Boardman Comp - my first road bike

Ringo 68
Ringo 68 Posts: 441
edited September 2011 in Your road bikes
IMAG0011.jpg

Not the best pic but I had to use my phone.

This is my Boardman Comp (medium) and my first road bike since I was 15 yrs old. I am now 43. I originally ordered a large but it was far too big but the medium seems to be perfect.

It needs a few tweeks and I have got new pedals arriving tomorrow but overall I am very happy with it.
Cube Agree GTC Pro
Boardman Comp
Carrera Subway Hybrid

Comments

  • roddixon
    roddixon Posts: 100
    Nice bike. If i was back in the UK I probably would have bought one of those. It is very white though...
  • Ringo 68
    Ringo 68 Posts: 441
    roddixon wrote:
    Nice bike. If i was back in the UK I probably would have bought one of those. It is very white though...

    It is very white but the next model up was out of my price bracket (being a newbie means that I have to buy everything from scratch apart from a few bits and bobs I have for my hybrid)

    The next model down looked great but I wasn't happy with the spec.

    I might have to add a bit of colour via the handlebar tape. Any opinions? Yellow maybe?
    Cube Agree GTC Pro
    Boardman Comp
    Carrera Subway Hybrid
  • Kidge004
    Kidge004 Posts: 123
    Nice bike, rides lovely!!

    I would put yellow hoods and leave the white tape (although it will be dirty after the first ride)
  • WisePranker
    WisePranker Posts: 823
    I got one of these in a large as my first road bike earlier this year.

    It's been a fantastic bike so far, comfortable and plenty fast enough for me. The only thing I've had to do was swap the stem for a shorter one and chage the cassette to an 11-26 and it seems perfect for me now.
  • Ringo 68
    Ringo 68 Posts: 441
    edited September 2011
    WisePranker wrote:
    I got one of these in a large as my first road bike earlier this year.

    It's been a fantastic bike so far, comfortable and plenty fast enough for me. The only thing I've had to do was swap the stem for a shorter one and chage the cassette to an 11-26 and it seems perfect for me now.

    I was tempted to go for a shorter stem but overall I think the large was too big for me.

    I had to order mine while I was in the States as Halfords had a 10% off sale while I was away on holiday. I didn't get a chance to try the sizes out and used a couple of on-line charts to estimate the right frame size.

    I didn't take into account that Boardmans have a long effective top tube for their size. The 55cm bike had a 57cm top tube and it was too much of a stretch for me.
    Cube Agree GTC Pro
    Boardman Comp
    Carrera Subway Hybrid
  • plumpy
    plumpy Posts: 124
    Got one for my son, he is really pleased with it - I think it's an almost unbeatable spec for the money. In fact I took the stem off to double check that it was a full-carbon fork as stated (not an alloy steerer) - yup, it is.

    We transferred his saddle from his previous bike, which is black, and also changed to black bar tape, and personally we prefer that it now looks a bit less white.

    Sorry to be a narg, but Halfords have cut your rear brake cable housing way too long - it should be as short as possible between the stop on the top tube and the socket on the brake arm, it will still have to curve gently to fit smoothly into the socket, but at the moment it looks at least a couple of inches too long. You're wasting braking power in flexing the extra housing around, I bet you'd feel an improvement if you trimmed it.
  • Ringo 68
    Ringo 68 Posts: 441
    Thanks plumpy, I will trim the lenghth down as you say.
    Cube Agree GTC Pro
    Boardman Comp
    Carrera Subway Hybrid
  • nochekmate
    nochekmate Posts: 3,460
    plumpy wrote:
    Sorry to be a narg, but Halfords have cut your rear brake cable housing way too long - it should be as short as possible between the stop on the top tube and the socket on the brake arm.

    Make sure that you don't cut it as short as this!!
  • FransJacques
    FransJacques Posts: 2,148
    Best thing to do is to remove the brake cable and cut the housing in 1/2 inch steps. You want to minimize the kink coming out of the frame hole. Right now it kinks up rather sharply so if the housing is shorter it would have less of an angle. Mind you, as you shorten the housing you increase the angle between the rear brake and the housing, so check both sides as you cut.

    Overall it's a sensible proportioned bike.

    People should take pictures of themselves on their bikes thought, b/c it's only 50% of the equation.
    When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.
  • plumpy
    plumpy Posts: 124
    nochekmate wrote:
    plumpy wrote:
    Sorry to be a narg, but Halfords have cut your rear brake cable housing way too long - it should be as short as possible between the stop on the top tube and the socket on the brake arm.

    Make sure that you don't cut it as short as this!!

    Please don't missquote me - in the sentence that you have shortened I went on to say that it will still have to curve to fit into the socket - so, as short as possible, allowing for a nice smooth curve.

    I agree with FransJacques about shortening in 1/2" steps. At the end of the day it's not an issue, the point of my original post was, nice bike, good choice.

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