Boardman Hybrid

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barnesy

Well-Known Member
Hi,

Ive just returned from a tour doing Irelands end to end and i fancied a new bike.

I currently have a carrera subway 2 and a bianchi c2c via nirone. I am thinking of replacing the carrera which has had a hard life, has taken me on 2 tours or Ireland of 800 and 500 miles and is my daily bike to and from work in all weather.

Its a trusty bike and ive got panniers on the rear and full mud guards.

Ive been looking at the boardmans in halfords as im on the cycle to work scheme.

Has anyone on here got the hybrid? What are the main differences between the team/comp/pro and which hits best value for money?

My main concern after looking at the bike instore and one which the colleague in the bike hut couldnt answer is if it would take a rear rack with the disc breaks in the way and if its possible to fit a rack aswell as mudguards, im not sure if there are enough eyelets.

If i could fit the rack would the boardman be suitable for lightish touring?

Im not sure whether to stick with the subway or go for something lighter, to be honest the subway probably needs a whole new drive train very soon.

Thanks
 

Candaules

Well-Known Member
Location
England / France
I have a Boardman hybrid, which I bought a few weeks ago. Mine has mudguards and a rack (they had to order an extra-wide rack because of the disk brakes). The chap at Halfords made a slight muddle of fitting the rear mudguard, but I refitted it myself and everything is fine.

I like the bike. It is light and fast, and a pleasure to ride, though I wouldn't take it very far off road.
 

domjon

New Member
I've had the pro ltd for 3 or 4 months now and I absolutely love it. Granted it's my first decent bike but I really can't find any fault with it...it's a pleasure to ride. I was a bit concerned at first that it might be too fragile to take anywhere off-road but 'think that was just me being overly cautious. I've since used it on some pretty horrific canal paths and it's coped just fine. On the road it flies, it really does eat the hills. I commuted for 12 months on a weighty old mountain bike and there really is no comparison...I'm amazed I stuck at it before to be honest.

If you can stretch to it I'd say go for the pro ltd purely so you can have the double tap shifters...fantastic controls. The elixir brakes are really good aswell...my rear brake needed bleeding soon after purchase but I suspect that was just a poor set-up issue...anyway I bought the avid bleed kit and they're a doddle to do.

One other thing I would mention is the maxxis detonator tyres...before I bought the bike almost every post about them on the forums was negative...many people complaining about multiple punctures within weeks of having the bike. I put some marathons on almost immediately to avoid this problem but didn't like the feel of them so put the maxxis back on to give them a try....4 months and getting on for a 1000 miles later I've had absolutely no problems at all! I've got a typical suburban commute, glass, potholes etc and have also ridden plenty of canal trails of varying quality and the odd stretch of mud and they've taken everything thrown at them so far. Pumped up the maximum 120psi they seem fine to me.
 

bauldbairn

New Member
Location
Falkirk
I've had the "Boardman Pro" hybrid for several months now and love it. :sad:

There's a good quality component specification with Ritchey wheels/bars/stem/seatpost/bar-ends, Avid Elixir brakes, Truvativ crank, SRAM X9 rear mechanism and X7 selectors. It's well geared with the Pro having a 32t rear sprocket, which is handy for hills as it's a compact.

As domjon says the Maxxis tyres get slated by some reviewers on the halfords website - but are highly regarded on some tyre review sites and I personally like them(1000+ miles no problems).

There are holes for mudguards, although I don't have any fitted and there are disc brake specific rear racks available.

more cboardman hybrid info here;
http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/index.html

The main differences between the bikes are the specification of components, carbon or non carbon forks and hydro or cable disc brakes.
see here;
 

Harbornite

New Member
+1 for the Pro.

Had mine for over 12 months, no issues. Swapped the Maxxis for Gatorskins.

Buy one, you will not regret it
 
OP
OP
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barnesy

Well-Known Member
I can see the benefit of jumping up to the team from the comp for the hydraulic breaks as opposed to cable, and for the carbon front fork but the differences between the team and the pro dont seem all that obvious to me, for the extra money im not sure if its worth it?

It seems to have better discs and different shfters and rear mech, is there much of difference between the x7 and x9 groupset, maybe just weight?

