# Want a Boardman!!



## red devil (18 Feb 2010)

Hi all,

My dilemna is this - I would really like a Boardman (hybrid). My employer will soon by launching Cyclescheme, i.e. not the one ran by Halfords. Does anyone know of a dealer anywhere in the UK, other than Halfords, who can supply me with a Boardman!? Don't want to bite the bullet and pay full price, may have to go second hand if all else fails!

Help!!

Thanks


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## Tim Bennet. (18 Feb 2010)

I think Boardman Bikes are exclusive to Halfords.


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## bauldbairn (18 Feb 2010)

Tim Bennet. said:


> I think Boardman Bikes are exclusive to Halfords.



+1, even the Boardman website directs you back to their retail partner "Halfords".


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## red devil (18 Feb 2010)

As I feared - it was a long shot! Looks like I'll have to go down the 2nd hand route!!

Thanks!


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## bauldbairn (18 Feb 2010)

red devil said:


> As I feared - it was a long shot! Looks like I'll have to go down the 2nd hand route!!
> 
> Thanks!



I'm not yet 100% convinced that Boardman Brand isn't something to do with Halfords - whether Halfords are a financial backer or just a retail partner? 

But regardless I'm going to be spending nearly £1K on a new Boardman in a couple of weeks time.


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## fossyant (18 Feb 2010)

You can't get a Boardman through Cycle scheme - I emailed them (Halfords) recently...FFS, just sell me one.......

Stupid really, as there is a big market for them.


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## Garz (18 Feb 2010)

Ironically I seen some Ltd Edition ones on ebay which is annoying as some of us who wanted them (albeit on finance) were beaten to it by people who are either trying to make a profit or didnt know if they liked cycling in the first place lol.


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## fossyant (18 Feb 2010)

The bikes are stupid value if you aren't a name snob..... I'll admit to be a road bike snob, but their MTB's are seriously outstanding for the money.


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## John the Monkey (18 Feb 2010)

Although you could get a decent bike with similar spec through a cycle scheme partner, I daresay?

My local bike shop up here does cycle scheme & will do builds on, say, Cotic's Roadrat frame that would make a nice commuter. Have a look at Boardman spec, geometry & then look at bikes & frames stocked by your LBS.


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## bad boy (18 Feb 2010)

There are other bikes mate, dont get me wrong it is a nice bike but John the Monkey's sugestion is a good one.


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## red devil (18 Feb 2010)

Fully understand what you are saying; there are loads of others would probably do just as well for me - Marin, Trek, Specialised, Giant etc etc...just got a thing for the Boardman. Wanted to be a bit different, you dont see many - exclusive to Halfords, no wonder why!


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## bauldbairn (19 Feb 2010)

red devil said:


> Hi all, I would really like a Boardman (hybrid). Help!! Thanks



Oh! Welcome to CC red devil, by the way.  -


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## GrumpyGregry (19 Feb 2010)

John the Monkey said:


> Although you could get a decent bike with similar spec through a cycle scheme partner, I daresay?
> 
> My local bike shop up here does cycle scheme & will do builds on, say, Cotic's Roadrat frame that would make a nice commuter. Have a look at Boardman spec, geometry & then look at bikes & frames stocked by your LBS.



that's a great idea, and about the only way you can generally get near the spec of the Boardmans for the money.


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## John the Monkey (19 Feb 2010)

red devil said:


> ...just got a thing for the Boardman. Wanted to be a bit different, you dont see many - exclusive to Halfords, no wonder why!


They are really nice bikes, and they're competitively priced too, given the kit on them. That said, Cyclescheme nets you a nice little discount anyway, and it shouldn't be too hard to find an Aluminium framed hybrid bike with a similar kit level. A proper LBS will be willing to let you test ride as well, something I've never been able to persuade Halfords into.


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## GrumpyGregry (19 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn said:


> I'm not yet 100% convinced that Boardman Brand isn't something to do with Halfords - whether Halfords are a financial backer or just a retail partner?
> 
> But regardless I'm going to be spending nearly £1K on a new Boardman in a couple of weeks time.



And you will be happy with the bike, being happy with the branch you buy it from is not such a sure bet, just liike LBS's vary too.

