Pinnacle Arcose 3 / Boardman CX Team?

rpaul

Hiya,
I'm looking for a CX to use for touring and long-ish commutes (150+ miles a week) - generally about 7-8 thousand miles a year is what I do at the moment. So, alu frame, mudguard and pannier mounts, and disc brakes. Generally, I'm not fussed about the rest, although I'd me aiming at Tiagra or higher mostly because I know I will want to upgrade it anyway, so I might as well save the hassle.
Budget - up to £1000. No particular reason, it's more of a psychological threshold.
I did some digging, and it looks like Arcose Three and CX Comp are the best value options: 105 and Apex respectively, and the rest it comparable. Arcoses are discounted at the moment, so the price is the same.

What bothers me is that they are both, ahem, own brands - correspondingly, Evans and, since very recently, Halfords, although given that the cheaper Boardmans were exclusively sold through Halfords anyway, it's been an own brand, de facto, for a while.
'Back in ye olde days', fifteen years ago or so, when I was a member of a cycling club, owning an own brand bike was generally seen as a lame idea. A bit like buying one from Tesco. Am I being old-fashioned here, is it now cosher to do that? In an ideal world buying from a major cycling retailer would hint at a possibility that they actually know what they're doing... That's what Evans claim, anyway.
To buy a Specialized of the same spec or something like a Kona, would cost about £200-£300 more. And I actually like the looks of Boardmans, so would probably buy one.

So what's the general feeling? The reviews of both Pinnacles and Boardmans are rather favourable. But I'm too insecure to ride around on a bike that has 'Every Little Helps" etched on the frame

redvee

I looked at the two same bikes but discounted the CX Team as there are no mudguard mounts on the forks. I also had to discount the Arkose 3 as I couldn't get it on C2W. Now waiting delivery and set up of a Merida Cyclo Cross 4.

rpaul

Cool, thanks. Didn't realise there were no mounts at the front - is it the current model? I seem to remember something about the older one that there that problem... Bizarre, though - it you've got mounts at the rear, why not at the front? I always thought it was either/or.
Merida is an option, but it's a hundred quid more expensive. I'll add it to the list.

Do you know if there are front mudguards that don't require eyelets? The MTB ones I'm using are fixed to an anchor you put in the steerer.

Thanks

redvee

Some people have suggested using these on the forks to compensate for the lack of eyelets

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stor ... yId_273925

SKS Race blades might work but I want full, proper mudguards on my bike.

rpaul

Found an old answer by Halfords' tech team: "For the front mudguard, there is a threaded hole in the rear of the fork crown (which may be concealed behind a sticker) and the wire stays may have to be slightly bent to clear the mechanical disc brake mechanism." The answer is rather old (a couple of years), so it might be out of date. I was trying to squint this way and that way at CX Team's pictures last night trying to see the eyelets, but try as I might, I couldn't
Yeah, well, sounds like a 'no' for the Boardman. The absence of mudguard mounts is certainly a deal breaker, and I wouldn't like to put cable tie-style ones on a carbon fork, either. I will pop in to Halfords to see for myself just out of a stupid hope for a miracle, but it sounds like a Merida for me, too.

If you don't mind me asking, where did you order it from and for how much? Seems to go for £999 at three or four places on the web. We used to have a small independent Merida dealer in Lancaster, but they went out of business after Xmas.

marcusww

If you look at the Boardman thread on he commuting section there is loads of advice regarding the front mudguard mounts. I bought a Boardman cx team recently and was a bit skeptical about the name / halfords etc but so many people race them and I think the feeling is turning around slightly especially on the Boardman CX bikes. I did look at other makes but for the money the Boardman was the best - especially getting 20% off. - I paid £730 for a £900 bike. 10% BC membership and online discounted vouchers.

rpaul

Yep, thanks for that Marcus. Took a look; it might be feasible after all. Can you remember which vouchers you've used?

Thanks.

earth

I'm not impressed with the Boardman CX anymore. I don't use it for CX just as a broadly capable commuter. But I cannot see how people could use this for CX. It would fall apart after a few outings.

