Help me choose between the Cube Peloton and Boardman Comp

ElliesDad

I've been mountain biking for a couple of years now and bought the Boardman FS Team which is a brilliant bike.

To try and keep my fitness up I have been using the MTB on the road quite a lot but obviously the full suspension and knobbly wide tyres sap my energy somewhat, I still want to keep the MTB for trail riding but have been thinking more and more that I need a road bike as well, nothing flash or high end just something a little more suited to using on road.

My budget is up to £700 and I will be getting the bike through the C2W scheme so the two bikes I have narrowed it down to are the Boardman Comp road bike and the Cube Peloton, both are £699 and have a very similar spec but very slight differences.

I am quite a heavy rider (pushing 18 stone at the moment) so wheel strength could be a factor. The Cube has 24/28 spokes and the Boardman 28/32 spokes. Would I be wiser to go for the beefier wheels?

Also, both bikes come with 25c tyres fitted standard. The Boardman looks like it has better tyre clearance at the rear whereas the Cube looks very tight, I may want to go to a 32 tyre (again because of my weight) so I would be more limited by the Cube.

Finally the Cube weighs slightly less (9.1kg opposed to 9.8kg) and comes in both triple and compact gearing. The Boardman comes in compact only. Would I benefit with a triple? I run 2x10 on my MTB and this is great on the trails but being an unfit beginner would there be any benefit in a triple on a road bike. It isn't particularly hilly where I live.

Links to the two bikes:

http://www.cube.eu/uk/bikes/road-race/peloton/peloton/

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_comp.html

Anyones opinion on these two bikes would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Bordersroadie

I had a Cube Peleton. Nice bike, good value. Stiff frame. Poor wheels.

To be honest the alu Boardmans always look beautifully finished and are always great value in terms of price vs spec. The wheels have always been better specce on a Boardman vs Cube of equal price. Are they Aksiums? If so , even better.

iron-clover

I would discount the weight issue between the two bikes- at those weights and price points it's relatively easy to drop weight through better wheels etc, and you probably won't feel much difference between them. Both frames seem to be of pretty much the same quality. However, the Cube has a slightly better spec with the Hollotech cranks and BB, as well as Sora branded brakes.

If you want the massive wheels, then the clearance would be a good thing (although at 32c tyres I'd have been thinking of Touring or Cyclocross bikes!).
If it's not hilly where you live, then you won't need a triple chainset. Even if you aren't that good at climbing for now, you should be able to get your fitness up to handle virtually any hill with a compact without too much difficulty.

Other than that, if you can try and get a test ride of both bikes, and buy the one that fits the best and makes you smile more when you hop aboard.

I would lean towards the Cube, because I believe that it would hold up better in racing- I don't need my road bikes to be any more practical than take mudguards.

Bordersroadie

I meant to say, the weight of the Cube when I got it was advertised as 8.6kg, true weight was 9.1kg without pedals/cages!

ElliesDad

To be honest the weight doesn't bother me that much as being a big lad the incentive is there to lose weight and make things easier anyway!

The wheels on the Boardman are Mavic CXP-22S's. The wheels are my main concern, I've heard a lot of stories of damaged wheels due to heavier riders using wheels that just aren't up to the weight.

I'm on a bit of a steep learning curve at the moment, I've become quite adept at spotting well specced MTB's and what to look for but I'm having to learn it all again with the road side of things!

napoleond

Just do an eeny meeny miny mo like Jeremy clarkson.