Chris Boardman himself has been quite open about the nature of the relationship with Halfords. This is a guy who, in essence, went to the UK cycle trade, said I'm putting my name on, and having an active say in the design of, a great range of bikes, who wants to stock them? To which he was told.... Far too risk. New brand? No way. You take the risk, you prove they can sell and then we will stock them in a year or two when they are a safe bet. The only way his model could work (18 month model life - huge buying power) was having access to mass market... at which point he noticed a Mr Hal Fords jumping up and down and waving at him.

of course as a result some can't get over the name on the door, but us that a bad thing? it makes them a little bit more available to those of us who spend out time riding roads/trails not hanging about inside shops


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## GrasB (19 Feb 2010)

John the Monkey, I went looking for an alternative to the Hybrid Pro Ltd & for the money it's rather hard to find something that's of a similar spec, you end up spending another 200£ or so.

bauldbairn, Well my first commute on a Boardman Hybrid Pro Ltd. (running with a 42/53 crankset) & I'm very pleased with the bike. My only criticism of it so far is it's a flat bar bike when I want bull horns (but by that mark actually I should have got a TT/Triathlon bike for commuting ). It's a quick bike, handles well & has rather nice brakes, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


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## John the Monkey (19 Feb 2010)

GregCollins said:


> of course as a result some can't get over the name on the door, but us that a bad thing? it makes them a little bit more available to those of us who spend out time riding roads/trails not hanging about inside shops



I always feel a bit unsure about recommending Boardman, not out of snobbery, but genuine concern about the advice given & level of skill in Halfords, which seems to vary to a huge degree. Super bikes though.


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## John the Monkey (19 Feb 2010)

GrasB said:


> John the Monkey, I went looking for an alternative to the Hybrid Pro Ltd & for the money it's rather hard to find something that's of a similar spec, you end up spending another 200£ or so.


Although the op has to factor in the Cyclescheme saving too.

This sort of bike is farily common (Spesh Sirrus is cyclescheme's most purchased bike, to take one example) so it shouldn't be hard to find something in the ballpark of the Boardman spec (imo, ymmv etc etc)


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## GrasB (19 Feb 2010)

JtM, thing is I'm in exactly the same situation as red, my employer uses cyclescheme. If you're going through cyclescheme your shop/brand options may well be very limited. What I found was that though there are plenty of shops they stock different combinations of the same core brands, I quickly found that the bikes I actually wanted weren't at available in the local shops which where cyclescheme partners. I looked at the bikes in the stores I could use & worked out that actually I should just by the Hybrid Pro Ltd with my own money as it wasn't much more & was almost exactly what I wanted (just need to swap handle bars & crankset which was the same for all other alternatives) so did.


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## Matty (19 Feb 2010)

John the Monkey said:


> Although you could get a decent bike with similar spec through a cycle scheme partner, I daresay?
> 
> My local bike shop up here does cycle scheme & will do builds on, say, _*Cotic's Roadrat frame that would make a nice commuter*_. Have a look at Boardman spec, geometry & then look at bikes & frames stocked by your LBS.



Highly recommended. Order now for delivery in 2011 from my experience.


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## John the Monkey (19 Feb 2010)

GrasB said:


> JtM, thing is I'm in exactly the same situation as red, my employer uses cyclescheme. If you're going through cyclescheme your shop/brand options may well be very limited.


Hey, I'm not saying go for it blindly, but equally well it's worth considering that there's other stuff out there too.

I'm lucky to have a few good LBS close to home and work that use Cycle-Scheme though.


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## GrumpyGregry (19 Feb 2010)

John the Monkey said:


> I always feel a bit unsure about recommending Boardman, not out of snobbery, but genuine concern about the advice given & level of skill in Halfords, which seems to vary to a huge degree. Super bikes though.



If recommending Boardman to a newbie I think we, who know the low down on what great bikes they are, need to recommend two, maybe three, things. All revolve around the potential owner setting aside £50 - £70 to be used as follows:

Few quid for a decent book on bike maintenance so you can learn to fix it yourself when, like any bike, it needs fettling.

Few more quid for the cost of a decent LBS giving it a once over if the neophyte isn't confident or experienced enough to identify and fix probs themselves. A mate will prob do this for the price of a pint btw.

