Boardman CX Owners Thread

Burndust

well pathetic milage from me this week...only the work commutes, and doesn't look to good for the weekend weather wise, rain and wind, the marathon plus tyres are not the grippiest....maybe its just me, because from what i've read folk say these have great grip great winter tires, well i've had an off on these and a few near misses? maybe i'll have to wimp out and use the excercise bike instead :oops:

fret

well i've had an off on these and a few near misses?

:shock:
Why are you asking us, surely it was you who fell off

Burndust

......just a bit confused really guess its just because i have been used to wider tires in the past..the cross winds up here today are just scary...getting blown all over the place its been worse but the crossfire was much heavier...suppose i am still getting used to a lighter bike

veronese68

Marathon Plus are great for puncture resistance, not so much for grip.

fret

I've been using Gatorskins for 4 years now and the only ones that compare are the Bontrager Racelite Hardcase equivalents where I had just 1 puncture after 9 months use. They are also cheaper than Gatorskins
Never had any problems with grip, only on wet mud.
They also last a couple of years. My first set actually stated to perish before they wore out.

I'm saying that they are the best out there, just what I now use as standard for my daily 18 mile round trip through the ravages of street strewn debris of Portsmouth.


One tip for new tyres.
Buy them a month or so before you fit them as they will then "season" as guaranteed you will pick up a puncture the very day after you fit brand new tyres. :P :oops:

Burndust

well i completed my 50 miler this morning without incident...wet and windy but worth it

fret

Just spent 3 hours giving mine a good clean and lube, wheel change, handlebar change and a general fettling in preparation for the CX Sportive tomorrow.
Fitted temporary off road mudguards which look pretty awful, but they will do the job.
New bars are PLT PRO from my Ribble (which now has C/F bars) and weigh just over 250g according to the kitchen scales, some 80g (or more) less than the OEM Boardman ones. In addition it gets rid of that awful "ergo" anatomical bend in the drops where you can only get your hands in one position. A shorter reach is also a good thing, less weight over the front when off road going down slopes. Almost as good as the ones on the CX9
http://road.cc/content/review/26135-pro ... -drop-bars

So, up to date mods are

Specialized Phenom saddle
PLT PRO bars
Spare Graham Weigh wheels.
Not much yet, but it's early days.

And if there is anyone who still wishes to donate to my ride tomorrow. http://www.justgiving.com/Andrew-Gent1

I have raised almost £200.00 so far.

fret

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Burndust

good luck on the sportive fret...let us know how you got on

fret

[


Well, I did it. Picture of bike after event and after it has been hosed down (no way was it going in the car that filthy) :roll:
Set off at 7am, signed on and started around 08:30. I was doing well until the sand, fell off twice and then walked. A few bastard hard hills, much of it was off road and the mud at times was like glue and the chalk was glutenous. Some fantastic views and downhill sections where the disc brakes were worth the money.

What did I learn?
On the road the CX still whups MTB's and 29ers.
Up hill and on a lot of sticky stuff MTB's are quicker, especially suspended ones, not a great deal of difference downhill :twisted:
There is no clearance even for the clip on mudguards I used, they clogged a couple of times.
It was worth lubing all the drive train, even so shifting at the end was hit and miss.
Never missed a beat on anything, brakes superb, gears crisp.
OEM tyres are quite good, even at the 70psi I ran at.
New handlebars are far better than the OEM.
Hitting a pothole on past downhill sections will still cause a pinch flat :x
Eat and drink PLENTY, I lost about 1lb today.

So, you all want to know my time, then?

The quickest was 3hrs.07 that I saw on the official timing, 20-40age range. :!:
The quickest in my age range (40-49) was 3hrs 09
Quickest 50+ was 4hr 56.
I'm 49 in 2 weeks.
Time taken according to the official timing chips.
4hrs 55m

HOWEVER, in my defence, I reckon there were about 10 mins lost at the feed station, 5-10 mins to change a tube and about 20 mins whilst 2 of us helped a South African bloke on a 29er who had run out of spare tubes (he had 6!!!) We tried 3 before one stayed up and it's amazing that a 23mm road tube can inflate a dirty girt big 29er tyre.

