Boardman CX Owners Thread

bails87

I may have just reserved one of these at my local Halfords at the 10% off price of £810.

If I buy it (they've said they can keep it at that price for as long as I want, despite the offer ending) I'll be paying with vouhcers bought at 10% off. £729 ain't bad. Plus it means the winter tyres, new saddle etc are all covered by the savings.....I'm getting stuff for free, I'd be mad not to, right......right?

I'm demo-ing some other CXs at the weekend, and then the vouchers take a few days to come through, that's why I need to wait.

meanredspider

Sounds like a great price

bails87

Yeah, I've got to say it's stuff like that that makes me like Halfords, (discounted vouchers available through British Cycling BTW) although they seem to have got rid of the staff who had more of a clue lately.

I went in the other week, asked if they could put some pedals on the CX on display (a large) so I can get an idea of size and the guy behind the counter says "Oo, I don't know if we've got any pedals for that, can't you just sit on it without the pedals?"

I pointed out that this might not be a good idea, so he started scrabbling around for pedals. "I don't know if we've got any for that, because it doesn't come supplied with pedals you see"

I asked if he could put some on from another bike "no because it doesn't come with pedals"

"....Yes, I know, but can you take some pedals off another display model to put on there for a few minutes so I can test the size?"

"But they won't fit"

"Yes they will"

"No, the thread's different, innit"

"No, it's the same"

"Oh.....is it" he said, with a face that looked like he couldn't be bothered, but had just been caught out in the lie that was going to save him 2 minutes work.

He then took some flats off a MTB and they (of course) fitted straight away, he didn't seem suprised by this, which didn't do much for his "they won't fit" argument.

So I sat on the bike. (I had brought my Ribble into the store with me). I pointed out that it was longer across the top than the Ribble (by a couple of CM), and the medium was the same as my 'large' Ribble. So the large B'man was too long, and a medium would fit me better.
"Right.....what's your inside leg measurement?"
"About 33 inches" On the long side for my height, long legs, short body.
"No, a large would be better for you then"
"Well it's not, it's longer than my large road bike which is comfortable. The medium is the same length across the top, and that's what's important, especially seeing as my body is relatively short compared to my legs"

"Oh, so you want an upright riding position then?"

:roll: ".........no......"

Before I spoke to him he was trying to persuade a guy looking at the top aero-ish Boardman road bike to buy a Carrera hybrid instead.

seataltea

On the flipside of the last post, I called into a local store on Monday to see a CX. The very helpful female manager of the bike section said they were not stocked because they sold so few but a recent order meant they would have one in Wednesday for the customer and I could have a look before he collected it.

Work meant I couldn't get in until this morning and rang to discover he'd already taken it home. I was over the moon to hear her tell me that based on my enquiry they were going to get one as stock, in the size that would likely fit me, that I'd get first refusal and if it was no good they'd just put it out on the floor.

That sort of thought and customer service should be the norm, well done Halfords your little attention to detail has likely secured a sale.

bails87

I should point out they were excellent when I bought my Boardman MTB. I wouldn't write off all Halfords like some do, but treat them all as seperate stores, some excellent, some poor, like anything.

meanredspider

My stored is managed by an idiot and staffed (mostly) by idiots. The bike is good though and it's worth the hassle in the short-term. That said, I won't darken Halfords door unless I have absolutely no other choice.

cookdn

I went into Leicester Abbey Road store yesterday to look at the Boardman CX. This was the only store in the East Midlands to actually have the bike in stock. I got the run-around with pedals, but to be fair the guy stated that he didn't work in the bike hut area normally, their bike guy was due in on a later shift.

The bike was as I expected, good specification but a medium was too big for me, I'm going to need the small which is only available on the website. Bummer is that the website 10% discount finished on Thursday night so the bike is now back to the normal £899 price. Has anybody tried haggling with Halfords with any success?

Best regards

meanredspider

Have a search for a discount code - I think the NUS have one (try entering NUSSEP11 as NUSAUG11 worked for me in-store in Aug) - that gives the 10% you just missed.

Boardman sizing seems to been bigger than everyone else

cookdn

meanredspider wrote:

Have a search for a discount code - I think the NUS have one (try entering NUSSEP11 as NUSAUG11 worked for me in-store in Aug) - that gives the 10% you just missed.