It does seem a nice bike, i was going to go for a road bike with eyelets for panniers but id prefer the slightly more upright position and flat bars
 

Cubist

Still wavin'
Location
Ovver 'thill
barnesy
I have the pro. I can echo what everyone else has said, awesome bike., light, stiff, responsive, fast.
For what it's worth the X9s are very slick, the elixir brakes are fantastic once bedded in. The tyres are as good as you can expect, 1 puncture in about a thousand miles over a typical urban commute, and they have only "let go" once when I was braking hard and weightshifting to turn left at speed on a wet road.

You need to be aware that the pro ltd has a different cassette to the pro, it's a 11 to 28 10 speed I think, so not as forgiving on hills as the others with their 11 to 32's, so if you live anywhere mountainous, you may have to change that.

I bought a topeak beamrack to go with mine, and with one of their trunkbags this makes a great little light touring setup. That way the eyelets were free for mudguards. Topeak do a rack specifically to fit a bike with discs, you need to look at the packaging to make sure.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/topeak/super-tourist-dx-f-disc-rack-ec008130
 

shrew

New Member
Location
St Neots , Cambs
i cant rate boardman bikes highly enough, value for money wise they are way above the competition and the quality is great, only thing i would say is budget £25-ish to take the bike straight to a decent bike shop, and dont take it back to halfords for the free service.

halfords staff seem to bugger the lot up usually and often there not put together quite right.
 

cmjones007

New Member
Location
Grays, Essex
After my post of yesterday (https://www.cyclechat.net/) I decided to go for the Hybrid Team.

As others have said the idiots at Halfords were hilarious - they couldn't have been more confused if they had tried. They put the bike together for me, and it's something I am going to get checked out by my LBS in the week, but can anyone confirm that the pedals they fitted are standard? I've taken a quick photo of the ones they put on mine (minus the straps).

Looking forward to heading out tomorrow morning and reporting back on here.....
 

shrew

New Member
Location
St Neots , Cambs
they look the same as the ones mine came with, there actually pretty decent once you get used to them but they can pinch a bit so give them a flex if they do, should sort it out.

im assuming they came with straps? cant see them on the photos, they should be attached at the top.
 

bauldbairn

New Member
Location
Falkirk
cmjones007 said:
After my post of yesterday (https://www.cyclechat.net/) I decided to go for the Hybrid Team.

As others have said the idiots at Halfords were hilarious - they couldn't have been more confused if they had tried. They put the bike together for me, and it's something I am going to get checked out by my LBS in the week, but can anyone confirm that the pedals they fitted are standard? I've taken a quick photo of the ones they put on mine (minus the straps).

Looking forward to heading out tomorrow morning and reporting back on here.....

Good selection of bike I'll look forward to your report and surely some photos. :biggrin:

On the subject of pedals - I've got the Pro and it came fitted with Wellgo LU964 Flat Pedals with straps(remove the straps and they're just normal pedals). The pedals on your bike are from the Road bikes - I think. :wacko: The plot thickens????? I noticed these pedals on all the Boardman Comps in the Halfords that I got my bike from - they seem to be for some sort of cleat fitment once the straps are removed? :thumbsup: Can we get a better photo?
 

cmjones007

New Member
Location
Grays, Essex
Not feeling too great so won't be heading out on the bike but I've taken a couple of photos of the pedals....

I've tried to look on google for photos of boardman road bikes with pedals but can't see anything to distinguish the pedals.

I knew I was running a risk with Halfords but it's the partner my company has for the C2W scheme so had to use them.....for £700 you would think they would have some sort of idea what they were doing.
 

bauldbairn

New Member
Location
Falkirk
These are the pedals that were fitted to the Boardman Pro - but with the same(similar) toe straps as yours. They're not too expensive(£12 delivered). I bought another pair without toe straps as I didn't want the hassle as well as getting used to a new bike.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=19605

I think the one's you have are for cleats/clipless shoes - but not quite sure. :wacko: That silver metal "V" looks like some sort of fitment - not for a flat soled shoe? But those are defo the pedals that were on the Boardman Single Speed(Comp SC) and Comp. The other Boardman roadbikes don't have any pedals.
 
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