Boardman CX Owners Thread

fret

My brakes (can't resist :P )make a lot of noise when braking. Both front and rear. They stop when I swap wheels, which both use different discs, but that soon returns after a few miles. It generally stops in the wet as well, so I just put it down to pad compound.

Oh, another 80g lost today by fitting Titanium skewers.

ElliottDavo

I swapped to Superstar Kevlar pads and my squealing noise stopped. You sure the pads aren't contaminated?

alexul

fret wrote:

My brakes (can't resist :P )make a lot of noise when braking. Both front and rear. They stop when I swap wheels, which both use different discs, but that soon returns after a few miles. It generally stops in the wet as well, so I just put it down to pad compound.

Oh, another 80g lost today by fitting Titanium skewers.

:roll:
Touché. Even I am horrified by my English in that post.

Burndust

lol good old fret playing teacher again haha.....glad i'm not the only one with the brake issue..still more than happy i bought this bike though....its got me looking at road bikes....as this where i have found i enjoy cycling the most....specilized tarmac with di2....hmm can i justify that

brassnipple

fret wrote:

Oh, another 80g lost today by fitting Titanium skewers.

Which skewers did you go for Fret.....and more importantly do they work, as they are quite a fundamental safety feature on any bike !? :!:

80g's is a substantial saving , so I would be interested to look into that myself! :roll:

By the way, we were talking seat posts a few 'posts' ago (see what I did there, wordplay and all that) - I noticed that Kinesis have brought out a carbon seat post at a claimed 200g's. Might fit the bill for you as I think you said you were running a set of their wheels - http://www.kinesisbikes.co.uk/products/ ... arbon-post. Looks to have plenty of lay back and 100g's lighter than the Boardman offering.

samsbike

I would appreciate some sizing advice. I am about 5 11.5 and an inside leg of around 89cm, am I.correct that I should get a size large?

Thanks

ElliottDavo

I'm 5"11 and ride a medium, though I should of got a large

brassnipple

Worth bearing in mind that Boardman CX's size up quite big, so it would be worth trying both a medium and a large to see which one suits you best before parting with your hard earned money - especially as your height is probably between sizes. I'm 5'10 and the medium is perfect for me, the large was just too big - yet in a 'normal' road bike I ride a 56cm Trek Madone, which is spot on. The 'medium' CX is virtually identical in size to this bike!

cookdn

brassnipple wrote:

Worth bearing in mind that Boardman CX's size up quite big, so it would be worth trying both a medium and a large to see which one suits you best before parting with your hard earned money - especially as your height is probably between sizes. I'm 5'10 and the medium is perfect for me, the large was just too big - yet in a 'normal' road bike I ride a 56cm Trek Madone, which is spot on. The 'medium' CX is virtually identical in size to this bike!

I'm an inch less than brassnipple in height, but a bit short in leg (29") and could hardly stand-over the medium.

I would try before buying, but finding a Halfords branch with more than one size in stock is likely to be difficult.

Burndust

if your lucky enough to have a halfords that has these on display i had to buy mine unseen i'm 5 9 and based my purchase on many hours of research on here and opted for the medium...when i went to collect it they rolled it fron the back and thought looks awful small...but it was just fine....for me though the bike feels very compact and sonetimes still feels a bit small if i were your height i would opt for the large tbh but it comes down to personal pref if you can then def try before you buy if not then your just going to have ti gamble like i did....

fret

At 5'9" with a long inside leg I have a medium as the geometry is near as dammit exactly the same as my Carbon Ribble.
Suits me fine and just enough clearance off road in the nasty stuff.

YIMan

I've just crashed and written off my Genesis Vapour CX bike....so am looking for a replacement.

The Boardman CX looks high up my list of options....but looking at Halfords there are hardly any in stock...and none in my size. Does anyone know why - are they just about out of the 2012/13 stock and about to introduce a 2013/14 range?

apreading

They have just had a 10% off sale on them - lots of people wait for that and when it comes the sell out and take a couple of weeks to restock - happens regularly and every time someone thinks its because a new model is coming, then the next batch of stock arrives. If they dont have them near you now, they will soon.

YIMan

Ah....ok...cheers!

ElliottDavo

The new '14 models are coming sometime in the Autumn, there will be a Team and Comp model

brassnipple

I wonder if there will be a carbon frame option?

Burndust

brassnipple wrote:

I wonder if there will be a carbon frame option?

that would be cool

ElliottDavo

maybe on the Pro model

relik

Hello fellow CX owners. First post, but long time lurker on this thread.

I have a question for those of you who've upgraded to Avid BB7's. I've just switched over myself and while riding on even the slightest bit of uneven road the stock pads start to rattle about the calipers giving off an irritating sound.

Has anyone else had this issue? Just though I'd ask before ordering some new pads.

Everything else about the brakes is fine and a big improvement over the BB5's.

Ouija

Are you sure it's the pads. BB7's rattle if you haven't got the caliper lever slightly tensioned (ie, the cable is slightly slack when the levers are not in use).

ElliottDavo

Have you had the pads out of the caliper?

relik

Not had a chance to have the pads out yet. They felt really loose in the caliper so i assumed it was the problem.

I'll have a play around with the tension again and get back.

Ouija

If it isn't the lever bouncing up and down a little when going over bumps for the reasons mentioned (had that problem myself once) then have you checked that the pads have the retaining clip in them (a little tuning fork style piece of metal that presses the pads back against the caliper)?

relik

I've pre-loaded the caliper arms a little more and I think it's reduced the noise slightly.
I'll get the pads out this weekend for a closer look though as the rattling sound is still there.

I've found riding with the brakes slightly on eliminates the noise.

Thanks for the replies

fret

Put a dab of copaslip/copper grease on the back of the pads.

Ouija

relik wrote:

I've found riding with the brakes slightly on eliminates the noise.

Which suggests the rattle is coming from the brake levers (had that happen) or, again, that you haven't got enough tension on the caliper levers. The levers on BB7's (had three sets) rattle like crazy if you let them rest in their fully extended position. I usually just unclamp the brake cable, push the lever up by about 25 to 40%, pull the cable through as tight as possible and then re-clamp it in that position. You may have to back off the non static side pad a little with its wheel to stop it rubbing against the rotor but it usually works for me.

relik

After plenty of tweaking and adjusting I'm thinking it's the pads themselves. I've had the caliper arm nearly all the way on and the rattle still occurs. I've realigned the caliper, preloaded the arm and adjusted the tension of the arm with a 2mm wrench.

When I drop the front wheel on the floor with my finger against the small bits of the pad that are protruding from the caliper there is no noise. Repeating this process without my finger in place and rattle is there. I've had the Avid pads out and some Baradine replacements in, but they still move about inside the caliper.

Is this just normal for BB7's? Google doesn't bring much up and I'm used to the fairly straightforward hydraulics on the mtb.

Also fret, what would the copper grease do?

meanredspider

Sure the pads are fully home in the clip?

Ouija

Any Pics?

relik

No pics at present as I'm in work, but I'll try to get some up for the end of the week.

I'm pretty sure the pads are in fully as they click when inserted. Are you guys able to move the pads side to side while they are in the caliper?