New Bike

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
Im looking at buying a new road bike for a 10 mile commute to work.

I like the look of the 'hybrid' style bikes, as im looking for something quick with good handling but comfortable and i have narrowed my choices down to the Specialized Sirrus Sport or the Boardman Hybrid Comp.

Both look quite similar and are both priced at £499.99, so i was wandering what people think is the best bike to go for?

Thanks
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
Route is flat, hilly etc etc? Will you use the bike for anything other than commuting?

If its flat, maybe look at single speeds and fixed bikes, they will be just as quick, less maintainance, better handling on the fixed kind in slow traffic and you will not need to spend as much, (or you will get more for your money).
 
The route is fairly hilly, so i was looking for something with gears. I'll use the bike for commuting and occasionly for a ride out on the weekends but it will be all for road use as i have a mountain bike for going off roads.
 

Norm

Guest
I think that the Sirrus Sport comes with carbon forks with Zertz to reduce road buzz, which will make it a better ride than the Boardman. The Sirrus also has a triple chain ring, which I prefer to a double, although there's already been enough discussion about the relative merits. :biggrin:

On the other hand, the Boardman has disk brakes, which I would prefer although they aren't critical for road riding, they do perform more consistently in the wet.

Oh, and the Sirrus Sport is white, whereas the Boardman is black.

I would recommend, though, that you find a bike shop who will let you have a test ride on a Sirrus. There's a whole load of things that you can't find on a spec sheet which may make the bike perfect / excruciating for you. And then maybe use the fact that you can't get test rides on Boardman bikes to guide you. :biggrin:
 

Norm

Guest
I didn't express any opinion as it would be based, as much as anything else, on knowledge of my local Halfords and my local Specialized dealer and on me as a middle-aged, over-weight rider who doesn't like Halfords because they don't allow test rides. :biggrin:

I've put my money on a couple of Specialized bikes and haven't regretted a second but I know that there will also be plenty who would say the same for Boardman's products.

And I'm getting splinters from sitting on the fence like this. :tongue:

I haven't looked at those two in great detail. In general, I think that the Boardman bikes seem to be pretty well specced for any particular price point but at least you can go and take a test ride on the Sirrus to check whether it works for you.
 

Rob3rt

Man or Moose!
Location
Manchester
Norm said:
I think that the Sirrus Sport comes with carbon forks with Zertz to reduce road buzz, which will make it a better ride than the Boardman. The Sirrus also has a triple chain ring, which I prefer to a double, although there's already been enough discussion about the relative merits. :tongue:

Are zerts those ugly oval lump/odd things some specialized have on the forks?
 
Rob3rt said:
Are zerts those ugly oval lump/odd things some specialized have on the forks?

That's them...and also in the seatpost IIRC, although I don't personally think they are ugly. I have bikes of both flavours in my garage (a Boardman Comp mtb, and a Spesh Langster S/S) and find both very good at what they do. The Boardman was extremely well-specced for the price (for example not many bikes @ £749 came with a Recon fork and Avid Juicy 3s in 2008) and has loads of Ritchey goodies. The Langster, while obviously not having much in the way of extras, has proved to be a reliable workhorse and fitness machine with the odd commute thrown in (my Brompton is by far my main commute bike) so I can sort of vouch for the Sirrus too.
The best thing would be to test both brands but, as Norm says, you'll have real bother trying to get any sort of test ride out of Halfords. If you can find a bike with similar geometry that might give you a ball-park idea on the ride of the Boardman but from what I've read on these forums you'll never regret buying a Sirrus....providing it fits you.
 
Luckily my mate at work is buying the Boardman so i think ill be able to get him to let me have a little test ride!
 
Top Bottom