My new ride - Boardman Team FS
Kowalski675
Posts: 4,412
Couple of quick snaps of my new toy - Boardman Team FS, size medium, bought for £849.99 (has to be worth a punt for that price, I reckon):
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Just been looking at one of these in my local Halfords, how did you get it for that price store price is £999?
Let me know how you get on as I am tempted to get one to enter the world of full suspension.0 -
They had them at £849.99 as the website price - i reserved it online and collected from the shop. I registered with Quidco just before, so should get £25 cashback too. If you want one you'll need to be quick - there's very few left. I haven't ridden it yet, but have ridden a mate's Team FS for a few miles on gentle trails, and the bike gets good reviews:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/categ ... s-12-358290 -
Good buy that mate.
loving your method for keeping the grips and saddle virgin white.....orange five 260
Niner MCR sold
Cotic Soul duck egg blue sold and regretted
Canyon nerve xc custom sold
Orange G2 sold0 -
@lexD wrote:Good buy that mate.
loving your method for keeping the grips and saddle virgin white.....
Lol. that's just how it came from the shop - they left the bags on to stop the silly white grips and saddle getting dirty during the build. Saddle and grips are coming off before I ride it - replacing them with less gash ones and I'll keep the white ones in their bags and put them back on if/when I sell the bike in future. Will be swapping the tyres (too plastic), inner tubes (too presta), bars (too narrow), seatpost clamp (too not QR), pedals (too cheap and slippy) and possibly stem too before playing out. Obviously the reflectors and bell will be coming off too, lol.0 -
Looks ok. Dont read this months MBR review of it though!0
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rapid_donkey wrote:Looks ok. Dont read this months MBR review of it though!
I've read it, but it didn't stop me buying it. You have to take any magazine reviews with a pinch of salt (in any field, not just MTBs), but reading that test it was like they weren't even testing the same bike that's received such great reviews from press and owners numerous times, earning accolades like "all conquering budget hero", "rides well by any standards, let alone entry level full suspension ones" or "the best suspension bike you can buy for £1050 by a trail centre or cross country mile". It seemed to me to be something of a case of spoiled journos expecting a cheap bike to ride like the £3000 ones they get given free as long term test bikes.
To be fair, some of their complaints were down to the build, rather than the bike. My bike was built with the same incorrectly routed front brake hose theirs was, and I don't trust Halfords builds (a quick glance tells me the calipers aren't centred properly on my discs, for starters), so I'll be checking everything over before taking her out for her maiden voyage off road (MBR's test bike suffered from loose main pivot bolts, which is pretty shoddy, not to mention a safety issue). I think MBR's verdict was partly soured by the poor build on their bike, but even notwithstanding that they didn't seem to be describing the same bike that's been so well received in other tests. I've never read any other reviews slating the frame for being flexy - reading the MBR review you'd think the rear triangle was made from playdough, and they seem to be saying that the bike's not fit for anything more hardcore than riding canal towpaths. They give the Trance X3 a glowing review and admittedly that has the same excellent frame as the more expensive Trances, but it's spec list is poor, especially the front fork (an XC32 coil fork on a £1200 bike? - pretty p**s poor).
Of course it's not going to match the £3000 Treks I've ridden recently, but I can't see how I'd get a more capable trail bike for £850.0 -
DanDax1990 wrote:
Indeed, or the previous year:
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... m-11-44849
Or the favourable review in this year's trail bike of the year test: "less than half the price of many in our top 10, but runs most of them surprisingly close for performance" ... "sorted geometry, usefully controlled 130mm Rockshox suspension plus decent stiffness-to-weight keep it playful and poised"..."SRAM, FSA, Mavic (XM319 rims on an £850 bike? - the £1900 Zesty 214 has Mach rims no better than the Formulas on my £220 Carrera Kraken) and own brand kit is outstanding for the price" etc, etc.
It may not be the trickest, flashest bike out there, with a glamorous name on the downtube, but I'm pretty sure it'll be more than capable of handling anything I can throw at it for considerable time to come, and a decent rider could go a lot harder and faster on this bike than I could on the £3000 Treks.0 -
Set one of these up for a mate the other week.... He bought it on the cycle to work scheme!
It's a very lively and flickable bike! Pedals are Nasty and the bars are too narrow, but that's a given on a cheap bike now days as people often replace them for their preferred type straight away anyway!
Great little bike! Finish on the frame is really nice! Though I'm not convinced about a post mount rear brake...0 -
If your not bothered about magazine reviews, you seem to quote quite a few accolades ha.
There is no denying that at £850 its a bargain. And with quidco cashback, thats a steal.
