Any common probs with boardman HT comps

SWEETY-4x4

Hi all, thinking of getting a 2012 boardman HT comp but was wondering if they suffer from any common probs due to bad build or parts ?

The Rookie

Not really, as always with Halfords, try and talk to the member of staff that PDI's your bike to guage their competance and enthusiasm for doing it right.

u05harrisb

halfords builds can be rubbish some times, admittidly some times fine but from what many hear mostly bad. might be worth getting it checked over my a "proper" shop after. somtimes they dont grease bearings etc.

SWEETY-4x4

Thanks for the info. I know what halfrauds saff are like :roll: so would go over the whole bike myself anyway & set it up right. What prompted the Q was that i've read on line that some boardmans suffer BB failier early & one chap who had to return the bike for a refund due to the rear mech cable cutting into the frame & wondered if these were common problems

Phil Butcher

I've owned my Boardman Comp MTB HT since August 2011 and it was set up well. I have also found the Bottom Bracket is already starting to fail and will be looking to buy a new one soon... (cheap if buying straight replacement). You should definitely fit patches on the fork crown though as the cables rub badly. Apart from that the only problems i've had have been caused by me giving it a good thrashing.

The Rookie

u05harrisb wrote:

halfords builds can be rubbish some times, admittidly some times fine but from what many hear mostly bad. might be worth getting it checked over my a "proper" shop after. somtimes they dont grease bearings etc.

Most the Halfords build issues are actually Boardman build issues, due to the contract between them Halfords don't get paid for fixing anything unless it's a customer complaint so the staff are not meant to fix these issues at PDI but wait for the customer to complain, stupid but there you go, it's not ALL Halfords fault!

S-M

Not the Comp, but i have the 2011 HT Pro.

Bearings will give you hassle, i have managed 2000 miles on mine now and i have just done my 4th BB30 bearing swap, the last one was done around Nov last year as documented on this forum, i removed the bearing seals, and filled them with car CV Boot grease as a test for winter, this seamed to work really well i never touched them again, until a few weeks back i started getting a click so i replaced them again, this time i used some marine grease, when i removed the cv boot grease ones, the drive side bearing was stiff to turn, the non drive side was still fine.

2 of my mates have the FS Team, and both have had problems, both with bearings, one of them has a crank arm that likes to loosen itself for some reason, the other has just had both his rear and front shocks replaced under warranty as they both failed!?!

I also had the freehub replaced on mine under warrenty as that failed as well :roll:

Around 1 month ago i went over everything with a fine tooth comb and started to check stuff like the headset bearings, these were starting to go a little notchy, i have filled them with fresh marine grease, hopefully this will help them last a fair bit longer, the bike is around 11 months old.

Currently using the bike to commute to work and is racking up around 90 miles per week.

The Rookie

My commuter has done 2.5K miles on the cheapy square taper BB's (swapped 1K miles ago as I needed a wider one for the new chainset) and already 6 year old when fitted headset.....not sure how everyone breaks this stuff!

SWEETY-4x4

Thanks again for the input as it's been very helpful & i'm sure other will find it to Time for me to have a good hard thick about it all, thanks again

bazza333

I don't think you can blame Halfords or Boardman for poor bottom brackets or any other bearings. I know of big name brands who have BB's fail in less than 3 months but they don't get the criticism Halfords do.
I would not expect any shop to dismantle bearings and add grease on assembly - that is the job of the parts manufacturer. And if a BB fails within 3 months thats just bad design.
Aa bike is just a sum of it's parts and most of those are available on other makes.

I would agree the assembly can be an issue but just tell them you want it unboxed and do it yourself. It's only adding bars/wheels as most of it is already assembled......and even my gear indexing was perfect out of the box.

Coolnick

I've owned a Boardman HT Comp since January and absolutely love it. I would second the comment above about putting frame protection patches on the top of the fork crown. I found out the hard way after my cables rubbed the paint off after 1 ride at Cannock in the wet. I subsequently put a Lizard Skin patch over each of the areas and since had no more problems. Can't comment on the bottom bracket but had no probs so far, though don't believe its a BB30 fitted like the team model so that maybe why.

As a ride its confident, some step up from my previous 2004 Rockhopper and the forks are way better than I expected despite good reports. They damp well on technical terrain and steer well. The Boardman components are all decent quality too (think they are Ritchey). Def a bike worth considering, you won't be disappointed