2010 Boardman Team Carbon as first road bike

copek

Hi all, first post here so go easy on me. I've been offered a 2010 Boardman Team Carbon with 300 miles on it for £400 ... It's the one with SRAM Rival, Ritchey wheels and bits.

Sounds like a no brainer to me, but would this make a good first road bike? Are the early Boardmans to be avoided or are they sound?

The reason i ask is, I'd been eying up a more recent model as the reviews say it's a relatively comfortable 'sportive' style riding position and I have back issues. The review of the model I've been offered mentions it's racy riding position however

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/s ... =firefox-a

Any thoughts much appreciated!

Bar Shaker

What a quandary!

At that price it is a steal. They change hands on eBay for much more than that. I sold my 2010, with Kysirium Eliite wheels, for £1000 last year. The owner had been looking for a while and was very happy at this price. The bike had a few thousand miles but was mint condition and I threw in a full frame strip service.

On the other hand, they are quite a racy geometry and may not suit someone with limited back flexibility. You could have a bike fit and probably sort out a comfortable position though.

At £400 you could buy it and easily sell for no loss or even a profit, if it didn't fit. I would buy it.

Mine was my first road bike.

copek

Cheers, yeah that's kind of what I was thinking. Thanks for pushing me over the edge ...!

sloppyschleckonds

Is it stolen?

copek

Fair question ... Going to meet the guy and sound it out.

Kimble

def buy. very high quality kit all round. try to memorise the spec so that when viewing it if you see anything not standard you can ask the seller about the kit fitted if he knows nothing about the non standard kit then it's most likely stolen... (is more reliable than trusting the sites like bikechecker which don't have frame no. for all stolen bikes).

then again one mightn't mind buying a stolen bike ...

re fit, you can change stem (and saddle) to suit the fit that works best for you to get a less racy position. I have several Boardmans and am a big fan (what's not to love about a bit of value for money and good kit. plus with new Boardmans you can keep breaking them, handing them across the counter to Halfords and they keep fixing them. a regular bike shop would laugh you out of the place...

sloppyschleckonds

Kimble wrote:

plus with new Boardmans you can keep breaking them, handing them across the counter to Halfords and they keep fixing them.

Sounds like a great endorsement….

Bar Shaker

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Kimble wrote:

plus with new Boardmans you can keep breaking them, handing them across the counter to Halfords and they keep fixing them.

Sounds like a great endorsement….

I agree!!

I have owned several Boardmans and have never had a single thing go wrong with any of them. How are you breaking them???

copek

Thanks all. Good advice ... can't get over to see it until Sunday now so may miss out on it. We shall see!

hoojammyflip

I was looking at a Cannondale 613 recently, my frame size, bloke living nearby. He was asking GBP 650 for it, it had full Ultegra and an awesome frame. ie, it was a good deal if it was legit.

I asked specifically whether he had the receipt, and he asked me to call him (this was on ebay, so messages are recorded). He said he had only bought the bike recently. I asked whether he knew the person who he had bought the bike from and how long they had owned it...he didn't know and he didn't have the receipt. As far as I was concerned, that means he could not guarantee the bike has not been nicked.

If the frame number is down as being stolen, you stand to have it taken away from you by the police.

So anyway, at GBP 650 I bought the bike and sold it on for a grand. Only kidding. I just walked away.

Kimble

bit late in replying but anyway..

the 2010 Boardman FS Pro had a problem with it's frame just behind the BB on the driveside chainstay. first broke outright, the replacement was showing cracks after a short while so now on frame no. 3 which has lasted well (so far). Apparently a common(ish) problem for that model, and I'm about 95kg and like to get the bike airborne (not always landing on the wheels), um... am a bit of a hucker so some damage to be expected..

other problems: as a newbie to MTB'ing I shredded the sidewalls of my mountain kings on a rocky / very root strewn trail one frosty morning while running them stupid low pressure for grip (hangs my head in shame). Local Halfords replaced them while looking slightly suspiciously at me...

Rock shocks monarch 4.3 leaking air. well after 1 (poss 2) years ownership and much much use, Halfords Mgr was sound and (acknowledging their slow turnaround time) said to drop it in after doing the South downs way and he'll get it rebuilt (by rock shox specialists, can't remember their names but seemed happy for them to do the fettling). job done FOC under warranty (long after warranty should have expired).

Shimano BB replaced FOC early in ownership. maybe it should have been lubed better etc but I think they're sealed units?

I Sheared main pivot bolt towards epic morn of riding( sheared by the crank just after going down massive set of steps), replaced FOC, maybe I should have been checking these things routinely ...

there were other niggles with my CX team (e.g. SRAM Apex jockey wheel bearing meltdown) but these were the main ones sorted without problem.

anyway the point is that a LBS (or evans etc) would very possibly tell you where to go but Halfords have been pretty good to get problems sorted when others wouldn't. Caveat's:
there is no such thing as a quick visit to Halfords
and you don't always get amazing customer service (but that can be the case with almost any shop)