I only personally know 1 person with a Boardman, unfortunately he had a mechanical failure while on a 3 day biking exped in Italy and had to stop on day 2.
Why are you changing inner tubes from presta to schraeder? Is the hole in the rim actually big enough? Generally the smaller the hole, the stronger the rim around it is, hence presta valves.
The main thing is you are happy with the bike. And if you are going to go over every nut, bolt and bearing then there shouldnt be any room for failures.0 -
None of those bits having been touched by Halfords or meant to have been touched by them (they arn't on the PDI), Boardman's are built by Merida, so at least blame the right cuplrit (Merida).Kowalski675 wrote:I don't trust Halfords builds (a quick glance tells me the calipers aren't centred properly on my discs, for starters), so I'll be checking everything over before taking her out for her maiden voyage off road (MBR's test bike suffered from loose main pivot bolts, which is pretty shoddy, not to mention a safety issue).Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0 -
*AJ* wrote:Set one of these up for a mate the other week.... He bought it on the cycle to work scheme!
It's a very lively and flickable bike! Pedals are Nasty and the bars are too narrow, but that's a given on a cheap bike now days as people often replace them for their preferred type straight away anyway!
Great little bike! Finish on the frame is really nice! Though I'm not convinced about a post mount rear brake...
The pedals are indeed nasty. I'm swapping over the new Wellgo B54s from my Kraken (only used them once) and refitting the Kraken's original Wellgos for now (which seem sturdier and smoother spinning than the OE Wellgos on the Boardman). When Superstar have Nanos back in stock I'll probably get a pair of those (not sure which bike they'll go onto though). The bars are too narrow (they're 680mm, but feel narrower for some reason) - when you reach for the bars in the position your hands naturally want to sit at, your hands are half on the grips and half in fresh air. I'm ordering some 750mm bars today (Superstar grips ordered last night in green & black). Might try a 70mm stem too.0 -
rapid_donkey wrote:If your not bothered about magazine reviews, you seem to quote quite a few accolades ha.
There is no denying that at £850 its a bargain. And with quidco cashback, thats a steal.
The point being that you have to apply some common sense to what you read, rather than just swallowing it unquestioned. I own a Triumph Street Triple R, which has received unanimous praise from the bike press since the model's launch in 2007, with every test and review showering it with unadulterated praise, and decimating the opposition in every group test - if one magazine published a review now that said it was crap, and only good for nipping down to the shops on, then I'd be equally sceptical about that too.I only personally know 1 person with a Boardman, unfortunately he had a mechanical failure while on a 3 day biking exped in Italy and had to stop on day 2.
I only know one person who has one too, but he's never had any problems with his. What was the failure? If it was component or build related then you can't blame the bike for that, and mechanical failures and breakages happen with any make of bike - how many Lapierre Zesty owners have broken frames (for example)?Why are you changing inner tubes from presta to schraeder? Is the hole in the rim actually big enough? Generally the smaller the hole, the stronger the rim around it is, hence presta valves.
Because schrader valves are more convenient, and all my pressure gauges and footpump are schrader fitment only. The rims are Mavic XM319s, the valve hole is 8.5mm, fitted with an adapter for the narrower prestas.0 -
The Beginner wrote:
None of those bits having been touched by Halfords or meant to have been touched by them (they arn't on the PDI), Boardman's are built by Merida, so at least blame the right cuplrit (Merida).Kowalski675 wrote:I don't trust Halfords builds (a quick glance tells me the calipers aren't centred properly on my discs, for starters), so I'll be checking everything over before taking her out for her maiden voyage off road (MBR's test bike suffered from loose main pivot bolts, which is pretty shoddy, not to mention a safety issue).
Nope, you're wrong there - all those items are listed on the PDI sheet.0 -
My friend was riding in Sanarno in Italy when the pivot went on his team fs on the second day which ended his exped. He has a Trek Fuel EX8 now.0
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rapid_donkey wrote:My friend was riding in Sanarno in Italy when the pivot went on his team fs on the second day which ended his exped. He has a Trek Fuel EX8 now.
Without substantially more detail than "the pivot went", we can't draw any conclusion from that. It could (for the sake of argument) be down to lack of maintenance, or him not checking his bike over properly before embarking on his foreign jaunt. If it wasn't, and was a failure in materials/manufacturing then that can happen to any make of bike (some more than others - e.g. the apparent plethora of broken Lapierre frames already mentioned). As is always the case, one person who has a problem will shout it from the rooftops, whereas a thousand who are entirely happy with their purchase don't say anything.
