The Boardman Saga continues.......

GT_Dave

Afternoon All,

I posted here a while ago about a Boardman Team HT that I bought that tried to kill me, basically the pedal arm sheared off in heavy traffic. Halfords were kind enough to replace the bike and give me a free helmet too which I was very happy with.

Well, I dropped off Boardman number two with Halfords yesterday and told them a few niggles that needed sorting, one of which was a grinding from the crank, a quick search on here revealed that this was a common problem with Boardman’s but it needs to go back to the factory to be repaired and they don’t know how long this will take!?! The Halfords rep told me he had never heard of this problem but loads of people on here seem to have had the same issues?

The problem I have is that I paid nearly a grand for this bike, I saved for ages to get the one I wanted and it is my daily hack to get me to work and back as well as some XC action. I have kind of lost my faith in the machine, and the brand now and I wouldn’t expect a thousand pound bike to have issues like this, it’s my second bike from Halfords and I am sure they are trying to kill me!

What should I do? I kind of want my money back as I will always have doubts about the quality of another Boardman but I have ridden this bike a lot and it does have a few battle scars!

Halfords have told me that they will fix it with parts from another bike to try and get me rolling again a bit quicker and not having to walk the ten miles to work and back everyday but I’m not sure I will ride the way I want to when I don’t trust it!

What do you think? Any advice is gratefully received!

Cheers,

Dave

Chunkers1980

The 'Boardman' part of the bike is the frame/design and spec list only. The part failings are down to their maker.

Northwind

Exactly right- there's nothing unusual about the components in these bikes.

Have they given any explanation of the fault? There's really not much that you send bikes back to the manufacturers for, usually that'd suggest some major issue... But, equally, lets not rule out the possibility that the mechanic is a tube.

GT_Dave

Northwind wrote:

Exactly right- there's nothing unusual about the components in these bikes.

Have they given any explanation of the fault? There's really not much that you send bikes back to the manufacturers for, usually that'd suggest some major issue... But, equally, lets not rule out the possibility that the mechanic is a tube.

They just said that the bottom bracket was badly worn? I assumed he meant the internal bearings that were causing the grinding noise.

Im no expert so I dont know the exact names of the parts etc?

I just know that in less than a month im on my second bike which has issues!

I

benpinnick

I cant think of any grinding issues from the crank that a shop (even Halfords) couldnt sort in house. Unless of course the frame is borked. Then its surely a replacement there and then?

supersonic

It shoulen't need sending back to any factory unless they are repairing the frame - and that shouldn't be faulty!

If they are going to replace with other parts, then all is well, I'd take that option.

Aside from that, what maintenance do you do? Commuting through winter can take it's toll on parts, it is worth giving the bike a strip and clean every so often, checking parts and readjusting. I tend to check bolts before every ride. Also remember that Halfords offer a 6 week check to do precisely this as parts do bed in and need readjusting. After that, is up to you to do it. Believe me your gears will need sorting, come spring, and maybe the bearings regreasing, and drivetrain parts replacing if road salt has got to them!

GT_Dave

supersonic wrote:

It shoulen't need sending back to any factory unless they are repairing the frame - and that shouldn't be faulty!

If they are going to replace with other parts, then all is well, I'd take that option.

Aside from that, what maintenance do you do? Commuting through winter can take it's toll on parts, it is worth giving the bike a strip and clean every so often, checking parts and readjusting. I tend to check bolts before every ride. Also remember that Halfords offer a 6 week check to do precisely this as parts do bed in and need readjusting. After that, is up to you to do it. Believe me your gears will need sorting, come spring, and maybe the bearings regreasing, and drivetrain parts replacing if road salt has got to them!

I clean and oil after each ride religiously using correct oils and lubricants etc and check all bolts, like I said its less than a month old and was assembled by a “Boardman mechanic”, I took it back early for its free service because of the issues I was having (Cable stretch, split cable housing, misaligned/wobbly front wheel as well as the grinding). It really hasn't covered many miles, less than 200 I think :?

I think I may just contact the customer services and tell them I want to cut my losses and invest my money in another bike if they will give me it!

omegas

I have seen a few complaints about Boardman bike cranks that seem to have been fitted without the bearings greased on road and mountain bikes. They will just replace the bearings in the cups which is only a 10 min job or replace the cranks complete if they don’t have the bearings in stock.
Expect to have to replace them or open up and lube on a regular basis anyhow like most other parts if you put the miles in off road.

Chunkers1980

I don't see how any of these are boardmans direct problem.

Cables don't really stretch - they settle.

Split cable housing - very odd one that as that takes months unless it's cut too short.

Misaligned wheel? Do you mean buckled or just not in the dropouts correctly?

THe grinding - that's just bad luck I'd say, nothing to do with Boardman, unless the frame was not faced correctly.

No of which would make me want to try something else - you've got a good spec/£ there.

GT_Dave

Chunkers1980 wrote:

I don't see how any of these are boardmans direct problem.

Cables don't really stretch - they settle. The chain jumps off the rear mech if I change on to the big ring? (Please excuse the non technical term :oops: )

Split cable housing - very odd one that as that takes months unless it's cut too short. The front gear cable cracked rather than split, a bit like the plastic was old?

Misaligned wheel? Do you mean buckled or just not in the dropouts correctly? Slightly buckled but also the front brake disk rubbing.

THe grinding - that's just bad luck I'd say, nothing to do with Boardman, unless the frame was not faced correctly. Not sure but it certainly didnt feel right!

No of which would make me want to try something else - you've got a good spec/£ there.

I do love the bike, as a novice it really made me feel more confident than on my old GT and it looks brilliant, it just really worries me that something bad is going to happen and I am going to really hurt myself!

Northwind

omegas wrote:

I have seen a few complaints about Boardman bike cranks that seem to have been fitted without the bearings greased on road and mountain bikes.

Since they use a standard part (FSA or SRAM I think in this case?) that can't be a boardman issue. But, if I'm right it's a BB30 frame, and there's no shortage of unhappy BB30 users across various manufacturers.

supersonic

A lot of this stuff sounds like niggly things the 6 week check will sort - get them to service it and hopefully should be ok. But keep up that checking!

But the BB30 is a known problem.

MountainMonster

Your bike is not going to spontaneously explode, so no need to worry about that.

heez29

If it's a team it shouldn't be a BB30, just a standard FSA External.
What others have said is sound though, Boardman only have a say in design of the frame. The rest is all specced components made by other manufacturers. When you get it back just abuse it and ride!

The Rookie

My Daughter does Boardmans at her new store, she's not strictly qualified but better 'qualified' than the rest of the staff.....

Simon