Thanks for that, NUSOCT11 worked a treat giving a 10% discount :-). I don''t feel too guilty, even though I don't have an NUS card I am officially a Liverpool University student doing a Masters.

The Halfords website screws-up the discount calculation when it gets to the point of confirming the order but I have spoken to customer services and they are going to amend the order value before they ship the bike and take the payment.

Best regards

meanredspider

:oops: :oops: It's October! I know that too. It's my daughter's birthday today

Anyhow, glad it worked

bails87

meanredspider
...or anyone else. Do you know the width of the rims? And how that translates to a sensible tyre width, for slicks?

meanredspider

Nope - but I've fitted 25C Conti Gators and the seem absolutely fine.

bails87

Picked mine up yesterday.

Rode 6 miles.

BB's knackered :evil:

cookdn

bails87 wrote:

Picked mine up yesterday.

Rode 6 miles.

BB's knackered :evil:

Bummer, but apparently not uncommon with the Boardman BB30s due to inadequate lubrication at the factory. I had better get mine open and have a look. I've done a bit more than 6 miles but no more than 30 as I am stuck indoors supposedly studying .

Mine was bought online and arrived in the largest box I have seen completely built including wheels. I'm hoping that the technicians building the online orders are a bit more clued-up than the random spanner monkeys you can get in some of the stores. The pre-delivery check list includes a step to check the BB, but what that actually means in terms of work carried-out is anyone's guess.

Are you taking it back to be sorted by Halfords or is this now a trip to your LBS?

Best regards

bails87

Back to Halfords. At worst they'll be putting a new BB in and I'll have to grease it myself. I'm nor paying to mend something that's been ridden for half an hour!

-spider-

Main road bike is a Planet-X which is being put away for the winter and want to get a new winter commuter (I do the same route as Mean Red - although not as often now!) I was thinking of a Boardman but now have serious concerns. Might have to revise my thinking - any thoughts on how the Boardman compares to the Giant TCX?

bails87

I'd guess people would say that the giant has a better frame, but the spec will be lower.

I should have checked mine before I rode it really. It started as a regular click once per crank revolution, and 5 minutes later it was CRAAAAAAAK CREEAAAAK CRAAAAAAK, embarrassingly loud every time I moved the cranks through 3-9 o clock on the drive side. Don't know if the bearing itself is dry, if its not in straight or if the BB /shell interface isn't right or greased.

skinnygav

I am thinking of buying a Boardman CX in the new year. Can anyone elaborate on what the issue is here? What has not been lubricated? Is it the BB Spindle?

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/w ... ets-29544/

meanredspider

It's simply grease in the bearings - or lack of it

bails87

meanredspider wrote:

It's simply grease in the bearings - or lack of it

Ah right. Surely this is the fault of FSA, or whoever supplied the bearings? You'd hope Boardman would sort it once they knew about it but supplying dry bearings isn't normal is it?

meanredspider

bails87 wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

It's simply grease in the bearings - or lack of it

Ah right. Surely this is the fault of FSA, or whoever supplied the bearings? You'd hope Boardman would sort it once they knew about it but supplying dry bearings isn't normal is it?

If they aren't sealed-for-life bearings (which they can't be else you couldn't grease them to prevent this issue) then it would be normal to supply them dry from the manufacturer.

I am stunned that Bordman and Halfords haven't got a grip of this.

meanredspider

That said - I've looked through BB30 bearings on Google shopping and they all seem sealed. Confused. That said, it could be that the original ones are not sealed.

bails87

Ah right, I had no idea how these things worked!

I've regreased the bearings in my HT2 BBs in the past and they've been 'pregreased', so I assumed these would be the same......well, that they should be the same

essex-commuter

I have had no issues with my BB at all.

However out of interest, can you grease the bearings without taking them out, just by removing both cranks?

bails87

Halfords have replaced the bearings. I put the Marathon Winters on at the weekend and did a 30 mile ride to bed them in. Only lost one or two studs, and the BB now seems fine.

I've put Gatorskins on it for a commute later in the week, so it'll be interesting to see how it compares speed-wise to the Ribble.

