Boardman Hybrid Comp Fork Problem

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ShipHill

Senior Member
Location
Worcestershire
I've recently just resolved an issue I had with my Boardman Comp and thought it may benefit someone else so I'll relay it all in gory detail here.

I bought the bike brand new from Halfords back in May for £450 (reduced from £500) and got a few miles done over the next few weeks. Superb bike to ride once I'd set it up properly. I don't think the guys at the branch I bought it from set it up at all. I couldn't thumb the gear levers at all when I first got on it because they were set way too far round the bars. One of the guys was having a fag outside, saw my plight and quickly remedied it though. Seat way too low and the chain came off 100 yards up the road. After all that nonsense was resolved it is much more enjoyable than my ancient Muddy Fox and my ride times came down with no extra effort. Yay n stuff!!

Early June and 3 weeks after buying it, and 1 of the guys at work who is very cycle savvy had given it a good set-up, I embark on a 70mile jaunt with 2 buddies. Half way through the ride and I notice a wee "squeak squeak" every so often. I actually thought it was birdsong until more miles passed and I thought it may be a rubbing brake or some debris lodged somewhere. Anyway we stop for a wee while and 1 of my pals notices that my front wheel is skewed in the forks. Yoinks! The quick release was loose so we sorted that out but the squeak remained.

The brake caliper bolts were catching the brake disc now. Grrr. Finished our ride, rode home and felt well annoyed. Straight on the phone to Halfords and the guy told me to bring it in.

I got my cycle savvy mate to have a look first and he was at a loss as to what had happened. I then took it to a reputable LBS (wish they sold Boardman) and he said the forks need either a wee bit machining off the inside face where the caliper mounts on, or replacing. He also said he had seen this on a few bikes over the years.

I take the bike to my local Halfords instead of the one I bought it from. It's nearer (obviously) and the mechanic there is a decent guy and I've dealt with him many times before with good results. It's a much smaller store than where I bought the bike from and doesn't stock many Boardmans which is why I didn't buy from there in the first place.

He rapidly decided the forks were "no-good" and ordered me a new set. I mentioned my wheel coming loose and all that but he insisted the bike was still faulty and the forks should be in store soon. Weeks went by. From the second week in June until last week "we're having trouble getting the forks from HQ." Now I'm a fairly patient man, but it was wearing thin and I have another big ride planned for early September So I make yet another call asking if my forks are in and I'm speaking to a guy I haven't spoken with before and he is very concerned at all the delay and assured me he would phone me back "in 2 hours" once he'd established what was going on.

Less than 2 hours later he calls me back and says he'll get me a set of carbon forks "in 2 days". The regular alloy forks being hard to come by for some reason. The forks are black (natural carbon) and my bike is white but I thought "hey that will look quite funky" so I said "yes."

2 days later and they're on the bike working well, bolts nowhere near the disc, no squeaking and I'm a happy bunny.

Just thought I'd share.
Take care y'all
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Funny that the original forks were no longer available. I'd love to get my hands on yours and have a look at them to see what went wrong.

Good outcome though - I bet you're enjoying the ride with carbon forks?
 
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ShipHill

ShipHill

Senior Member
Location
Worcestershire
From my understanding of it the caliper was too near the wheel and brake disc because the fork mounting lugs were too thick by 1or 2mm. This is how the guy at my local LBS explained it anyway. Quite how this happened in the first place other than a quality control issue at the factory is beyond me. I remember looking over the bike before my big jaunt and noticing the cigarette paper thin gap between the disc and the caliper bolts and thinking "ooh that's close but what the hell do I know".

I didn't keep the old forks and I imagine Halfords/Boardman may want to look at them anyway.

Very nice outcome and I'm enjoying riding it again.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Maybe the factory forgot to face the caliper mounts? It sometimes needs to be done on disc brake forks; there's a special tool for it.
 
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