Finally about fiver for a pair of good earplugs. First use will be to block out the inane wittering of the LBS shop staff and their attendant clique whilst they tell our tyro what a poor choice of brand they have made. Then you can keep them handy for the "I could never buy a bike from Halfords" people you will meet when out riding.

In a very odd way I'm grateful to crap LBS's and the odd near useless Halford's I've come across. They inspired me to become self sufficient as a bike mech.

Being sold a bike from any LBS is no guarantee of anything anymore. Buying a Boardman from Halfords is a guarantee of owning a great bike.


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## rsvdaz (19 Feb 2010)

red devil said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My dilemna is this - I would really like a Boardman (hybrid). My employer will soon by launching Cyclescheme, i.e. not the one ran by Halfords. Does anyone know of a dealer anywhere in the UK, other than Halfords, who can supply me with a Boardman!? Don't want to bite the bullet and pay full price, may have to go second hand if all else fails!
> 
> ...



You dont have to actually have a Cyclescheme run by anyone apart from your own company..meaning you can buy the bike from anyone..I recently did this..basically this is how it works:

company buys the bike and you agree to rent it off them for a set term and amount per month/week
the amount can be worked out as this...bike value less VAT (if your company can claim this back)..dependant how generous your company are with the salary sacrifice scheme they may, if you ask forego the employers NI contribition..another 11% then if you are agree to rent it for 12 months you divide the balance by this term..and have this taken out of your salary as a salary sacrifice scheme..ie before tax and insurance...and dependant on your tax bracket...20%/40% and also 11% Employee NI savings.

The only criteria to satisfy the IR is that there must be a legitmate hire agreement in place...I got a blank one from my LBS..you salary less the salary sacrifice must not go below minimum wage and to transfer the title of the bike at the end of the term a valuation must be made of the bike..LBS will say a bike with a years use is around 5% of original value.

HTH


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## pickup1980 (19 Feb 2010)

I have same probblem liked the look of the boardman carbon pro but the cycle to work limit is £500 for halfords


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## GrasB (19 Feb 2010)

rsvdaz, cyclescheme is a company who organises the C2W administration for larger multi-department companies & organisation it takes a lot of the inter-deparment paper work away.


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## bauldbairn (19 Feb 2010)

GregCollins said:


> Chris Boardman himself has been quite open about the nature of the relationship with Halfords.



Thanks Greg never knew about that - a "Hobson's choice" really - Halfords should really be applauded for taking the risk. 

I've no problem with Halfords at all - I've had hundreds of "sale" bargains from there in the past, tools(Skykes Pickavant/Teng), toolboxes(Teng), satnav, car cleaning stuff, etc,etc. Just not bicycle related stuff - bit of an EBC / Chain Reaction / Wiggle man. 

I can't understand why Halfords don't jump at this opertunity to be a decent bike shop, employ good bike mechanics etc - it would pay dividends.  Which seems to be everyone's main complaint about them. 




GrasB said:


> bauldbairn, Well my first commute on a Boardman Hybrid Pro Ltd. (running with a 42/53 crankset) & I'm very pleased with the bike. My only criticism of it so far is it's a flat bar bike when I want bull horns (but by that mark actually I should have got a TT/Triathlon bike for commuting ). It's a quick bike, handles well & has rather nice brakes, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.



Strangely enough GrasB it's the Hybrid Pro(not Ltd) I'm looking at with the Elixir hydros. Could you please answer a few questions for me?

What height are you and what frame size did you go for? Those offset Richey Disc wheels look a bit weird how are they? Finally why the Hybrid and not the Road bike?

Thanks.


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## rsvdaz (19 Feb 2010)

GrasB said:


> rsvdaz, cyclescheme is a company who organises the C2W administration for larger multi-department companies & organisation it takes a lot of the inter-deparment paper work away.



yes it does..but there's not a lot of paperwork to it..pro-forma invoice/payment then a hire agreement.

I'm just giving options to the OP..if the cycleshop doesnt participate in the cyclescheme/C2W..there is still a work around


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## red devil (19 Feb 2010)

_



Finally about fiver for a pair of good earplugs. First use will be to block out the inane wittering of the LBS shop staff and their attendant clique whilst they tell our tyro what a poor choice of brand they have made. Then you can keep them handy for the "I could never buy a bike from Halfords" people you will meet when out riding.

