Thanks for that. I'm off to
Halfords today for sure...I'll ask about the extra 10%. Under a grand was my original budget so happy with that. Which Boardmans do you have? Any comments about them? You made any upgrades since buying them?
I have the 2010 team carbon which I love. It's the same frame as the 2011/12 with a different paint job and without the bb30 bottom bracket. Mine has SRAM rather than the 105 and ritchey finishing kit rather than boardman's own.
To be honest the only upgrade I've considered apart from the little things I've done like qr skewers is a new wheelset but that's only if I start doing more competitive riding than what I do now. At the minute it's just commutes, club runs and leisure rides.
The 11/12 version has the mavic aksium wheelset I think which won't require an immediate upgrade unless you plan on doing some serious racing.
My other Boardman is the Cx team. It's my daily workhorse for the commute, for touring and for all my winter riding.
Generally the Boardman bikes are accepted to be a very good brand and the products are always pretty much the around the best spec for the money... The only downside is dealing with Halfords. Now I've had no complaints myself. The Boardman mechanics at my local branch are very good, and although I'm learning to do most stuff myself I'll concede that I still need them to do some jobs for me and I'm happy to take both my bikes there. That said, you'll find others on here who've had some pretty poor experiences with their branches. Once you've bought the bike you're not tied in with them of course. Your LBS will be more than happy to carry out any jobs or servicing required.
HTH