Boardman CX Owners Thread

tincaman

tincaman wrote:

Well they are not 28mm on these rims, measured at 26.5mm. For interest 28 Gatorskins come up as 28.75mm

On the new CXDisc wheelset the Michelin Pro4 Endurance now measure up at 28.5mm which is exactly what I was looking for.

The new Wheelset has definately improved the handling, changes of direction feel sharper, less sluggish to respond

meth_tical

antsmithmk wrote:

meth_tical wrote:

antsmithmk wrote:

Mine is the same... The dropouts make it very tough to get the wheel out. Its fine to ride.

Thank you. Maiden voyage tonight to get everything dialed in and set up right ready to take over commuting duties.

No probs. I found it all needed dialling in again every 10 or so days for the first 6 weeks, the disks still drag a touch as well even after 3 months

Do you have an issue with the front juddering when pulling on the front brake? I'm finding the front twitchy when at slow speeds but that could be the increase in bar width which i'm not used to.

antsmithmk

No not had that.

That sounds like the pads and not toeing in properly. Try the following - slacken the caliper by undoing the mounting bolts. Squeeze the brakes on tight and whilst being held tight, tighten up the mounting bolts. That should centre the caliper on the disk and stop the juddering.

fret

Also check the headrace/ahead set tightness.

meth_tical

I will try both of them ideas when I get home. The bike seems great and I can sustain a good speed in comparison to the road bike so once I get the other little niggles sorted i'm sure it will become a favorite of mine.

fret

Mine is just slower than my road bike over the 9 mile commute, only by a couple of minutes I guess, but as I'm getting older the speed matters less and comfort start taking precedence.
I still enjoy the old model for commuting and I dare say the odd Audax or even Sportive as it's the same weight as many of my older alloy road bikes.
I sold the Carbon Ribble today and it will be hard to get down to 7.5kgs for the Boardman or the new one.
Sad to see it go, but then I do have the new toy to play with.

antsmithmk

Rode the Woodcote CX sportive on mine today. Took nearly 3 hours to cover 45km and another 3 hours to clean it up!!! Swapped out the knobblies tonight and put 28mm gators back on. SKS refitted and she is all set up for touring / club riding in bad weather / training on mucky roads. For the money you can not beat the comp and it's versatility!

fret

Well done, those events are great fun, I'm on 3 this year.
Doing them is the only thing that made me buy 2 CX bikes.

Muzzledoctor

Fret, how have you found the PX Flanders and also compared with the Boardman now you've had the PX for a bit?

fret

I've only ridden the PX twice, once off road for around 20 miles and once 9 miles each way to work last Tuesday as the CX had a flat tyre (split tube). This weekend was a complete washout.
Both are very similar really, but the carbon framed PX seems stiffer especially in the BB area. I may try to get them fitted with the same components so swapping from one to the other is less of a hassle or if something needs replacing quickly, road wheels for the CX, knobblies for the PX and swap them around for weekend riding. Swapping from SRAM to Shimano is not a problem, although once back on 105 & now Ultegra you realise how much more effort is needed with SRAM. I still rate SRAM for off road work as there is just the one lever to move and you know when it's shifted due to the CLUNK it makes.

Weightwise there is very little difference, 10kg for the CX and 9.61kg for the PX which I weighed at 9.9kg! After weight loss the CX is now around 8.6kg and the PX is 9.5kg with a bit to lose yet.

Going back to the OEM wheels on the CX this week there doesn't seem to be that much of a difference, despite them being 300g heavier than the Kinesis ones which now live on the PX. Mind you, with the weather and wearing winter kit I doubt any weight loss would be noticeable at this time of year.

The PX is more flighty, with steeper head angles and a shorter top tube and wheelbase, so steering is quicker, but as I've only used it with the cross tyres on I couldn't say how different it is with road tyres. I have ridden the CX with the OEM tyres on the road and they were quicker, so we can't really compare the 2. Certainly it feels more like the Cannondale CX9 I harp on about and has the certian "it" that the CX is lacking when off road.

The PX has a 46/36 chainset. They are fantastic as changing between the front rings is just like changing up/down one cog on the back, I loved the one on the CX9. The downside of the 36 small ring is that coupled with a 28 rear ratio you struggle on some hills and the biggest you can go with 105 is 30T at a push, not sure about the Ultegra, but it seems you can also use 30T looking at forums etc. Changing to a 34 small ring would be an option too.
The other small problem is running out of gears on the 46/11 down hills.
I'm tempted to swap the SRAM Wi-Fli to the PX and buy a new Rival or Apex group for the CX, I'll see what happens after doing a couple of events.

