Boardman Carbon - Completed

Anonymous

Thanks to a kind forum member I picked up this frame set for a steal, brand new and unused. Found the forks on Ebay, group set from Ribble and wheels from a friend who had 2 pairs. Compared to my winter bike it really does feel sensational and is a joy to ride. I was considering selling it for a while as it wasn't getting used, but went for a lovely 50 miler this morning and it was absolutely perfect.

All it's lacking is the final bar tape, last bit of steerer cut off and blue finishing tape.

Boardman Pro Carbon Frame (2009 or so) (Large, I think), Ebay carbon forks
Groupset: 105 5800 throughout, 50/34, 11-28
Deda Zero100 bars and seat post, PRO stem 100mm, to be swapped to match.
Wheels: Amp Hoops Carbon Clincher 50mm
Tyres: Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX II




Epsom this morning (no filters - came out like that!)

bigmul

Looks superb!

Rick448

That looks just lovely.

Smithster

looks hard as nails that bike. love it.

Matthewfalle

Lovely - really really nice. Top work that man

Anonymous

Bit grubby after yesterday's ride, but have now sawn off the steerer and got rid of the blue tape. Put about 1000 miles on it and I am still VV happy. Cruises along the flat very nicely and flies up hills!

Matthewfalle

Very very cool - good work that man. Have had a soft spot for those B/man frames for ages.

How do you find the wheels? Thinking fast commuting/training with a bit of wet weather use.

Anonymous

Highly recommended. Given the Superstar components thread in buying advice, I would avoid those and take these instead. Braking is great in the wet with the supplied pads (some random blue ones) but they do wear very quickly and I am now using the cheap ones from Planet X which are identical to the Wiggle ones and they seem to be good. Not really tried them in the wet though. You'll need to get your own rim tape for them.

Make a nice noise and are more U/O shaped than V shaped. Easy enough to fit 23mm Vittoria Open Corsas to, with a lever for the final bit over the rim.

Matthewfalle

Smashing - thank you very much.

btiratsoo

Best looking Boardman I've seen. Well done fella. Spot on. I had no idea that 105 looked that good either!

FransJacques

To me Boardman is a bit 'meh' but this one is just amazing.

You did a better-than-textbook job of your cockpit - your 'bar angle and shifter placement is just perfect, exactly how the designers intended them to be used. Too often 'bars are rotated up or the lever mounted way high to compensate for fit issues.

What's the deal with these Amp wheels? Several companies offer that 38-60-88 no-name rim choice...

Anonymous

Thanks for the kind comments.

The wheels were on Sportpursuit a while ago and a friend bought 2 pairs, and these ended up being surplus. I find they are really nice to ride on, spin up well (better than my commuter!) and hold speed easily enough. No trouble with braking or trueness and the company are good at responding to emails.

As it happened, the frame came available from a forum member about the same time that Ribble were the first to drop the groupset to £300 and my friend had also decided that those wheels were always going be spare, so it was meant to be!

I was quite OCD about the bar and shifter placement and seeing as this is probably going to be my best bike for some time, so wanted it to look as near perfect as my ham fists could make it. I'm glad there is a large saddle bar drop, as I think it looks a lot better, and in spite of that it is still amazingly comfy in the drops and hoods, giving a bit of room to move back on the saddle and get a bit longer and lower for sustained efforts.

I am keen to try a few 10TT and maybe 25TTs this year and hoping the legs will do it justice!

MountainMonster

Great to hear everything fell into place to get such a great looking bike! She's a beaut!

Stujh

Great looking bike! I have the Boardman Team Carbon complete bike bought from ebay 4/5 years ago, using the same carbon mould as yours, lovely bike to ride, but going to upgrade the wheels and parts now to give it a more modern look and new lease of life, Shimano 105 5800 group and new pair of wheels. See that the 105 5800 looks great on yours.

Can you tell me what size the band-on front mech is please, I suspect 34.9?

Thanks!

Anonymous

Correct. I have only used 9 speed in the past so the 5800 was a revelation. Just bought some zondas for a great price so will upload more photos when they're installed. Means I have an 11-28 on the zondas and 11-25 on the amps. Also means the departure of the winter bike, but hey ho.

crescent

Very aesthetically pleasing, everything just looks right: setup, proportions, wheels, just a lovely looking bike.

Anonymous

In climbing/winter mode.



