recommend me a halfords...??

mikey2341

I've decided on getting a boardman and am stuck between the boardman road comp and the road team. Having read around on here that halfords customer service is inconsistent, I am after a branch in the north west that will give me some good advice, any suggestions?

Cheers

zippy483

Rochdale is fairly good the chap that runs the Bike section is a keen cyclist and he's been there for years, and knows what he's talking about.

Depends entirely on where you are though I suppose

shouldbeinbed

Oldham is decent too but only 5 mins down the road from Rochdale.

mikey2341

I'm in Fleetwood - but to be honest, would be happy travelling to Rochdale or Oldham to get decent help from someone who knows what they are doing. I was miss sold my last bike by a so called good bike specialist and so would be happy driving to get decent service and someone who knew what they were talking about.
Thanks for the advice

Ringo 68

If it is any help, I have the Boardman Comp and I couldn't be happier with it. Gearing that goes up any hill, even for an unfit, overweight slob like me. (though I am now a lot less overweight and unfit than I was before buying my bike)

mikey2341

Ringo 68 wrote:

If it is any help, I have the Boardman Comp and I couldn't be happier with it. Gearing that goes up any hill, even for an unfit, overweight slob like me. (though I am now a lot less overweight and unfit than I was before buying my bike)

How did you find the whole Halfords buying experience?

Ringo 68

mikey2341 wrote:

Ringo 68 wrote:

If it is any help, I have the Boardman Comp and I couldn't be happier with it. Gearing that goes up any hill, even for an unfit, overweight slob like me. (though I am now a lot less overweight and unfit than I was before buying my bike)

How did you find the whole Halfords buying experience?

They were really good.

I ordered a large Boardman whilst I was in Florida because they had a 10% off offer on and I would have missed it by the time I got back. Picked the bike up (set up perfectly) and took it out for a ride the next day. Realised straight away it was too big for me. You have to be careful with Boardmans because they have a quite long Top Tube measurement compared to other brands.

I took the bike back and they happily ordered me a medium which came a couple of days later. Again this was st up perfectly and I have had no bother with it at all.

cyberknight

Ringo 68 wrote:

. Realised straight away it was too big for me. You have to be careful with Boardmans because they have a quite long Top Tube measurement compared to other brands.

I took the bike back and they happily ordered me a medium which came a couple of days later. Again this was st up perfectly and I have had no bother with it at all.

I have the opposite problem, as i am below avearge height i found no halfords stocked the size i needed and had to check bike geometry on the boardman website and try the medium before ordering in a small.Once i had the bike it was brilliant , alot of bang for your buck.
I had the road comp with sram apex as i wanted the wide range cassette , wish i had opted for the next model up now as i have changed the cassette to a 11-28 but the next model up has better wheels,is lighter and from what i have read the standard mech can take a 28 at a push.

mikey2341

I went into the Blackpool branch today and had a sit on a medium and a large model, neither had pedals on and the sales guy said I looked like a large before sitting on either model. The medium felt as good as the large, but would be difficult to tell without pedalling them I think. Having seen both, I will be going for the team if I can get sized up properly! I'm 5.10 with 32 inside leg if anyone can shed any light on it for me?

cyberknight

If both fit for leg length how does the reach feel ? i am 5 foot 7 " with a 30 " inside leg and i ride a small, i would say a medium for you but its hard to say without seeing you on the bike .
a medium is about a 56 cm frame... 55 cm top tube and a 110 mm stem comapred to a large which has a 57 cm tube with a 120 stem , 25 mm is a big difference .
My commuter has the same top tube but a longer handlebar reach and i felt cramped for the sake of 10 mmso i needed a longer stem on the boardman but the seat tube is right.I only have a small amount of drop between seat to handlebars as i have short arms so the effective body angle is the same as people with longer arms+ lower bars.

This photo is mine , i have lowered the stem by 1 spacer since the photo and put better pedals etc on but you get the idea.

jgsi

If thats a small in Boardman sizing, then no way would I think OP suits a large.
Re the pic .. very small drop twixt saddle and bars.. not a critique just an observation.