Time according to the bike computer.
4hrs 1 min, 49 miles, average 11.6

I'm not even knackered, tired yes, but will give it a few weeks before attempting anything like that again. Nothing aches.....................................yet

fret

PS.
Does anyone need a replacement set of 420 mm drops? I have mine surplus to requirement now.

alexul

Hello everybody
I have ridden only MTBs in my life but recently I moved to a new area surrounded by a lot of cycle path. Although initially I wanted a road bike I noticed that some of the path are rather in a bad shape so I turned to cyclocross. It's the first time I would ever ride a CX bike so I was looking for not-so-expensive-but-decent-value bikes and I came over the CX serie from Boardman. There is an offer for Comp model, which would be on my budget(under 1000 euros) and it also has nice reviews. I am a little bit unclear about the size I should get and there is no dealer around me to be able to try one and finally I will have to order it online
My height is around 170cm, 5ft10 and leg length 76cm, 30 inches. I am at the the limit between small and medium but my ape index is negative, around -2 so I incline more towards the small. I am also rather thin, weighting around 60kg, 130lbs so a smaller bike would be more easy to handle for me. But I don't want to feel cramped or ride with a hunchback. What would be your advice?

Thank you in advance and have a great day

fret

I would go for the medium over the small. It's the top tube length that's the important thing.
I'm 5'9" and it's OK for me with room to spare. A smaller top tube means you would possibly be too cramped. I have ridden small and extra small bikes and they are simply too small and cramped.
I have just shortened the reach by fitting a shorter reach pair of 'bars and moved the saddle forward. It's amazing the difference it made today.

Alternatively, get a pukka bike fitting/measurement to see what is what

Burndust

well done fret

alexul

Thank you for your answer fret. Unfortunately, because I never use imperial units I was wrong with the conversion. 170cm height means 5ft7, not 5ft.10 as I previously said which now makes me shorter than you . I compare the geometry of the Boardman CX small with a Merida Cyclocross size 52 from a LBS which was recommended for my height. The CX has a TT of 540 while the Merida has 535 (although from their technical drawing they seem to measure the TT a little bit different
http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bike ... lo+Cross+3) so they seem to match.

Being available at the LBS, I could go for the merida, even though it's 100 euros more expensive and doesn't have a carbon fork but I think I will miss the mounts for the racks.

LE: after googling "puka bike fitting" I found some references to it but no definition of what actually is.

Burndust

if the 52cm feels right then go for that ..by "pukka" fret means professional bike fitting....also merida make boardman bikes as well as a few other brands

arthur_scrimshaw

Not sure if this has been covered already but can you get touch up paint to match the CX?
Some dozy woman drove into me at a roundabout today, luckily it was very slow speed glancing impact and I stayed upright. I pulled onto the pavement to check all was ok and she drove off!
Anyway, nothing but cosmetic damage, got a flake of paint about 10mm in diameter chipped off near on the seatstay tube near where it joins the rear disk bracket, it's not dented or deformed in any way but it's down to the aluminium. I think this must have been her towing loop or something?
Anyhoo being a bit precious, I'd like to cover up this blemish somehow, any suggestions? (other than MTFU it's only a bike!)

fret

No problem, Alexul.
I would go for a SMALL at your height. You can fit a long seatpost and stem if required. THey say to go a frame smaller for racing CX, but others still use the same size.

That MERIDA in the link is different to the one I have seen http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/ ... lo+Cross+4

This has carbon forks, rack mounts, 105 gears and Hayes brakes. It didn't get a very good review though, so I am glad in a way that I didn't buy it in a way. £999.99 but they wouldn't drop the price either.

I think I have just had a sex wee http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bike ... Team+Issue

And the grey paint idea is good as mine has a few lumps missing. I have some old Humbrol Enamel that almost matches.

tincaman

fret wrote:

I would go for the medium over the small. It's the top tube length that's the important thing.
I'm 5'9" and it's OK for me with room to spare. A smaller top tube means you would possibly be too cramped. I have ridden small and extra small bikes and they are simply too small and cramped.
I have just shortened the reach by fitting a shorter reach pair of 'bars and moved the saddle forward. It's amazing the difference it made today.