Click to expand...

_

A colleague of mine, on my behalf, mentioned Boardman to his LBS who replied "If you have the chance, get one - they're awesome!" An honest appraisal! 

Not worried about the after sales/service, whether it's Halfords or LBS - more than mechanically able myself. Will probably follow the second hand route.

Still following this thread with interest - thanks to all for contributions.


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## gaz (19 Feb 2010)

John the Monkey said:


> Although you could get a decent bike with similar spec through a cycle scheme partner, I daresay?
> 
> My local bike shop up here does cycle scheme & will do builds on, say, Cotic's Roadrat frame that would make a nice commuter. Have a look at Boardman spec, geometry & then look at bikes & frames stocked by your LBS.



*looks at LBS stock* hmmm cervelo p4 looks good


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## GrasB (19 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn, I've got the small & I'm 5'8", that said I normally find I need a lot of seat post exposed on a bike which is the right length for me. If you're worried about size, go sit on one. The wheels work, I averaged 19.7mph to work & back today, you don't put in averages like that if the bike, thus wheels, don't give you confidence in the corners. Why the hybrid not the road, very simple… hydraulic disc brakes.



rsvdaz said:


> yes it does..but there's not a lot of paperwork to it..pro-forma invoice/payment then a hire agreement.
> 
> I'm just giving options to the OP..if the cycleshop doesnt participate in the cyclescheme/C2W..there is still a work around


This assumes that organisation you're employed by doesn't generate its own internal paper trail to do this. My experience is that the C2W paperwork was about 15min work total, the paper trail to sort everything out for the accounts, personnel & payroll departments however took a good 4 hours to deal with. I've also heard similar stories from other people in very large organisations. With cyclescheme the paper work from my end is if anything less than the basic C2W paper work.


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## bauldbairn (20 Feb 2010)

GrasB said:


> bauldbairn, I've got the small & I'm 5'8", that said I normally find I need a lot of seat post exposed on a bike which is the right length for me. If you're worried about size, go sit on one. Why the
> hybrid not the road, very simple… hydraulic disc brakes.



I'm 5'10", inside leg 34" in the cusp between medium and large according to the size charts. I currently ride a EBC Hybrid and at 22" frame size I think it's a tiny bit long, the Boardman large is 21.25" and the medium is 19.25". I think in B'man sizes 20.5" would be perfect - but they don't do that size. My Raleigh road bike was 21" and perfect size. I don't like a lot of seat post showing on my bike either.
I think I'll just have to bite the bullet and go to Halfords early one morning when it's quiet so I can try both(medium and large) bikes against each other?
It's the Hydro's that attracted me too - along with carbon forks and gearing selection. 

Thanks for the help GrasB.


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## bauldbairn (20 Feb 2010)

red devil said:


> Still following this thread with interest - thanks to all for contributions.



Yeh! Sorry red devil - the threads went a bit off track. 

The C2W stuff and the Boardman discussions are still relevant though.


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## GrasB (20 Feb 2010)

bauldbairn said:


> I'm 5'10", inside leg 34" in the cusp between medium and large according to the size charts. I currently ride a EBC Hybrid and at 22" frame size I think it's a tiny bit long, the Boardman large is 21.25" and the medium is 19.25".


Forget the seat tube length, the seat post deals with this & it varies with the amount of slope on the top tube, the important one is the effective top-tube as you have far less adjustment on the stem without making the handling very fast or slow.


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## bauldbairn (20 Feb 2010)

GrasB said:


> Forget the seat tube length, the seat post deals with this & it varies with the amount of slope on the top tube, the important one is the effective top-tube as you have far less adjustment on the stem without making the handling very fast or slow.



Yeh thanks! I forgot to mention the effective top-tube lengths as this now changes proportionately to the seat tube length. It's only the manufacturer that mentions this as "frame size" - 18",20",22" etc. 
I had printed out the large Boardman one's(ttl) and compared them to my EBC one and there was only 5mm difference. But there was 20mm difference down to the medium - which I now think may be my size. Sorry I forgot to mention this and pressumed you were following me - like you said, best to try it out for myself.

Thanks again.


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## Harbornite (20 Feb 2010)

I have the Hybrid Pro & very pleased with it. 

Took a size L and I'm 5` 10" with a 32" leg


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