CX Boardman Team

mcvw · October 2014

Hi,

I'm an ex MTB'er making the transition from the brown-stuff to the black-stuff and have recently been borrowing a friends old Specialized Sirrus joining him for mid-week rides (15/16miles). My friend is riding a 2014 Roubaix SL4 Sport (mixture of 105) and for the most parts I've been keeping up with him during our rides. I'm somewhat fitter than he is so I can out-climb him, but on the long straights I simply run out of gears and he drifts off into the distance

Now, I really want to buy a 2015 Giant Defy - either the Defy 0 ALUXX SL, or the Defy Advanced 2. However, neither of these bikes will be available until week 5/6 of 2015.

So in terms of keeping me riding throughout the winter months - and on something that wont leave me totally in his wake' (and also until my 'ideal bike' is available) would a second hand Boardman CX Team (2013 model) be a worthy steed to feed my impatience

Many thanks,

Mike

simonhead · October 2014

Absolutely fine and a good winter ride.

mcvw · October 2014

Thanks, it's exactly what I was thinking

w00dster · October 2014

I've only looked at the 2014 model boardman, but this comes with disc brakes and 35c knobbly tyres. This won't be a particularly light bike.
I ride two bikes regularly, one is a proper road bike, light, 25c good tyres and good wheels. The other is a cross bike, steel frame, big chunky tyres. There is a significant difference between riding a cross bike on the road and a cross bike in full winter setup. I'm generally about 2mph slower on the cross bike over a 50 mile course (all approx). The effort to keep a strong pace on road with the cross bike is tough. I do run lower tyre pressures on the cyclocross bike so that also makes a difference. I have a good level of fitness, but later in the ride going uphill on the cyclocross bike I notice how tough it is. I'm sure other peoples experience will differ, but this is my genuine experience. I ride my cyclocross bike a lot (actually I have two) but the weight, tyres and wheels make road riding harder.
The boardman is a decent winter bike, but on the road he may well still leave you behind, especially on a long ride. That said, if you go off road he'll never keep up with you.
Might be worth adding some semi slicks to see if that helps.

hanhamreds · October 2014

I've had four (yes 4) CX Teams 2014 over the last year, I used this bike for road riding and had no real issues with keeping up with other people, not the quickest on hills but that's a bit of me as well. I did most of my training for the longleat lionheart on the stock 35c Rapid Rob tyres, I then fitted Gatorskins.

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

apreading · October 2014

hanhamreds wrote:

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

Why? What went wrong?

hanhamreds · October 2014

apreading wrote:

hanhamreds wrote:

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

Why? What went wrong?

oh you had to ask..........................lol.

well first two bikes had paint issues from new so both got swapped - no major thing.

bike 3 I had for a couple of months and until the first service, got swapped because I couldn't adjust the reach on one of the Apex levers - no major thing.

Bike 4.

had a freewheel failure at the start of the Longleat lionheart, so went in for that, spent two weeks in store and they eventually changed the back wheel due to a lack of spares.

next it was in for creaking BB - had a re-grease

back again a few months later (July) as the BB failed plus my left crank fell off - had a new chainset and BB bearings fitted.

end of sept the left bearing failed (I'd done about 300 miles I guess, all dry weather riding).

despite being still under warranty I took it to my LBS - new bearings at a cost to me of £55.

following week (two weeks ago) whilst cleaning I noticed a crack in the seat tube - took it to Halfords expecting them to say it was cracked paint - turned out to be a cracked frame!!!!!

rejected the offer of bike no 5 and finally accepted the offer of a free upgrade, I now own a Boardman Pro carbon.

I also bought a 2nd bike (felt Z85) so I will never be off the road again.

IMO they have some serious quality control issues on the production line for this bike. However I stress that I have nothing bad to say about the staff at Halfords, in every case they tried their best for me, they are let down by a poor bike.

DavidJB · October 2014

hanhamreds wrote:

apreading wrote:

hanhamreds wrote:

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

Why? What went wrong?

back again a few months later (July) as the BB failed plus my left crank fell off - had a new chainset and BB bearings fitted.

However I stress that I have nothing bad to say about the staff at Halfords, in every case they tried their best for me, they are let down by a poor bike.

Yes because they've obviously fitted everything perfectly if your crank arm fell off

DavidJB · October 2014

hanhamreds wrote:

apreading wrote:

hanhamreds wrote:

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

Why? What went wrong?

back again a few months later (July) as the BB failed plus my left crank fell off - had a new chainset and BB bearings fitted.

However I stress that I have nothing bad to say about the staff at Halfords, in every case they tried their best for me, they are let down by a poor bike.

