reviews on boardman fs pro ?

silencesound

Was wondering if anyone knows of any reviews on this bike ? or if anyone can tell me if the fork and rear shock are good. Fork is a rockshox revelation rlt and the rear shock is a rockshox monarch rl .Any idea how this would compare with fox suspension. Thanks

silencesound

Anyone ? also i see from reading around that some of the boardman mtb have problems with the bb30, have these issues been resolved ?

cooldad

Excellent bikes, excellent value - do a forum search and you will see Boardmans recommended all over the place.
BB30 are rubbish, but easy enough to fit a better BB

silencesound

Thanks for that, i have read a lot about them on here but it seems to be mostly about the fs team . Just wondering how this model fairs out. I know from reading on this forum that supersonic rates the sockshox reba fork very high, how would this fork compare? i can't seem to find any reviews on it or any views on the rear shock. Thanks again

chez_m356

silencesound wrote:

Thanks for that, i have read a lot about them on here but it seems to be mostly about the fs team . Just wondering how this model fairs out. I know from reading on this forum that supersonic rates the sockshox reba fork very high, how would this fork compare? i can't seem to find any reviews on it or any views on the rear shock. Thanks again

revs are more or less the longer travel version of the reba, so top of the line really, as im sure sonic will tell you,as for the bb30, all the issues i have seen on here have been on hardtails, i cant recall seeing anyone with a fs raise this, though that doesn't mean they haven't

silencesound

Just spotted one on ebay, noticed it has elixir 9 brakes and mountain king 2 tyres. Anyone know have they updated the spec a bit as the bike looks almost new ?

chez_m356

still listed as CR's on the boardman and halfords sites, even the seller has put the standard spiel on the add stating them as CR's,maybe he upgraded them,though id have thought he'd have mentioned that if he did ?

baser

Hi,

Took delivery of mine a couple of weeks ago. Love the ride and handling it is so confidence inspiring!!! Forks are great take a couple of rides to free up but they are now really plush as has the rear shock.

My BB30 bottom bracket is nice and crunchy already, looking forward to its 6 week service when it should be regreased or replaced.

Spec wise they are seem to be between builds at the moment my one has elixir CR brakes and Mavic ex319 rims, the one on the stand had elixir 9 brakes and Mavic ex319 rims, the website says elixir CR's and Mavic ex317's???????? I don't think it makes much difference.

But one and ride it hard its a great bike!

broona

Copied and pasted from my reply to an earlier thread :-

'I've got a 2012 FS Pro that I picked up over Christmas for £1150'ish after discounts.

Only been into mountain biking for the last 6 months, so I'm no expert at all, but willing to try and help out.

Previously rode a massively upgraded GT Avalanche 4.0, which was a lovely bit of kit, but the Boardman is something else again over the rough stuff. Soaks up the bumps perfectly, very fast uphill (even with me riding it, lol!), and equally as fast as my mate's 140mm Lapierre Zesty 214 or another mate's 140mm Commencal Meta 5.5.2 downhill, the 130mm of travel seems to cope just as well as either of them.

I'd highly recommend one, but my experience of FS is limited to a few months with mine, and a blast on my mate's, so you'd be best off taking one for a spin if you can.

PS, I should also mention that I'm on my second one, first one developed a fault with the BB that turned out to be something more serious, but Halfords had a new bike ordered and built up for me within a week, and a £30 voucher too, cracking customer service! '

My first bike had CR brakes, the replacement has Elixir 9's, not sure about the wheels as I kept my original wheels, as they'd been properly trued and dished by my LBS.

silencesound

Thanks for the help and advice people. It might seem a bit picky looking for one with the new brakes anr tyres but i think the elixir brakes are 2012 brakes with some improvements and i know from experence the first mountain king tyres were dire for my riding conditions. Also am i gathering from opinion that these forks re going to be something similar to reba forks ?

broona

cooldad wrote:

Excellent bikes, excellent value - do a forum search and you will see Boardmans recommended all over the place.
BB30 are rubbish, but easy enough to fit a better BB

Belated reply, but the BB in my new Boardman is starting to creak already, could you please elaborate on which better BB would fit? Cheers.

nicklouse

broona wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Excellent bikes, excellent value - do a forum search and you will see Boardmans recommended all over the place.
BB30 are rubbish, but easy enough to fit a better BB

Belated reply, but the BB in my new Boardman is starting to creak already, could you please elaborate on which better BB would fit? Cheers.

None. Unless you are going to buy new cranks and some adaptor.