I've done 2 events off road on the CX and taken it up the South Downs Way and QE MTB trail a few times and it certainly copes well, even on the road on the way there and back showing a few roadies a clean (muddy) pair of heels.

The CX is still a brilliant bike and the rest of the manufacturers are only just starting to play catch up with Boardman Bikes which is why I tried to get another one to use as a commuter and use my existing one for playing on as it's been modded so much. The only OEM parts are frame, forks, brakes and handlebar stem!! :oops:

I plan on keeping the CX Team for many years yet.

Dazza Doom

Does anyone know the size of the Bottom Bracket on a Boardman CX Comp 2014?
I know its square taper and 68mm shell but what crank width?
Would rather get a new one before having to strip old one out so I can still ride.Thanks :-)

tkmaxxx

well hello! i have now joined the club with a 2014 cx comp - what a great bike! shame it had to come to halfords.. 3 trips back to store and even being given the wrong size bike... but im nearly there.... need to swap the tyres for a better commuter tyre, can i fit 700x32 gatorskins on the mavic rims ? what size is recommended ?

How Far is too Far

Has anyone fitted TRP Spyre brakes on there CX?

Fancy upgrading the BB5,s.

newtonuk

I'm thinking about it.

bigmul

My bottom bracket was making horrendour noises with each turn of the crank on my CX Team, plus discs appeared slightly warped. Took to Halfords, explained this, dropped it off, went back a week later. They said they'd looked at BB, no issue and had sorted the brakes - by "sorted" they of course meant that had slackened off the brakes. Went for a ride, then took back again. 3 times to Halfords, finally they replaced the BB and noises disappeared. Also replaced front disc but I have no confidence in the braking ability of this bike, shame....

meth_tical

My boardman CX comp lasted all of 3 rides. Commuted to work and the brakes seemed fine, slowed down really well after sorting out the slight judder on the front.
The first ride out off road and in rain resulted in me losing braking performance in both brakes front and back to the point where my hands were white pulling them so tight to the bar. Unable to slow in time (read: at all) to avoid the rider in front and went down hard.
Right hand brake lever and shifter snapped and got multiple scratches on the frame and fork. Once they are replaced I will be looking at better brakes.

bigmul

Can anyone advise what kind of difference I'd see if I upgraded the wheels to something like the Kinesis?

I use the CX Team for road riding & commuting with 25mm road tyre and for offroad with the supplied knobblies. If I used the Kinesis wheels with road tyres woudl I see a big difference and significant weight loss?

Considering another bike purchase (as we all probably are!) and wondered if just getting new wheels might be an option instead...

Sorry - never upgraded wheels on a bike so really don't know what kind of benefit I'd "feel".

Dazza Doom

Dazza Doom wrote:

Does anyone know the size of the Bottom Bracket on a Boardman CX Comp 2014?
I know its square taper and 68mm shell but what crank width?
Would rather get a new one before having to strip old one out so I can still ride.Thanks :-)

Ok so just stripped it down and measured it at 103mm. So 68 x 103mm.

Done a search and there's not much choice to be honest. Anyone know why the wierd size?

antsmithmk

tkmaxxx wrote:

well hello! i have now joined the club with a 2014 cx comp - what a great bike! shame it had to come to halfords.. 3 trips back to store and even being given the wrong size bike... but im nearly there.... need to swap the tyres for a better commuter tyre, can i fit 700x32 gatorskins on the mavic rims ? what size is recommended ?

Hiya. The 32mm will definitely fit. I have 28mm on mine.

PuttyKnees

There's nothing wrong with BB5s. I've two Boardman CX teams for racing and the brakes have been fine for 2 or 3 years. It seems unlikely you've gone through the pads already, but you never know. Also check that you haven't pulled the cable through the bolt, e.g., if it wasn't tightened properly when assembled then this is a possibility.

Also replacing the rotor seems a bit unnecessary. They can develop a wobble or unbalanced tightness of the fixing bolts can induce some warpiness. Using a wrench to nudge it back to true is pretty easy.

fret

My boardman CX comp lasted all of 3 rides. Commuted to work and the brakes seemed fine, slowed down really well after sorting out the slight judder on the front.
The first ride out off road and in rain resulted in me losing braking performance in both brakes front and back to the point where my hands were white pulling them so tight to the bar. Unable to slow in time (read: at all) to avoid the rider in front and went down hard.