Yes because they've obviously fitted everything perfectly if your crank arm fell off

simonj · October 2014

I've had several Boardman CX's for me or my friends go through my garage. Great bikes, good value for money but not without their issues, but other bikes also have issues.

I think the paint on the 2014 was an issue for early bikes so I'd suspect quality control not perfect, the 14 I also find much harsher (numb hands/wrists) to ride than the 12/13. My Silver 14's and Grey 12/13's have had BB issues at some point, mainly noise, which a good clean out and regrease easily fixes it by myself, but the PF BB on a 14 always felt a little looser than I'd prefer.

For my money a 2nd hand 12/13 would be good, the 14 had issues (may or may not now be sorted), weighs more and is harsher to ride. 12/13 weighs less, is good value for money and as with MANY BB30 bikes as long as you know basic maintenance, can clean, re-grease and tighten bolts shouldn't be an issue. If you are completly hands off, then maybe a bike used in wet and dirty conditions + BB30 are not the best mix and a BSA threaded BB may be better.

Bar Shaker · October 2014

DavidJB wrote:

hanhamreds wrote:

apreading wrote:

hanhamreds wrote:

Just in case you are considering this model - please don't!

I no longer have this bike.

Why? What went wrong?

back again a few months later (July) as the BB failed plus my left crank fell off - had a new chainset and BB bearings fitted.

However I stress that I have nothing bad to say about the staff at Halfords, in every case they tried their best for me, they are let down by a poor bike.

Yes because they've obviously fitted everything perfectly if your crank arm fell off

Bikes (almost all bikes) arrive at the shop (Halfords or almost any LBS) 95% complete, despite what some LBS will tell you. A pre-delivery build will never involve building up cranksets, that's done at the factory.

earth · November 2014

I have a 2014 one and have to agree with the other posters regarding reliability and ride.

It is heavier than a road bike but the frame is noticeably stiff. This does make it a bit harsh. I used it briefly on some towpaths and trails with the Rapid Rob tyres on. When off tarmac the harshness makes it not such a nice experience. On tarmac it's ok but the Rapid Rob tires take a lot of effort to keep rolling.

I changed to skinny slick tyres for commuting on it and it is much better on road. Not bad for commuting and general use and it is versatile.

There are plenty of low gears due to the 34 small ring and wide range cassette so despite the weight it's not too bad on the hills as long as you sit in and spin and don't expect to go up them as fast. Having a large range on the cassette initially made it difficult to get the gear that felt right. I saw the benefit of a triple with a narrow range cassette.

But the build...

SRAM apex is great IMO. But the front derailleur is not SRAM, its Microshift. I had a lot of chain rub with it to start with. I eventually set it to minimise that but it took a lot of fettling.

The brakes are not much good IMO. Again a lot of fettling is required. I don't like having to pull the lever through half the travel before the brake bites. The rear would not even lock the wheel. To start with the caliper did not return to open after use. I had to fully squeeze to release it.

The rear wheel had something loose at the hub. This caused big vibrations through the frame when braking. It took a while to locate the problem but I noticed the wheel would twist in the frame even with the QR fully closed. It was easy to tighten it up but a bit shoddy.

The cables are far too long. There are no frame protectors on it and the long cables rub against the fork crown. It has gouged a rut in the fork crown.

The brake levers on the tops aren't very useful and the pivot has fallen out of one.

The barrel adjusters don't do much.

The bottom bracket started to tick after about a thousand miles. Took it to a LBS for regreasing and its been fine for the next 1000 miles.

Headset was loose from the outset.

I don't know whether to blame Halfords for all these issues because I don't know if they are responsible for manufacture now or if they are just the dealer. When I bought the bike I literally watched the assistant get it out of the box and set the handlebars etc. The loose headset was their mistake but I don't think it is the dealers responsibility to grease the BB. The manufacturer should have done that when they installed it. And they should have tightened up the rear wheel hub etc. Are Halfords not strict enough on quality control or do they just not pay enough?

awavey · November 2014

you see thats what worries me about thinking of buying a CX boardman it looks a good option,but there seem enough build quality issues, even if they are minor in some cases,before you chuck a Halfords into the mix, the two combined just seem to be a perfect storm of inevitability of lemoness

last time I bought a bike, I just went to the nearest recommended LBS, told the guy what I wanted, sort of did a bike fit on well this is the size weve got and you look about the right size for it, which I guess I was

but now Im thinking will this size fit my legs, or will I have body reach probs,how will I know if they know its right, its a different riding position so how will I know whats right, and then its what techie bits do I need to absolutely check are ok, fitted properly, greased etc etc, its like buying a second hand car with no history, and that doesnt seem right when I could be paying near £800 for this experience.

CX Boardman Team

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