One problem I've got is the brakes. I've set them up as close to the discs as possible, just a slight bit of rubbing on both pads, and yet there's a load of squish/flex in the system. I can pull both levers back to the bars if I try, the front is slightly better, but the left hand gear lever will get caught on the bars (the lever goes along the outside of the 'drop' section, gets wedged and doesn't spring back when I let go of the lever) unless I'm wary and only brake gently.

Any tips? I've done the tri-align thing, I'm used to disc brakes (and even crap cable disc brakes) from the MTB, but these are meant to be good cable discs, and I'm a little disappointed tbh. The brakes themselves work, but it's a bit of a pain having them come right back to the bars and then having to manually flick the gear lever back into position, or going to press it and hitting nothing but air. Also, to get them working anything like repectably the pads have to be so close that theres a constant squeak, which was almost enough to drive me insane. Luckily the noise of the M Winters helped to drown it out

meanredspider

So I'm pretty happy with my brakes though there is a fair bit of travel in the levers which makes me wonder if they are truly compatible with this type of caliper.

The technique I use to set the pads is one I used for setting the handbrake on an AlfaSud:

Wind each pad in until it begins to bind with the disc then back off a couple of clicks.

Whilst I can still sometimes get the gear lever to snag with the bars, it very rarely happens in normal riding.

Also check that there's some "lost motion" in the cross levers (ie back them off fully first). I use the cross levers far less than I thought I would and will probably do away with them at some point.

bails87

Thanks, as ever MRS. I think it'll just take some tuning as the pads bed in to get rubbing and lever travel down as much as possible.

Can't help thinking better cable outers would help. The cables on my old MTB (cheapo cable discs) don't seem to flex anything like as much, they've been upgraded to Avid Flak Jackets (?).

Escadrille Ecosse

bails87 wrote:

Thanks, as ever MRS. I think it'll just take some tuning as the pads bed in to get rubbing and lever travel down as much as possible.

Can't help thinking better cable outers would help. The cables on my old MTB (cheapo cable discs) don't seem to flex anything like as much, they've been upgraded to Avid Flak Jackets (?).

Yup. Same issue with my Poprad disc when I got it although it has Shimano 105 levers with the BB7s. I replaced the cable outers with XTR ones and took a bit of time to make sure they were all a good close fit. I also got rid of the crosstop levers as I found I never needed them. That meant I could run the pads a lot closer to the discs without worrying about them not returning properly. Also agree with MRS about setting them up onto the disc and then winding back a couple of clicks. I also found that the Avid pads take an age to bed in, even after spending a good half hour of stops when I put in a new set, they still seem to get better over the next week or so.

bails87

Sweet Yeti of the Serengeti, it was cold this morning! Summer has most defintely gone. Rode in on the CX, with 25mm Gatorskins, averaged 17.1mph which is distinctly average for the Ribble, so I'm pleased with that.

Still not entirely happy with the brakes, but they work. I was sure to have my hands on the cross top levers when I was drafting a bus though, as they give a lot more power than the normal levers.

The bars don't feel quite right, I don't know whether to flip the stem so it's angled up. Seeing as the BB, and consequently the saddle, is higher than on the Ribble, which means by setting the bars the same height from the floor, they're effectively lower.

Also, the saddle is usable, but I'm tempted to change it. It's bad enough with it being cold, I don't need the saddle adding to the blood flow restriction

The frame was comfy and stiff though. I was expecting to feel a massive difference compared to the carbon frame and seatpost of the Ribble, but if anything this was more forgiving. That could be due to the squishy saddle though.

meanredspider

bails87 wrote:

Also, the saddle is usable, but I'm tempted to change it. It's bad enough with it being cold, I don't need the saddle adding to the blood flow restriction

The frame was comfy and stiff though. I was expecting to feel a massive difference compared to the carbon frame and seatpost of the Ribble, but if anything this was more forgiving. That could be due to the squishy saddle though.

I swapped my saddle pretty quickly for the Spesh squishy version of the Toupe (forget the name) with the circulation cut-out. It's pretty good though the nose is wider than the Toupe I have on my Cayo so it took a little getting used to. I found the Boardman saddle useable too but rubbed a little where the cut-out should be.

I definitely find the Boardman harder work than the Cayo - it's probably 1-1.5mph slower than the carbon bike - mostly due to the uphill bits. I expect that gap to get bigger with more winter gear, the dark nights, wet roads, colder air, winter tyres - though it certainly won't be as slow or hard as the MTB.