Which One Or Possibly Another ?

Jammin34

Hi All,

Just signed up and am hoping your experience and knowledge can help me decide which bike i should go for as its been 15 years since i last used a bike and its a whole new world now !

Not sure if i should admit it but i went into my local Halfords and met a bike fanatic who couldn't stop talking about the Boardman Pro 69er and says for the money (£999.00) it was by far the best bike to buy for my budget, being honest i loved the look of the bike and was very close to snapping it up, luckily the sensible side of me said stop and shop around so i went off and looked in a specialised bike shop and they picked out the following 2.

Whyte 629 2015 Model

Again a very nice looking bike with the same price tag of £999.00 and apparantly loaded with very good parts.

Trek X Calibre 9 2015 Model

Wow only £849.00, i fell in love with this bike straight away, the guy i was speaking with said out of the 3 i have looked at so far he would definitely go with this one and even said he owned one himself (Not convinced lol)

now i really am unaware of what is good as what is not and being honest spending a grand on a bike is some doing for me so its important i don't waste it as its taken me a while to save that much and to justify that on a bike took some doing trust me. basically i've done a little reading and i'm happy its a 69er i need to go with but if anyone would be kind enough to recommend one of the above for me with a reason for that choice i would be grateful also on the same note if you can recommend something better then again i'm all ears and appreciate any suggestions.

Many Thanks

The Rookie

Links to specs helps, so we know we are looking at the right bikes.....of the three I think you are looking at the Boardman has a much better fork, that is the single most important component on a bike and puts it ahead of the other two, but also look at the Voodoo Bizango, very highly rated, excellent value and a consistent high performer in tests (5/5 and 10/10 type high!).

What sort of usage do you envisage? This is a big factor in deciding what is the right bike for YOU.

None of those bikes are 69er (29" front, 26" rear), they are all 29ers (29" both ends).

Jammin34

Apologies I actually meant to say 29er my head was somewhere else briefly.

The Whyte spec - http://whyte.bike/gb/models/crosscountr ... 9er/629-2/

The Trek Spec - http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/bikes/mo ... caliber_9/

The Boardman Spec - http://www.boardmanbikes.com/mtb/29er_pro.html

My general riding will be mild track, woodlands and a little road but certainly nothing too extreme at this point but saying that I would like to get more adventurous with the places I go after a while of getting back into it properly.

lostboysaint

The Boardman, by a country mile. Better fork, better brakes, generally better spec allround.

The Rookie

^^^ Wot he sed!

Or save a bit and get the Bizango, which while not quite as good is better value for money and better than the other 2 more expensive bikes.

coulddobetter

As boardman owner , mountain and road bikes I highly recommend them . Get a good branch of Halfords and no need to worry in my experience.

Jammin34

Thanks i appreciate all comments, its so frustrating that an independent bike shop swears the Trek is by far the best and then when speaking to people who actually ride them and no about them recommend Boardman, makes me start to wonder why the advice there dishing out is always biased to the bikes they sell, don't get me wrong i know they want to sell there products but a totally unbiased opinion wouldn't really do much harm would it lol

Better still why not just stock the Boardman, recommend then sell that ! simple

Any others that people would sway me to apart from this staying in the £1000 budget ?

Thanks

cooldad

Jammin34 wrote:

makes me start to wonder why the advice there dishing out is always biased to the bikes they sell

You wonder?

Jammin34 wrote:

Better still why not just stock the Boardman, recommend then sell that ! simple

Because Halfords...

rockmonkeysc

Halfords are the sole dealer for Boardman anymore. I have seen them in a couple independent shops.
http://www.bike-treks.co.uk This shop stocks them.

The Rookie

They never have been the sole outlet, they are still the sole outlet for everything under circa £1K, as a glance at the bikes on offer on that site you linked to shows.

Jammin34

Sounds like the Boardman is the general favourite then, but how about actually building a bike yourself ? Is this better in the respects it's actually cheaper ? Plus the added bonus of using all the components you actually like and want to use ? Or is this actually a no go and much more expensive ?

coulddobetter

Certainly not cheaper to build your own from what I have seen. Larger companies obviously have deals with component manufacturers. The parts fitted to my bike cost more than the bike if purchased separately.

The Rookie

The only way to build it yourself cheaper is by using some pre-loved components, nothing wrong with that as such, and how the majority of my bike parts (all mine are home built) are sourced, but you have to accept that, that said you can then put together a really good bike if you are willing to take the time.

The other option is to be a last model year bike heavily discounted and use it as a parts donor, accepting certain parts may not fit.

lostboysaint

Jammin34 wrote:

Any others that people would sway me to apart from this staying in the £1000 budget ?

Thanks

No. Just go and get the Boardman.

When Decathlon do a slightly higher spec Big 9 than the current one (which is £799) then that'd be worth a look but it's not here yet, so take advantage of the excellent frame, fork and groupset on the Boardman and grab yourself a fabulous bike.

kinioo

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Halfords are the sole dealer for Boardman anymore. I have seen them in a couple independent shops.
http://www.bike-treks.co.uk This shop stocks them.

I don't think they do Boardmans MTBs ? Do they ??

coulddobetter

Only the professional spec Boardman bikes em series are sold outside Halfords.

rockmonkeysc

kinioo wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Halfords are the sole dealer for Boardman anymore. I have seen them in a couple independent shops.
http://www.bike-treks.co.uk This shop stocks them.

I don't think they do Boardmans MTBs ? Do they ??

I knew other shops sell Boardman bikes and assumed it would be the full range, I didn't realise it's just their road bikes.

foy

Just bear in mind that the boardman only has a 2 year warranty on the frame and the trek has a lifetime warranty and the whyte bike has a 5 year warranty.

rockmonkeysc

If there's any fault with a frame it's most likely going to fail quickly. I wouldn't let a two year warranty put me off.

Jammin34

On the subject of Boardman bikes what's the general thought of this carbon model ?

http://www.halfords.com/cycling/bikes/m ... -650b-2014

At only £300 more than the pro with the current discount it appears to be a no brainer except for the fact there doesn't seem to be much said about the carbon model as it's still fairly new so no real good reviews to go by as of yet.

rockmonkeysc

Personally I wouldn't spend the extra to get the carbon. It's a bit lighter but not significantly better.

Rad2474

I've got the Boardman 29er pro and it's a great bike rides very well. Would definitely be my choice out of the 3 you listed apart from the better spec it looks much better, If your thinking of spending more than £1000 try looking at Bird bikes,never ridden one but they get good reviews.

Jammin34

and you dont find with the 29er any issues with control and can still have lots of fun with it ? i possibly wrongly assumed a 29er was more for the flat rather than xc and a little bit more interesting terrain hence why i kind of dismissed the 29er now ? possibly wrongly lol