I rode a Fuel EX8, and very nice it was too, but that's a £2300 bike. It would be unreasonable to expect an £850 bike to match a £2300 bike, but (by all accounts apart from this months MBR review) the Boardman runs bikes of that price a lot closer than it has any right to, given it's budget price.0 -
He's an air force aircraft technician, so think he knows what hes doing or could have done a trailside fix if possible.
I have seen quite a few threads with quality issues surrounding Boardmans, but as you say, many other bikes suffer the same problems. However, if I bought a Lapierre and had a frame crack, I would have more faith in it getting sorted quickly and efficiently than if I had a boardman and had to return it to Halfords.
Im not knocking the bike at all. It really is great spec for the money. If you go out and ride it, chuck it about all over the place and never suffer a problem, then happy days. Have you been out on it yet? How come you tested so many bikes and went for the boardman, out of interest?0 -
You'd hope that aircraft technicians would know what they're doing, but what about that commercial airliner in the news recently that had to make an emergency landing because the technicians had forgotten to fasten the engine casings?...rapid_donkey wrote:However, if I bought a Lapierre and had a frame crack, I would have more faith in it getting sorted quickly and efficiently than if I had a boardman and had to return it to Halfords.
Not sure that I would, given the tales I've heard of how Hotlines have been reluctant to honour warranty claims (maybe they employ the same couple of w*****s that Triumph do...Im not knocking the bike at all. It really is great spec for the money. If you go out and ride it, chuck it about all over the place and never suffer a problem, then happy days. Have you been out on it yet? How come you tested so many bikes and went for the boardman, out of interest?
Not been out on it yet (hopefully this weekend, if I get the parts together in time and get it all trail ready). In a nutshell, I bought it becaue it was cheap, and seemed like too good a deal to turn down. My budget had been creeping up from the original £1200 level until I was contemplating bikes around two grand or so (and I came very close to pulling the trigger on the 2012 Trance X2 for £1400 at Paul's Cycles), but then I glance at Halfords website and they had the £849.99 price offer on for a few days. I had a ride on my mate's Team FS (just a few miles on gentle trails) to get a feel for it, and After much head scratching my head won (for once) and I thought sod it, buy the Boardman.
It's not the flashiest, trickest thing out there, but it's a lot of well specced bike for the money and (while I had enough in the bank to actually do it) I figured that spending 2 grand on a bike while not working (got made redundant a few months ago) would not be the most sensible course of action. In a very rare attack of common sense I figured that I could buy the Boardman, rode it for a year and see how things went before rethinking next spring/summer. I'm only a newbie rider, so figured that I'll still be the weakest link on the bike, and it will be more than capable of handling anything I can do with it for the forseeable future. If I find I'm using it lots and still really enjoying riding in a year's time then if I want to upgrade (or go 29er) I'll be able to sell it and not lose too much money (especially with the box fresh original bars, saddle, pedals, grips etc to put back on), or if I get bored of the whole thing and aren't using it much by then, I've only got £850 sat doing nothing, rather than £2500 (it's currently hanging over about nine grand of Triumph that's not been ridden since the end of last summer, and another five grand of half built Triumph that's not turned a wheel in nearly ten years - I've got enough dead money in my garage already), plus it gives me a year to see how the whole 650B thing plays out.
So, to cut a long story short, it just seemed like the most sensible option for now.0 -
Is it not a bit unfair to lable all lapierres with having a cracking issue? Not heard many issues with my model the xcontrol0
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Russyh wrote:Is it not a bit unfair to lable all lapierres with having a cracking issue? Not heard many issues with my model the xcontrol
I'm not saying they all do, but there's too many cases for it to be dismissed as isolated one offs, and it shows that paying a lot more money doesn't necessarily mean that you'll get a bike that won't break.0 -
Hi mate the only review that counts is yours, I have had my Boardman Pro two years now and only changed the BB bearings once and pads once in that time, great bikes great spec never had an issue with mine and ride it regular at Swinley , Chiltern hills ect
The spec on mine is still better than a lot of new bikes now which are a rip off, you are just paying for a name.
Ride it ,enjoy it0 -
Cheers. Looking at bike specs in general they've definitely been on a downward trend over the last few years, as prices spiral to silly levels. Sign of the times I guess, unfortunately. Hoping to get out on it for the first time this weekend, as long as I get the parts together and have it ready in time. Funky green superstar grips (avec black anodised lockrings and end caps) arrived today. Should've had tyres today, but they hadn't realised they were out of stock, so they've had to order them from Bontrager - hopefully have those tomorrow now. Need to order bars and inner tubes tonight -should've done it a couple of days ago to guarantee getting them in time - just need to decide whether it's going to be the 750mm Funns or the 740mm Spanks. QR seatpost clamp's not arrived yet, but hopefully will before the weekend.0
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OP - congrats on your new bike
fortunately I benefited from getting one for 849.99 a couple of weeks ago as well. Unfortunately though it was my second one in 5 weeks due to horst link bearing failure on the first one which damaged the frame quite badly. That said, the first one cost 939.99 so I've come out on top.