Alternatively, get a pukka bike fitting/measurement to see what is what

Which shorter reach bars did you get?

alexul

Thank you fret. Once I get some money on my card I'll order one and then have to hold on another 2 weeks until it arrives. I hope it will be 2 weeks of heavy rains and snows and winds because if it is nice and warm I'll go crazy not having a bike

fret wrote:

No problem, Alexul.
I would go for a SMALL at your height. You can fit a long seatpost and stem if required. THey say to go a frame smaller for racing CX, but others still use the same size.

That MERIDA in the link is different to the one I have seen http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_gb/bike/ ... lo+Cross+4

This has carbon forks, rack mounts, 105 gears and Hayes brakes. It didn't get a very good review though, so I am glad in a way that I didn't buy it in a way. £999.99 but they wouldn't drop the price either.

I think I have just had a sex wee http://www.merida-bikes.com/en_int/bike ... Team+Issue

And the grey paint idea is good as mine has a few lumps missing. I have some old Humbrol Enamel that almost matches.

fret

tincaman wrote:

fret wrote:

I would go for the medium over the small. It's the top tube length that's the important thing.
I'm 5'9" and it's OK for me with room to spare. A smaller top tube means you would possibly be too cramped. I have ridden small and extra small bikes and they are simply too small and cramped.
I have just shortened the reach by fitting a shorter reach pair of 'bars and moved the saddle forward. It's amazing the difference it made today.

Alternatively, get a pukka bike fitting/measurement to see what is what

Which shorter reach bars did you get?

PLT PRO compact drops. Slightly less reach, but far better for me as I don't tend to move around the saddle any longer.
http://road.cc/content/review/26135-pro ... -drop-bars

fret

A tip.

Only use a 20-23mm innertube as a temporary measure if you are using 35mm off road tyres.
It rips the valve out.

fret

As did the second and third one, mind you, they were old tubes, so could be past their sell-by date.
Took a day to go down, so sourcing the leak was hard, especially as it's a soft tube with not much pressure in when you check.
I thought I had a puncture (first one with the Gatorskins) but that isn't the case.

bendertherobot

Quickie

Mudguards. What are you doing with the front one regarding the top of the fork area? Is there a hole in the fork to accomodate?

arthur_scrimshaw

bendertherobot wrote:

Quickie

Mudguards. What are you doing with the front one regarding the top of the fork area? Is there a hole in the fork to accomodate?

Yes, an m5 threaded hole at the back of the fork crown which takes SKS sized bolts.

bendertherobot

Excellent!

Burndust

well the clunking gets more curious....it seems to vanish after about an hour riding... but then comes back the next time i'm out on the bike....any ideas?

milkypirate

I'm tempted by a CX Team through C2W; however it looks like this model is about to be replaced and the price dropped from £949 to £899. I can't be sure of this, but three visits to different branches of Halfords in the last week have told me:

Charlton first - had a medium in stock but I wanted a small. Only two shown in the country, model is being discontinued. They could get it for me, but I wanted to do more research before committing.

Lakeside next - no CX Team showing in stock on the system anywhere in the country because they are a new line that's not in stock yet.

Halfords website was showing one in stock in Basildon so I went there yesterday to investigate. None in stock, systems showing none in the country because it's a new line and the price is £899.

So it looks like a new one is due out realsoonnow.

bendertherobot

Got my medium on Friday. Pretty much one of the last by the looks.

There IS a new line. But, as if the bloke was to be believed, that's September or so.

bendertherobot

If I could recommend some wheels. They ONLY reason I didn't carry them over from my Genesis Croix was because I bought White hubs. Even red would have kinda gone, but white did not.

Anywway.

Get someone to build:

32H black H Plus Sons Archetype rims.

Silver spokes preferably but black WILL match better.

Then something like a Novatech MTB hub. Should be doable in the mid £320-£330's