Upgrade Boardman Comp to Pro?

ElliesDad

I've had my Boardman Comp HT for 3 months and recently got into trail riding, still learning the ropes on red routes but getting better and more confident every time I ride. The Comp is a great bike and I got it for £584 with the NUS discount but now my employer has announced that they will be offering the Cycle to Work scheme through Halfords in September.

This got me thinking, if I sold the Comp for £400 (seems a fair valuation based on eBay) this would offset the cost of a better bike like the Boardman Pro HT. The Pro would work out at about £47 per month with a buy back option at the end of the 12 months of 25% of the gross bike value which would be £208. This would give a net cost of about £370 which would be spread over a couple of years (first year £47/month and second year buy back cost at £17/month).

The spec of the Comp (current bike) is :

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2

The spec of the Pro is:

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... 65499#tab2

Do you think this would be worth doing and as a beginner would I notice a big difference in the bikes?

Thanks

waby1234

Have you reached the limitations of your Comp? The Pro - It's a better bike for sure but could you not put the money the C2W scheme would cost you into upgrades fur your current steed as and when you feel you need them?

It doesn't look a big enough jump to warrant the depreciation cost on your current bike, especially if you haven't reached its limits.

ElliesDad

I know what you mean, and that is my dilemma :?

I haven't reached the limitations of the bike yet and my intention was to upgrade over time when I need to, but now I have the opportunity to upgrade to better specced components on a new bike for the cost of a decent set of forks.

The other thing is the C2W scheme will only be open by my employer between 3rd and 28th September, so won't get another chance under C2W for quite a while, the last one was June last year!

Coolnick

I'd upgrade as necessary over time. The Comp is a stonking bike and capable of dealing with black route / technical riding and its only 1kg heavier. Wait another year or so and you will know whether its time to move on or not. Looking at some lighter tyres than the Conti Mountain King 2 wire bead stock ones would be a good place to start and you will notice the difference. Something like the Maxxis Ardent. Also, have you changed the stock pedals yet too, they're the same crap ones on both Comp and Pro?

70\ʹspenguin

I think the only things you would really notice is the smoothness of the Reba compared to the epicon and the more powerful brakes. Im not sure how much smoother x9 shifting is compared to x5 but id imagine minimal?

For £370 you could upgrade your forks to rebas from on-one and get some of those nice new shimano SLX from rose or bike-discount.de. However the drive train would remain the same.

£370 for the entire bike seems better value than parts alone, but whether its worth it or not i simply cant say.

ElliesDad

I've already changed the tyres to Panaracer XC Fire Pro's (wire bead though) as the stock MK's were pants in wet weather, the pedals were going to be next.

To be honest I was debating on getting the Team or Pro when I bought the Comp, but as I was a beginner I didnt want to spend too much if I didn't get into mountain biking, so another way to look at it would be even if I had gone with the Pro from the start, this way would still work out cost effective, ie the bike costs £999 but taking into the re-sale value of the Comp overall spend would be £950 because of the bike to work scheme which wasn't available when I bought the bike originally.

waby1234

Yeah financially I would look at it this way;

Comp net cost - £184 (new cost of £584 less resale cost of £400)
Pro cost - £772 (£564 + buy back at £208)

Total cost of your bike expenditure if buying the Pro = £956

Coolnick

Stick with the Comp and enjoy it, with a few upgrades over time it will ride just as well and differences are not that noticeable given extra cost outlay you would have going for the Pro.