Ringo 68

mikey2341 wrote:

I went into the Blackpool branch today and had a sit on a medium and a large model, neither had pedals on and the sales guy said I looked like a large before sitting on either model. The medium felt as good as the large, but would be difficult to tell without pedalling them I think. Having seen both, I will be going for the team if I can get sized up properly! I'm 5.10 with 32 inside leg if anyone can shed any light on it for me?

I am not far off your height, 5' 11" with a 33" inside leg.

When I tried my large Boardman Comp for the first time I had to set the saddle height roughly the same height as the bars to get the correct knee flex etc. I felt as though I was far too stretched out and when I looked at myself on the bike it just looked far too big.

I exchanged it for a medium and now the saddle height is a couple of inces heigher than the bars and the bike just feels far more comfortable.

I would be amazed if the large was the right fit for you.

cyberknight

JGSI wrote:

If thats a small in Boardman sizing, then no way would I think OP suits a large.
Re the pic .. very small drop twixt saddle and bars.. not a critique just an observation.

Yup i already said i dropped it since and i have short arms and long legs for my height so my body angle is similar to those with longer arms.my current drop form handle bar to stem is 6 cm,maybe 5 cm from saddle to where my hands holds the hoods.I tried a bigger drop and i got backache quickly even though i do 150 miles + a week.
I always went by the jimlangley fit and found it comfy.
http://www.jimlangley.net/crank/bikefit.html

mikey2341

I think if I struggle to get sufficient help from the store, I'll go for the medium, and then put some pictures up on here for people to then comment on and see how we go. From the research I've found on here, almost everyone 5.10/5.11 go for the medium, I'm just after reassurance! my last bike was too big and don't want to go down the route of having the wrong sized bike again!

indyp

I would suggest trying both bikes if you feel you're in between sizes. Ask the staff for pedals and take it out for a test. I would really take your time and make sure everything is correct before purchasing, rather than go back.

mikey2341

Well it was the large that fitted me best, Have been back to Halfords with someone that knows a bit more than me about bikes. They suggested the cross over between my elbows and knees was too great and that the large was a much better fit. So I've gone for that, pick it up tomorrow. I think I've managed to get the bike for £650 which I think is a fair old bargain. I used Quidco to reserve the bike. Then used a card registered to quidco to buy a gift voucher with my British Cycling membership discount. This gave me £70 cash back and I got 10% off the bike and 10% off the gift voucher. Halfords are also giving a £10 gift voucher to everyone who purchases something for over £50 this weekend too!

Thanks for the help

Ringo 68

Nice one.

Let us know how you find your new bike.

mikey2341

first ride out on it today and loved it! A steady 45 miles at 18mph average. Bike felt really light in comparison to the one it replaced.I knocked 45 seconds off my pb on the long hill climb on the route and still had 2 gears left I could of used. For the price it's cost me, the bike is amazing. Very happy with the service from the staff at Blackpool Halfords too.

woodywmb

So, did you choose the Comp or the Road? I bought the latter on Friday. Ordered a small in one store and a medium in another. The two Halfords didn't have the two sizes. I only got as far as trying the small - it was perfect (I'm 5ft 7, 29in inside leg). The service was good and all that the bike needed was a slight adjustment of the indexing. I've done 80 miles on the Boardman Road and am looking forward to doing many more.

mikey2341

Woodywmb wrote:

So, did you choose the Comp or the Road? I bought the latter on Friday. Ordered a small in one store and a medium in another. The two Halfords didn't have the two sizes. I only got as far as trying the small - it was perfect (I'm 5ft 7, 29in inside leg). The service was good and all that the bike needed was a slight adjustment of the indexing. I've done 80 miles on the Boardman Road and am looking forward to doing many more.

I got the team in the end. I was convinced I would need the medium, but there was a huge cross over between elobs and knees. The large felt really comfy whilst out on it today. Very happy with it