are getting close to the bars so I have switched the seatpost for an inline Thomson to shorten the cockpit. The supplied saddle never saw the light of day. I think I'll still try a 110 stem...


Out the box the brakes were well out of line and needed a lot of fine tuning - even now the performance is hampered by the amount of give in the supplied brake cable outer - this will get swapped for a true linear brake cable outer at the same time as sorting the cable routing out and ditching the 2nd pair of brake levers that were untouched in 2 rides. The bars are a good shape for the bike, the front mech is mental stiff and prone to over shifting but the bike works best when thrashed in the big ring anyway.

The frame looks great with the smooth welds, good finish, the bike overall is pretty heavy - most of it seems to be at the back end - speed wise its roughly 3 mins / 10 mile slower than my PX Nanolight on the same route (28mm tyres vs. 23mm on the Nanolight and a completely un scientific test!) but its way faster than the MTB on non technical Bridleway / Railway line cycle paths.

I didn't see this BikeRadar thread before I bought it - the advice about guards is handy as thats next on my list.
Time will tell on the BB30 and the wheels - but I'll keep my eye on them and report back if I get improvements on the braking with the cable outer change.

tincaman

Am trying to have a look at the BB on mine, but cant get the crank off, have removed the screw attaching it but its stuck on there, any ideas?

bails87

Undo the smaller of the two bolts to push the non-driveside crank off, then hit the exposed crank shaft/axle with a rubber mallet to push the driveside out.

clarkey cat

I've never really liked the look of boardmans but essex-commuter's looks like the perfect commuter to me. Lovely!

61Sigs

Small off this morning thanks to a car pulling out in front of me. No injuries and little amage to the bike. However, I do think that I now have a bent hanger.

Mean Red Spider, having reread back over this thread how did you manage to get a new hanger in the end? I will call Halfords when I'm sure, but I'd appreciate a fallback option