Boardman COMP 650B VS old Kona's

bruce225

Hi

After years of road cycling I've decided to get a another MTB due to the fact that I now go out with my young child.

I've decided to go for one of the Boardman's(C2W Scheme), but my dilema is when I used to ride mtb's in the early 2000's I used to be in a position where I could spend more on bikes, I previously had a Kona Kula 2003 and Kona Explosif 2000 which in the day had higher end components,both I've sold 7/8 years ago.

I'm concerned that I'm not spending enough and keep thinking of upgrading to the Boardman Team or pro which is probably stretching my budget.

Am I worrying too much, have bikes come on in the last 10yrs that will make the Comp fine or will I notice the difference in quality of components.Seen the bike sat on it etc and everything feels fine.

Any comments welcome but please don't suggest other makes of bikes because I will never decide.

Cheers

cooldad

Quite a big difference.
Suspension is much better, brakes in a different league. Wider spread of gears.

I have three Konas, old one (mid 90s) with Cantis makes a lovely commuter, but it's the modern that gets used on the trail. I do sometimes ride an 87 Spesh in the hills, but it's really a bit sh1t once things get steep.

Saying that you can get a hell of a retro for the price of a BSO.

bruce225

The Kula had Hope hydraulic brakes and I could never get on with them, good for braking but constantly rubbing, rattling spent most my time fiddling with them, has that side moved on?

cooldad

As long as you avoid Avids.

I have old hopes on a random bike and they work perfectly though.

bruce225

Great it comes with Avid's!!!!

Long_Time_Lurker

Lots if bikes do.
But you're not going to kill yourself if you use them. I have them on my 29er and the bike hasn't killed me (yet).
I don't think they are anywhere near as good as shimano and they are a pain to maintain, but they work - a lot better than the brakes that you had before.
I certainly wouldn't base my purchasing decision solely on the brakes (although it would be a deciding factor if i had to choose between two similar bikes that rode the same and were the same price).

bob6397

Avids are (mostly) fine - shimano are superior brakes in terms of ease of setting up and feel - but that doesn't mean that the avids don't work. I haven't felt the urgent need to change mine to shimano's (yet). Mine did feel (and work) a lot better after a bleed though - but this could just have been my bike and shouldn't be viewed as a rule. Chances are if the pads are too close to the rotor though that bleeding them properly will sort them out.

In terms of the difference between comp/team/pro it depends what kind of riding you do. If it was me (and it was last year) I would stretch to the Team - the jump to the Rockshox fork is significant enough to make it worth it in my opinion but it depends on what kind of riding you do - if you will use the better fork/brakes/groupset then go up a level - it will be far cheaper than upgrading later - but if you won't use it then what's the point?

The bike will feel quite different to the old Kona's as well - the current trend for wider handlebars, longer top tubes etc will just make it feel different to your old bikes and the way that components have progressed means that performance will either be better or at least the same at this end of the market compared to top end 7-8 years ago.

You are the best judge of which you need/want - if you plan to ride harder trails/off road routes in the future then I would recommend going up to the Team but if you're just looking for a bike to go out with your kid on then the comp should be plenty

bob6397

edit: and if you plan to change the brakes anyway, Deore's are only £39 at the moment and they'll just fit onto your existing rotors: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shim ... prod108802

bruce225

Thanks bob

Your answer is probably what I wanted to hear, will go for the Comp I think then if i'm not getting the full use I won't have wasted extra money and if I do start riding harder and getting back into things I won't mind paying for any upgrades on components. Or hopefully between now and me ordering my C2W voucher there might be a discount promotion on allowing me to get the Team for similar money...

Cheers.