Boardman Comp Hybrid Questions

gken74

Hi All,

I'm a 40 year old who's looking to get fit and I've got the cycling bug and with it long story short ended up buying 2 Boardman Comp Hybrid bikes.

Now the first one I bought was advertised as a Large and I didn't think to measure it as the seller was almost my height (I'm 6'1") but as it was in great condition we shook hands on it.

I had it out for a couple of 5 mile rides and it was fine, after a bit of reading online I found out about measuring the size from the crack to the seat post and this is when I found out it was a Medium and not a large. So I was back on Gumtree and found a Large (I took a tape measure this time to double check ) which I bought and the Medium will be going back on Gumtree for sale....but before I do I noticed a difference between the bikes and it's to do with the X5 lever Shifters which is the reason for my post......

The Medium Boardman Comp has the X5 shifters with the gear indicator windows like shown below (which I like)



And the Large Boardman Comp has the X5 shifters without the gear indicator like below..

I'd like to swap the X5 with the gear indicator from the Medium onto my Large (and vice versa) but the last bike I had was my Super Tough Burner BMX so I wanted to ask if it's a difficult job, I'm hoping not. I've had a quick google and can't find any write ups on doing this sort of swap over.

So my questions to you experts is..........

1. Should I even bother swapping the shifters over, is it worth the bother?

2. Would I just need 4 new cables (2 for each bike) and an allen key?

3. Where is best to get the new gear cables, Halfords or online?

4. Just how easy would it be for a novice like me to re-index the gears on both bikes?

5. Should I just put the bikes into my LBS and get them to do it?

I do enjoy tinkering and have a decent tool kit so would like to give it a bash myself if it's not to difficult and I can get some pointers from somewhere on doing the job properly.

Thanks if you actually got to the end after reading all this

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Cheers
G

homers_double

gken74 wrote:

So my questions to you experts is..........

1. Should I even bother swapping the shifters over, is it worth the bother?

If you want it, then yes.

2. Would I just need 4 new cables (2 for each bike) and an allen key?

If you're going to the extremes of changing shifters then it's probably worth it. Get a few beers too, I always have beers for a fettling session.

3. Where is best to get the new gear cables, Halfords or online?

LBS, they're really only pennies.

4. Just how easy would it be for a novice like me to re-index the gears on both bikes?

Very easy job to do, just fiddling with tension in the wires to get into the first gear and the shifters will do the rest

5. Should I just put the bikes into my LBS and get them to do it?

No, because it's so easy to do that next time you'll still be none the wiser.

I do enjoy tinkering and have a decent tool kit so would like to give it a bash myself if it's not to difficult and I can get some pointers from somewhere on doing the job properly.

http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/rear-derailler-adjustments-derailleur

apreading

The ones without the indicators are actually more modern - for some reason they have dropped them. I dont have them on my current bike and its not a great hardship but I agree with you that its better to have them than not. The only slight caveat is that often newer stuff is better in other ways that arent obvious but gear shifters like this arent rocket science so I cant imagine a noticeble improvement in the newer ones.

Its not hard to change them over, you might not even need new cables but there is a chance the old ones might not survive the transition perfectly so would be worth at least having some new ones on standby and they are so cheap that you may as well just fit them.

Indexing rear is not hard but the front can be really fiddly. Just take care to note or take a photograph of the routing of the cables before taking them apart an which way they go around the nut on the front derailleur in particular as if you get this wrong you will never successfully index them! Doing the indexing might seem a faff but you will need to reindex on occasion as cables stretch, you fit new cassette (although this normally doesnt require it) or stuff like that - so its something that every cyclist should be prepared to do in my opinion. Youtube is the best place to find out how if you dont follow it from written instructions well.

gken74

Thanks guys, I appreciate your input.

Cheers!