Couple of points that I've discovered - crank arm likes to work loose. Recommend taking it off and applying a proper dab of blue loctite to the arm bolts and end pre load bolt and torquing up correctly.
The main pivot bolt came lose on my first one, but again after a bit of loctite and correct torque it was ok.
I also had fun trying to find someone at halfords to give me an answer for swing arm torque settings. Eventually managed to speak to someone with a brain and sorted it. If you wanted to know it's 6-8Nm. Ive been testing the pivot points with a 5Nm wrench a couple of times a week and all seems well thus far.
I think the MBR review was a bit harsh myself as well. I'm fairly sure that it's good practice to have a quick check and make sure nothing is loose before a ride. That said, the main pivot coming lose does seem to be more common than you'd expect. Shame it tainted the review.
oh and great choice regarding the grips - I've the same on mine!0 -
Thanks for the info. Is that 6-8Nm torque figure for all the pivot bolts?0
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Apparently so yes, but only the frame, not the shock.
I'm sticking to 6Nm myself.
I did speak to a "knowledgeable" young chap at customer servies who rather rudely tried to tell me that unless a torque figure is printed on a bolt the fixing is deemed non safety critical and its fine to tighten as much you like! Silly people like that give halfords a bad name.0 -
What a plonker, lol. Wonder how many threads he's stripped. I'm more used to torque figures around 90Nm for suspension pivot bolts, I think that might be a tad excessive for a bicycle though...0
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Ha, yeah might have a slightly squishy frame.
Some of our suspension points go up to nearly 500Nm at work - but then they are trains!
Happy to report I've just ridden home over the south downs and had an awesome blast on the Boardman. More of the same tomorrow!
Oh and nothing came loose either!0 -
500Nm - othewise known as "seriously f*****g tight, plus half a turn", lol. My biggest torque wrench only goes up to 220Nm, highest torque setting I've needed at home is 146Nm (with a 46mm socket) - rear wheel nut on Triumph single sided swingarms.
Glad to hear things have failed to fall off your bike again, hopefully mine will behave that way too, lol. Hoping to have her maiden voyage on Sunday - QR seatpost clamp, Cycra crud catcher and tyres arrived today (bargain priced Bontager XR3 Team Issue 2.2s). Bars (740mm Spank Spoons, stem (70mm Raceface), 20mm black anodised FSA headset spacer, two Schwalbe Schrader inner tubes and new knee pads should all be arriving from Chain reaction tomorrow. Just ordered some paint protection helicopter tape too.0 -
Ahhh man you know its so hard to resist buying some upgrades. I've promised my wife I won't with this bike though. All I've managed is some green superstar grips and similar headset spacers. Any more than that and my balls may be chewed.0
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johnsav wrote:Ahhh man you know its so hard to resist buying some upgrades. I've promised my wife I won't with this bike though. All I've managed is some green superstar grips and similar headset spacers. Any more than that and my balls may be chewed.
Yeah, I like to tinker, lol. I've bought green superstar grips too, and a black saddle (gonna keep the horrible white ones bagged up and clean, I'll put the original parts back on if/when I come to sell it in future, so it looks as new and shiny as possible for potential buyers. The OE 680mm bars just felt too narrow - when I put my hands on the bars where they feel they naturally want to sit they're only half on the bars, so wider ones were a must have, and the 740 Spanks should be perfect, for a nice price (reduced to £25). The stem wasn't a necessity at £24.49, more of a "sod it, in for a penny.." purchase, the 20mm spacer was only £3 and will neaten up the headset nicely (purely a cosmetic purchase). The OE pedals are awful, but I'm saving money there by robbing the new grippy B54s from my Carerra. Changing the tyres seemed sensible - by all accounts the OE Contis are terrible in damp or wet conditions, so it made sense to remove them unused and either sell them for a few quid or keep them to put back on with the other unused OE parts for a future sale. I got a good deal - pair of Bontrager XR3 Team Issues (which are a good grippy, but fast rolling all rounder, that I've sampled on demo bikes), reduced from £35 to £20 each (I should be able to get £20 for the Contis, I reckon). No more spending now - I've been a naughty boy, so need to be good for some time now. I don't have a wife though, lol.0
