Newbie help - Triban or Boardman?
elgroig
Posts: 4
Hi all,
I appreciate bike advice for newbies is a common topic but I would be very grateful for some help in picking a bike.
I am a complete newbie to regular commuter cycling and am trying to pick the best cheap second hand bike for my roughly 10km journey to work in London. It will be entirely on road, with a couple of hills but nothing horrendous. If possible I'd like the bike to be able to handle some light off-roading from time to time, just for flexibility when riding with friends.
My price range is £150 - £220 second hand. In terms of fit, I am 5'11 and I haven't gotten on too well with drop bars in the past
From my reading I can see that Boardman bikes are highly regarded, as are B'Twin Tribans. I like the idea of the Boardman Hybrid Comp, especially a variant which comes with disc brakes for the wet weather. From the B'Twin Tribans, the 500 Flat Bar looks like it's firmly in my price range.
Any help in picking between the two, or if there are other bikes I should be looking at please let me know. Thanks in advance.
I appreciate bike advice for newbies is a common topic but I would be very grateful for some help in picking a bike.
I am a complete newbie to regular commuter cycling and am trying to pick the best cheap second hand bike for my roughly 10km journey to work in London. It will be entirely on road, with a couple of hills but nothing horrendous. If possible I'd like the bike to be able to handle some light off-roading from time to time, just for flexibility when riding with friends.
My price range is £150 - £220 second hand. In terms of fit, I am 5'11 and I haven't gotten on too well with drop bars in the past
From my reading I can see that Boardman bikes are highly regarded, as are B'Twin Tribans. I like the idea of the Boardman Hybrid Comp, especially a variant which comes with disc brakes for the wet weather. From the B'Twin Tribans, the 500 Flat Bar looks like it's firmly in my price range.
Any help in picking between the two, or if there are other bikes I should be looking at please let me know. Thanks in advance.
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Comments
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Can't speak about the Boardman but bought my wife a triban road bike 520. Loads a bang for you buck nice bikes0
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I've got both a Triban 500SE and a Boardman CX Team - they're both really well built and are fun to ride. The Triban is a bit easier to maintain because it's got lots of standard hardware, but for your purposes I think I'd go for the Boardman just because it's a bit more versatile. The flat bar Triban seems pretty much road only, whereas I could imagine doing some trails and towpaths on the Boardman with some slightly chunkier tyres.0
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Thanks both for the input, really good to get some real world insight. Good to know I'm not going down the wrong path with looking at these bikes.
nickbotfield - The majority of the Boardman's I'm finding are the Hybrid Team, rather than the CX. Do you think that it's worth holding out for the CX or would the Hybrid Team be up to the job, given your experience of Boardman bikes?0 -
It's up to you really. I got the CX because I like drop bars and I knew I could get a very similar position to my road bike on it and the SRAM groupset is very good value at the price I got the CX at. Having said that, the spec list on the Hybrid Team is good - there's nothing holding the bike back as far as I can see, and the Boardman frames are really nice. For commuting and genral riding I'd be very happy owning one. The only thing with Boardmans is that you can't really test ride one, just sit on one in the shop if there's one available. I took a chance getting the CX without riding it, but it paid off nicely.elgroig wrote:Do you think that it's worth holding out for the CX or would the Hybrid Team be up to the job, given your experience of Boardman bikes?0 -
I have a team hybrid .... the bike is good, its fast it handles well, it easily takes 32mm knobbly tyres, It copes fine with CX terrain, it wears mudguards and racks if you need it. There is nothing on the bike that isnt an off the shelf part.
Its also a fair chink lighter than the comp ...... it doesnt have front suspension though, but this is a GOOD thing, you just dont need Front sus unless doing proper off roading .. and even then its optional to a point ... I have done the local man man trails on the hybrid with no issues and that included a lot of drop offs, rock gardens and rollers and jumps0 -
Thanks for all the advice guys, you've been a massive help. I'll definitely go for the Team Hybrid, sounds like it's exactly what I need.
One final question please is what size you'd recommend going for? As you say without being able to test one properly it's a little difficult. I'm 5'10" and a half, which puts me at the bottom of end of the large range / top end of medium according to the Halford's website. What do you find the sizing to be like?0 -
I'd say if you're an average shape, then go for the M. Easy to get a good fit on a frame that's a bit too small, impossible on one that's too big.0
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I am 5'11 ... and am 99% sure I ride a "M" team Hybrid .... I'll double check when I get home. Its a perfect fit though. Its quite an aggressive position for a hybrid so the more stretched position make it feel like a longer bike0