The good thing is that your BB is just a pair of bearings so just bu and replace.

daveyboy2012

Purchased a Boardman FS Pro 3 weeks ago, things were going fantastically well for the first hour of my maiden ride. It was amazing downhill and it seemed to be handling the woodland trail I was riding very well.
After this brief honeymoon period the BB30 bearings started to creak and unbeknownst to me the rear axle bolt had fell of somewhere!
This was just the beginning of my nightmare however, as I was yet to deal with the shower of s**t known as Halfords.
Took back into my local Halfords store, they said they would replace BB30's (at this stage I didn't know rear axle bolt was missing).
3 days later they told me rear axle bolt was missing and they would have to order.
8 days later bike was repaired.
At no point did Halfords attempt to call me to update me unless I moaned to there head office.
The staff seemed disinterested and at most times seemingly incapable of even answering the phone judging by the time I spent waiting for them to pick up.
Total time taken to complete repair 11 days.
Excuses offered, to many to list.
Conclusion, avoid Halfords at all costs and unfortunately that means Boardman bikes as well.

Roostoids

Halfords can be good or can be bad, like many places. I ordered a bike through them, but had it built elsewhere, it only cost a few quid and it gave me the peace of mind to ride the bike hard knowing it would be assembled correctly and stand up to any punishment dealt.

I wouldn't have a bike serviced or built at Halfords unless the staff you're speaking to appear to be riders themselves, because they'll probably actually care about the bike. I know of a few staff at Halfords near me who do great jobs with bikes because they ride and enjoy bikes themselves. Other stores only have staff who need a job, they obviously don't care about the quality of the work, nor know what's important.

Revelation forks are awesome, light and stiff and a small step up from the Reba which is also great. The Monarch shock is also good, perhaps not the standard of the massively more expensive FOX shocks out there, but still excellent.

cooldad

Rear axle bolt? Isn't it a QR skewer?

But they sorted it out, in a fairly reasonable time?

daveyboy2012

It came back with a new bolt and a huge 17mm nut screwed on the end of it. Not the original part, but they assured me the original would be forwarded to me when they get it.
The back axel on the pro is a strange design there is a bolt and a skewer holding it on place, apparently the bolt is something to do with boardman not SRAM.
I wouldn't call 11 days a reasonable turnaround for BB bearing replacement and a bolt, I would have thought 3-4 days an acceptable time frame.
I took the bike out for a second ride last night and it is bloody good, it just annoys me that you can't get them through a local bike shop.

chez_m356

daveyboy2012 wrote:

I wouldn't call 11 days a reasonable turnaround for BB bearing replacement and a bolt, I would have thought 3-4 days an acceptable time frame.

unfortunately most shops don't just drop everything to sort our bikes out if they have a problem, they have other customers who already have services/repairs booked, i have a wheel dishing issue booked in to my lbs to be sorted, as much as i would have liked them to do it instantly, the first available slot they had was on the 16th of october, sometimes you just have to wait

Chunkers1980

A wheel dish issue is simple to sort. Start at valve, undo each spoke on the side it is too far over on exactly half a turn each, then the other side half a turn tighter. If still not there repeat or start in quarter turns.

chez_m356

Chunkers1980 wrote:

A wheel dish issue is simple to sort. Start at valve, undo each spoke on the side it is too far over on exactly half a turn each, then the other side half a turn tighter. If still not there repeat or start in quarter turns.

i know the basics, but would rather it done professionally, plus its being done free of charge, so can't complain about them being busy/booked up till then

waby1234

Roostoids wrote:

Halfords can be good or can be bad, like many places. I ordered a bike through them, but had it built elsewhere, it only cost a few quid and it gave me the peace of mind to ride the bike hard knowing it would be assembled correctly and stand up to any punishment dealt.

I wouldn't have a bike serviced or built at Halfords unless the staff you're speaking to appear to be riders themselves, because they'll probably actually care about the bike. I know of a few staff at Halfords near me who do great jobs with bikes because they ride and enjoy bikes themselves. Other stores only have staff who need a job, they obviously don't care about the quality of the work, nor know what's important.

Revelation forks are awesome, light and stiff and a small step up from the Reba which is also great. The Monarch shock is also good, perhaps not the standard of the massively more expensive FOX shocks out there, but still excellent.

You had it assembled elsewhere "knowing" it was assembled correctly? How did you know? Without having built the bike up yourself? I would personally always check a bike build over regardless of who built it, Halfords or otherwise.

I also think your comment about staff who only want a job not caring about quality is pretty offensive to many people...

apreading

11 days would be a good turnaround time for my LBS...!

daveyboy2012

I think my expectations where set way to high by the sound of it. Why does it take so long, is there a long wait in getting spares?
I'm an engineer for Dell & we generally get peoples gear up and running the next business day, so I was expecting a similar service with my bike.

cooldad

Yeah but you just turn it off and turn it on again.

chez_m356

daveyboy2012 wrote:

I think my expectations where set way to high by the sound of it. Why does it take so long, is there a long wait in getting spares?

it may depend when they get deliveries or if the supplier has the part, and like i said earlier, most cycle workshops are on the go all the time, they have other repairs/servicing that are already booked in to do before yours