Boardman Bikes & Halfords

TomHut
TomHut Posts: 19
edited July 2012 in Commuting general
Can i have some opinion on the Boardman bike below please? Value for money? Gears? Frame? tyres etc

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... zone=PDPz1

And Halfords.. havent had much dealings with them in the past.. any good/bad experiences..?

Thanks

Comments

  • father_jack
    father_jack Posts: 3,509
    Good bikes but I'd get them to leave it in the box and build up yourself.
    Say... That's a nice bike..
    Trax T700 with Lew Racing Pro VT-1 ;-)
  • cookeeemonster
    cookeeemonster Posts: 1,991
    edited July 2012
    just use the search facility on the forum and type in halford/halfrauds - you'll get plenty of threads come up!!

    yeah, great bikes judging by the reviews but halfords service is very inconsistent - it not only varies from store to store but also on the day you go to each store as they don't always have a mechanic or trained staff member in who knows what the hell they are doing. They have a habit of employing minimum wage 16 year olds with little interest/training and sticking them in the bikehut section...but it depends - some of the staff are pretty good.

    My brother had a load of trouble with his boardman hybrid, took it back multiple times for various problems and to be fair, they replaced parts with not too much hassle and eventually got it in a rideable state (he phoned and wrote to the head office to complain to move things along though).

    so...it's a bit of a lottery to be honest but the boardmans are very good bikes and are in the sale at the moment so...up to you!!
  • dee4life2005
    dee4life2005 Posts: 773
    I've got one of these ... done nearly 1900 miles on it in the last 3.5 months, with some longer 70 mile rides.

    I asked for mine to be built by them, and didn't have a problem - other than having to tighten a few bolts and tweak the brakes slightly. I would check the tyre pressures before you ride it though, they didn't put enough air in mine and I got a pinch flat within about 2 miles on my first ride (my fault for not checking though).

    The bike comes with a good range of gears, mine had a 50/34T on the front and 11/26T on the back ... which should get you up all but the steepest of hills with relative ease. The gears are nice and quick to respond as well.

    The disc brakes are brilliant at stopping, especially in the wet but may take a ride or two before you get properly used to the extra stopping power.

    I started out riding at averages of 12-13mph with this bike - hadn't ridden for 15 years - and now 3 months later I'm dissapointed if I'm not over 16mph. It's a pretty quick bike for a hybrid, probably helped by it's 700x28c road style tyres.

    With it being a flat bar, I tended to get sore hands (or numb finger) after 20 miles, but I fitted bar ends and this helps as it gives you an extra hand position - and is helpful for going up steep hills.
    http://app.strava.com/athletes/307297
  • davegore2005
    davegore2005 Posts: 87
    I got one of those on the cycle to work scheme for my commute to work...built up by one halfords store, but serviced by different others as the knowledge and ability of the staff differs wildly from store to store
    No issues at all apart from minor issues with the disc brakes being poorly adjusted, but I will agree with one of the previous posters that I too do tend to get quite sore hands after a longer ride on the bike
    The bike is quite quick and the gear range is ok for my commute, but I do find that if I go to hilly areas then the bike is not really set up for the terrain...but it's a hybrid, probably designed more for commuting than anything else
    Dave

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