Thoughts on Boardman bikes

[Alex321]

I see, still plenty of snobism in cycling: you have a Boardman from Halfords, I have a branded bike from a branded shop so I must be better than you. Shame.

Although Boardman are sold mainly by Halfords (Tredz also sell them), they aren't Halfords "quality". The Apollo & Carrera brands are their true own-brand models, and I would be very reluctant to buy either of those. But Boardman are decent. I don't think he would put hius name to anything that wasn't.

I had a Boardman hybrid as my main bike until I bought a road bike recently. I would certainly have considered one of their road bikes too, if any had been available, but there were none in stock for the foreseeable future when I was buying in August.

 

[mustang1]

There are two Boardmans in the Mustang household but neither are used much and one is a gravel bike like what you posted.. I've been impressed by them to the point that I keep fantasising about getting one for myself but I cannot find enough of an excuse.

I was originally going to say the assymetric chainstays are marketing hype but @fossyant brought up a good point. My road bike has assymetric chainstays and I never understood their purpose but do not think abotu them much either. It's also got "thinline technology" which is something else i don't care about either. But anyway, those Boardmans are good bikes but if they increased the price then I would probably look elsewhere.

Ps: I think none in stock atm except the electric version.

 

[alex_cycles]

Although Boardman are sold mainly by Halfords (Tredz also sell them), they aren't Halfords "quality".

Tredz is owned by Halfords - they bought it in 2016 https://www.bikebiz.com/tredz-and-wheelies-sold-to-halfords/

"The joint business of Tredz and Wheelies of Wales has been acquired by Halfords. Founded and owned by brothers Keith and Michael Jones the bike shop and insurance replacement business employs 250 people. The businesses – which had a turnover of £32m in 2016 – will continue to trade with their existing names, and will be led by Keith Jones as group managing director."

 

[wafter]

FWIW as the owner of a 2017 Boardman Team Carbon..

On the up-side the brand seems to have a lot of onboard expertise, so their bikes are usually very capable / competent and great in terms of ergonomics / functionality / following contempory trends (whether this is a good or bad thing depends on the trend in question and your perspective).

They seem to be good at offering excellent value, although sometimes it's pretty obvious where corners have been cut (for example the Tiagra groupset on my bike was diluted by crappy, cheapo Tektro brakes - criminally so IMO) and a budget FSA crankset.

On the down-side they're now (IIRC) fully-owned by Halfords (so beholdent to those who prioritise profit over the love the cycling) and also assembled mostly, if not exclusively by 13-yr old chimps (especially bad when you're talking carbon-fibre bikes that need some respect during assembly to avoid wrecking the frame).

They're good if you're on a budget and don't care about big-brand kudos. Other than the component niggles above I can't fault my Team Carbon from a rider's perspective.. however I've hardly used it recently due to composite-failure-paranoia (legit but amplified by my brain's addiction to mainlining anxiety) and the fact that my (steel) gravel bike is both more versatile and relaxed.

I think were I in the OP's position I'd be looking at used steel (namely a Croix de Fer), however if you must go new (as I appreciate can make noobs more comfortable) the Boardmans are hard to beat for value and competence tbh