Amps now have 12-25 and the Zondas have 11-28 with 25mm Michelin Pro Race.

Swapped the saddle to an Arione as I wasn't getting on with the old one.

ugo.santalucia

Optical effect, I assume, your G3 pattern looks a bit odd...

Anonymous

Probably the angle and my camera phone is broken. On the rear wheel, the 3rd spoke forward of the valve has a slight bend about 1inch from the nipple which probably makes it worse. Will get it sorted this weekend.

Oddly for some reason I am not getting on with the Arione, even though I had one on my old bike for a year without issues.

ugo.santalucia

coriordan wrote:

On the rear wheel, the 3rd spoke forward of the valve has a slight bend about 1inch from the nipple which probably makes it worse. Will get it sorted this weekend.

You should send them back... that is not right

Anonymous

Bought them second hand and only just noticed it. I honestly think it was my fault as it has fallen over a couple of times, and I have a track record of trouble with rear spokes!

ugo.santalucia

... but in real life the NDS spokes sit bang on in the middle of the 2 DS ones, at the same angle, yes? The more I look at that photo, the weirder it appears

Anonymous

I think it's the angle of photo. The front wheel is nearer the camera so the kink is emphasised. I'll take another this eve. The rest of the spokes are spot on

Anonymous

Spoke replaced and hopefully a slightly better angle

TgNewbie

HI
How are you finding the Amp hoops? Am thinking about getting the 50mm clinchers....stil holding up? quality feel ok? Any idea what brakign surface they have? Duraheat or Basalt? Are you running th e powerway hub also?
Sorry for all the q's...
Bike looks superb!

Anonymous

Hey mate,

I got them for £400 as they were on Sportpursuit a year or so ago, and for that price they are probably worth it. Looking at the website now, they seem to be £750 and for that price I would certainly go elsewhere.

They have not caused me any issues and I have ridden them in all weathers. I am not sure what the braking surface is, but it is definitely nothing special. Probably some thick carbon with extra resin. That said, the blue pads which come with the wheels are excellent once the squealing stops (a common theme with new carbon wheels). On VERY steep descents they aren't great at stopping (and I am only about 75 kg) but otherwise they are great. A friend of mine also has the same pair and using swissstop yellows has had them delaminate.

The issues which were found in the online review about spokes popping and going out of true have not been a problem for me whatsoever, they have been fit and forget, save for just tightening the bearings a pinch (2 5mm allen keys required, a dead easy job).

There is a thread here about them:
viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=13032605

personally for the price I would get 50mm clinchers from wheelsmith. A far better rim for the price.

TgNewbie

Thanks for that
Yes, looking at Wheelsmith but also Pro Lite - the 45mm Bracciano Caliente look like fairly decent value. Its tricky knowing what to do in all honesty - after all, its a fairly hefty out lay for a wheelset no matter how you look at it.
As for Amp...there website is down. Only a few days ago they were offering me their 50mm for £450, one third off there current £750.00.....seems like a deal too good to be true..but whose to know?!

Anonymous

At 450 it's worth it just to have a uk company to have recourse to, especially for full carbon clinchers. At 750 id steer well clear! If you want tubs then the p-x c45s are reputedly the best at this price range

Anonymous

If anyone is interested this bike is now for sale (excl wheels) and with PLT finishing kit (virtually unused) instead of the Deda Zero 100 - I have a choice of 90 and 110mm stems (or both)

Looking for £400 for the lot incl. pedals.

mikeyj28

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19723111#p19723111]coriordan[/url] wrote:

If anyone is interested this bike is now for sale (excl wheels) and with PLT finishing kit (virtually unused) instead of the Deda Zero 100 - I have a choice of 90 and 110mm stems (or both)

Looking for £400 for the lot incl. pedals.

I know the bike is now for sale but how do you find the frame?Is it stiff enough?
Does it punch well above its weight too on good group rides?

Anonymous

I'm sure you don't need telling from me, but it really is all about the legs. The bike itself is a lot nicer to ride than my old Aluminium one, as to be expected and with the carbon wheels is certainly no slouch. Went round the Ride London in 4:30 which I was reasonably pleased with except for cramping up a few times.

Given the frame is around 15 years old, you certainly can't tell and I wouldn't say it's that heavy, but I have no scales to measure it. It's been a joy to ride and I'm only selling as I have just bought another bike for an absolute steal so want to see how it rides by comparison