Ming the Merciless
There is no mercy
- Location
- Inside my skull
A pogo stick
No no bike
- Thread starter BigMeatball
- Start date
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A pogo stick
This is my son's 'winter' bike - a Boardman Airpro 'black edition' aka our imagining of what Chris Boarman's evil twin would build:
View attachment 509607
Still don't like them?
I don’t understand the snobbishness for Boardman bikes, perhaps it’s the Halfords association. Personally I think they’re good value and as good as any other mass produced bike out there, most frames these days are made in a handful of factories in Taiwan anyway. I had a Team Hybrid not that long ago and thought it was a good quality bike for the money.
Interesting thread.. I'm intrigued to hear peoples' reasons for thier choices!
FWIW:
- Anything that could be considered a BSO on quality grounds
- Specialized because it appears they're fond of litigious, corporate bully-boy behaviour towards non-threatening smaller brands.. and now it's been mentioned I realise I also hate the name with it's wholly un-necessary use of the "z".
- Giant as I hate their (past, not sure about present) use of non-standard-ID seatposts tubes with pitifully short sleeves / shims, which I believe is what caused the premature death of my Giant frame.
- Boardman, sadly since as much as I love my example I've read reports of catastrophic steerer tube (and other) failures that Boardman / Halfords have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from, while I don't trust 95% of Halfords employees to tie their own shoelaces without losing a finger.
These are just based on what I know; I suspect if my knowledge of the industry / manufacturers was better I'd have a much longer list.
It's funny / sad - in other parts of life where I have far more experience and understanding of the products on offer (and hence the ability to assess them fully and objectively myself) I've become very cynical due to many first hand experiences of utterly terrible quality and the manufacturers taking the pish out of their customers.
When I got back into cycling I approached it with a fresh, open mind, thinking "it's a far bigger market, the QC has to be better and the manufacture's integrity higher, the press more independent and objective", and took a lot of "reviews" at face value. However having read further and discovered less sugar-coated, more technically-oriented sources (including youtube channels such as Hambini and Luscher Technic) sadliy it seems that this industry is also rife with sub-par products being fobbed off on unwary customers using slick and deceptive marketing
I'm also losing respect for big-brand road bike manufacturers selling absolutely obscenely expensive bikes (maybe what, £5-6k+ as a watershed point; although I would / could never spend anywhere near this much personally). While I appreciate that as a business they'd be missing a trick for not supplying these markets, it serves as a painful reminder of the wealth inequality that's destroying the world and smacks of a certain cynicism that bike companies are willing to produce such poor-value items. On top of this I also find it somewhat offensive that even something as virtuous as the humble bicycle can be hi-jacked in the name of rampant profiteering and conspicuous consumption. Of course I might think differently if it was me pocketing what must be obscene margins associated with such products...
On a more pleasant note, recent problems notwithstanding the acqusition of a slow, basic bike has driven home to me that the only thing that really matters is getting out for a ride no matter what it's on, how much it cost, what brand it is or fast it goes.. so I'm certainly not a brand snob; just don't like people having my pants down.
FWIW:
- Anything that could be considered a BSO on quality grounds
- Specialized because it appears they're fond of litigious, corporate bully-boy behaviour towards non-threatening smaller brands.. and now it's been mentioned I realise I also hate the name with it's wholly un-necessary use of the "z".
- Giant as I hate their (past, not sure about present) use of non-standard-ID seatposts tubes with pitifully short sleeves / shims, which I believe is what caused the premature death of my Giant frame.
- Boardman, sadly since as much as I love my example I've read reports of catastrophic steerer tube (and other) failures that Boardman / Halfords have repeatedly tried to distance themselves from, while I don't trust 95% of Halfords employees to tie their own shoelaces without losing a finger.
These are just based on what I know; I suspect if my knowledge of the industry / manufacturers was better I'd have a much longer list.
It's funny / sad - in other parts of life where I have far more experience and understanding of the products on offer (and hence the ability to assess them fully and objectively myself) I've become very cynical due to many first hand experiences of utterly terrible quality and the manufacturers taking the pish out of their customers.
When I got back into cycling I approached it with a fresh, open mind, thinking "it's a far bigger market, the QC has to be better and the manufacture's integrity higher, the press more independent and objective", and took a lot of "reviews" at face value. However having read further and discovered less sugar-coated, more technically-oriented sources (including youtube channels such as Hambini and Luscher Technic) sadliy it seems that this industry is also rife with sub-par products being fobbed off on unwary customers using slick and deceptive marketing
I'm also losing respect for big-brand road bike manufacturers selling absolutely obscenely expensive bikes (maybe what, £5-6k+ as a watershed point; although I would / could never spend anywhere near this much personally). While I appreciate that as a business they'd be missing a trick for not supplying these markets, it serves as a painful reminder of the wealth inequality that's destroying the world and smacks of a certain cynicism that bike companies are willing to produce such poor-value items. On top of this I also find it somewhat offensive that even something as virtuous as the humble bicycle can be hi-jacked in the name of rampant profiteering and conspicuous consumption. Of course I might think differently if it was me pocketing what must be obscene margins associated with such products...
On a more pleasant note, recent problems notwithstanding the acqusition of a slow, basic bike has driven home to me that the only thing that really matters is getting out for a ride no matter what it's on, how much it cost, what brand it is or fast it goes.. so I'm certainly not a brand snob; just don't like people having my pants down.
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Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
No sorry, stiil not sold. I did have a Boardman MTB when they first came out, Ebayed it after 3 months.This is my son's 'winter' bike - a Boardman Airpro 'black edition' aka our imagining of what Chris Boarman's evil twin would build:
View attachment 509607
Still don't like them?
wonderloaf
Veteran
Wow, no mention of Planet X yet, things must be looking up!
Grant Fondo
Guru
- Location
- Cheshire
Some of the Apollo and Muddy Fox full sus MTB's weigh the same as a Range Rover.
So do some of the fancier branded ali mountain bikes.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
- Location
- Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Surely not?So does my Spa.
The Apollo in my photo was about 20kg but it wasn't just the weight it was the drag and the bad riding position. I took five hours to do about 30 miles on one hilly ride.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
As to whether there's a particular type , rather than brand, of bike I wouldn't consider buying, well of course there is - there are loads - on the basis that I don't want or have a use or space for one.
Balance bike, TT bike, track bike, electric cargo bike, BMX, penny farthing ... the list goes on and on.
Balance bike, TT bike, track bike, electric cargo bike, BMX, penny farthing ... the list goes on and on.
Vantage
Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
- Location
- Behind everyone else, Bolton
Surely not?
The Apollo in my photo was about 20kg but it wasn't just the weight it was the drag and the bad riding position. I took five hours to do about 30 miles on one hilly ride.
19kg with the saddlebag which I never go without. Just weighed it.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
I have a 2014 Boardman Pro FS MTB and its an ace bike for the money. Far better value and much better components than you see on the big names.
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
That down tube looks large enough to hold a battery
All my life, I have been riding time trials and have always wanted a super duper time trial bike. But now that I could afford one, I just can't justify the cost for a bike that would only do a couple of hundred miles a year and would only give me a few extra seconds savings over 10 miles, compared to my fixed TT bike, which I have built up over the last 20 years.
rogerzilla
Legendary Member
Felt. It's a stupid name. And Pinarello because MAMILs ride them.