As stated, there is little wrong with the BB5's. When NEW, discs need bedding in. If you don't do it correctly then your brakes WILL SUFFER!!! For example, the well used BB5's on my Boardman are still better than the BB7's on the Planet X as they simply haven't bedded in as yet.
Especially in the rain. If your levers come back to the bars then your brakes are not correctly adjusted or the cables are rubbish, or the cable could be slipping as has also been suggested. Over the last year I have found that BB5's are not the be all and end all of braking in the wet as you do lose some performance when they are wet, but they soon recover. Many seem to think that they will work exactly the same when wet as when they are dry, but the fact is that they aren't as they need to shed the water and heat up to work properly, not easy in the cold and wet.
I've done several off road events on mine and have never had problems, even with non OEM discs fitted, although the OEM's are far better. One event last year was particularly wet with puddles over the axles at times.

You should also give yourself extra room in the wet anyway.
All discs seem to be warped, but it is easily fixed with a bit of persuasion

Has anyone fitted TRP Spyre brakes on there CX?

THEIR, not THERE. Brilliant brakes by all accounts from practically every review I have read.
BUT, they've all been recalled by TRP due to a manufacturing flaw, so make sure they are the new batches.

Can anyone advise what kind of difference I'd see if I upgraded the wheels to something like the Kinesis?

I use the CX Team for road riding & commuting with 25mm road tyre and for offroad with the supplied knobblies. If I used the Kinesis wheels with road tyres woudl I see a big difference and significant weight loss?

I've done the upgrade. They spin up to speed quicker (kinesis) and take 25mm tyres no problem. I've run 23mm at 120psi and not had any issues either. Recently I changed back to the OEM's due to the new toy, but I haven't noticed a great difference going back, probably as I had a close ratio road cassette on them and the OEM's have the Wi-Fli cassette witgh wider spacings.
And it's winter and you tend to ride slower with wet weather gear and all the other winter crap like lights etc anyway. But they do feel a bit more sluggish than the kinesis ones.

bigmul

Thanks for info. Not sure would notice the difference in this weather!

I run 25mm road tyres on the OEM Mavics at the moment.

fret

25's are a good all round for speed and comfort. Many teams on the road circuit are reverting to 25mm for comfort as there is little in terms of performance now.

fret

Just fitted a new rear derailleur cable (both inner and outer) and what a transformation!! Light shifting once again with none of the "change up 2 and back 1" to change up that had recently crept in. Not cheap at almost £20 for one cable, but then I don't do cheap as it's not worth it.
Basically the inner teflon/nylon liner wears and you get like a ball of crap in the sheath, so no amount of lubing will cure it, so the only remedy is new cables. Most gear shifting problems are down to cables.

While I was about it I fitted some new Bontrager 'bar tape. Seems quite comfy after 14 months and several thousand miles use from the original stuff.

How Far is too Far

Just though I would introduce my Bordy CX, I bought this in November last year after reading this tread. I decided that I wanted the dark grey one for the ease of putting mudguards on.

I have changed the front mech to a rival one (The micro shift one was the devil's work to use)
I had some Mavic speed city's from another bike so put then on.
SKS P45 mudgards
Durano Plus 25mm tyres
SLR saddle as the OE was not for me.

So far I have done 1200 miles on this bike and one ride of over 100 miles. I bet it has only been washed twice since I have had it :oops: but it has been 100% reliable and a great bike to use in the winter.

Future plans are to fit some better wheels
Maybe fit TRP Spyres and a carbon seat pin.

tincaman

TRP Hy/Rd on order for the front, will let you know how it compares to the current BB7 I am running

fret

They were my next upgrade as well, but nobody seems to stock them.

newtonuk

Just got my replacement CX Team from Halfords and this one doesn't have a cracked seat post cluster :-)

tincaman

fret wrote:

They were my next upgrade as well, but nobody seems to stock them.

Purchased from Westbrooke, although not arrived yet

How Far is too Far

I would be very interested in what you think of the TRP HY RD.

Can Westbrooks order then in no problem? I could not find any HY Rd and was about to go ahead with Spyres, but for the extra I would rather have the HY RD's if they are less bother once fitted.