The frame seems good and the SRAM Apex groupset is good but the front derailleur, brakes and bottom bracket are junk.

mattrixdesign2

What about a PlanetX Kaffenback?

rpaul

Oh... Tried buying the CX Team from Halfords Lancaster tonight and walked into the cracked paint issue. See CX Team Owners' thread for more detail - I am not sure if Halfords were quite honest about the issue. Won't bother with Boardman and/or Halfords; both, from tonight's experience, suck big time.

mattrixdesign2 - thanks for the suggestion, but it's a steel frame, isn't it? I want aluminium.

djp66

What about a Rose Pro DX Cross? - http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/bike/rose-pro-dx-cross-2000-2014/aid:692275

Alloy with 105 for a smidge over the thousand pound mark? Lots of cost and zero-cost config options too.

I'm looking to get a CX bike for longer days/winter use and will almost certainly go for a Rose in a couple of months time.

mattrixdesign2

RPaul wrote:

mattrixdesign2 - thanks for the suggestion, but it's a steel frame, isn't it? I want aluminium.

Yes it is, but would be fit for purpose and cheap - use the rest of the budget to tweak parts on the website, just a thought really.

I am currently using a Spesh Tricross (2009), nice bike, really well planted, comfortable, resonably light weight etc. The more modern disc versions may be an option, but getting a spec similar to the Pinnacle/Boardman for the same price could be difficult!

oldbazza

mattrixdesign2 wrote:

The more modern disc versions may be an option, but getting a spec similar to the Pinnacle/Boardman for the same price could be difficult!

This^

I am currently building up a reduced Planet X xls frameset up (bought from Planet X on eghey) and even using some second-hand parts and bits I had lying about it's not going to come in much cheaper than if I'd got the complete bike;part of me wishes I'd gone for something like the Pinnacle

rpaul

Ended up ordering a Raleigh RX Comp Cross Apex from Wiggle. List price £1200, goes for £1175 in most places, Wiggle sell them for £900 at the mo, i.e., the same as Boardman's list price. The spec - full Apex and BB7 brakes; a bit better than Boardman and seemingly ticks all boxes, so we'll see. Ordered it yesterday, all eager anticipation, hoping it might arrive by the weekend

djp66

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it once you've broken it in :-)

overlord2

I have a Pinnacle CX bike as an insurance replacement.

To be fair they are pretty good as a commuter taking fat tyres and guards. I would have thought the Boardman would be hard pushed to beat it.

Its a commuting bike who gives a toss what people think of the brand. Sound like the types who feel the need to race on a commute. Honestly **** off. (not the poster )

rpaul

djp66 wrote:

I'd be interested to hear what you think of it once you've broken it in :-)

Oh. Don't tell me they all fall apart within a month or something
But hey, 5 years frame warranty and 12 months for components, I think it just about covers it. My insurers write off 25% of the bike's initial value a year, so it'll be worth a song by the end of the warranty period anyway.

I don't know much about that type of bikes, to be honest - I've been riding a completely inappropriate MTB (a Kona hardtail mostly on XT, and smilar ones before that), which, given that I don't do parks and cover 6-7k miles a year on tarmac on commutes and touring, begged the question whether I should finally grow up and buy an adult bike suitable for what I really do
So how much in my impression will be from riding a CX for the first time and how much from the bike itself, who knows. But I'll post here once there's something to say.

Overlord2 wrote:

I have a Pinnacle CX bike as an insurance replacement.

To be fair they are pretty good as a commuter taking fat tyres and guards. I would have thought the Boardman would be hard pushed to beat it.

Its a commuting bike who gives a toss what people think of the brand. Sound like the types who feel the need to race on a commute. Honestly **** off. (not the poster )

Well, my commute is rural, 20 miles with 500m up and down; it's my gym and my cycle training, so I do try to push a bit, for all the good reasons. There's nobody to race apart from pheasants and farmers on Landrovers, and we all know racing them ends in tears. Especially the rabbits; vicious things.
What I'm saying is that I wouldn't mind moving beyond a wicker basket, sparkly tassels and Peppa Pig decals
In principle, an Apollo or a Trax would take me to work, too, but it might take, ahem, a while.

djp66

No, I didn't mean anything like that at all. I'm just trying to make a similar choice and hadn't considered the Raleigh so I'm just interested if what you think.

rpaul

I'll give you a shout. To be honest, were it not for the discount at Wiggle, I probably wouldn't consider it either - it would be significantly beyond my 1k budget. But for £900, probably the best value at the moment, I don't know.