I've just taken ownership of a Boardman URB 8.9 bought from
Halfords on C2W. My regular commuter is a Specialized Crosstrail and i also have use of my Cube Peloton Race & Voodoo Fat Bike for when i fancy taking them to work, but it's mainly the Crosstrail i use all year round.
The URB is around 10kg so much lighter than what i was using. It looks great and is pretty quick but.. out on the open road and any downhill, the gearing doesn't keep up. I'd maybe get to early 20's in mph before I'm spinning like a mad man. The canvas grips are shockingly slippy and the canvas seat is like a sponge that never dries. Of course both can be replaced.
The bigger issue for me is the internal hub. I bought the bike to reduce maintenance and simplify the clean after the ride home. My bike has been 'set up' by Halfords and whilst i still gave it 120 miles before i returned it to store, i knew from the first mile that it wasn't right. The gear shifts ok but then between maybe 5 and 30 turns, there's an almighty clunk inside the hub. I have mentioned on another thread that the bottom bracket has a metallic whirl/mild grinding and also that the hydraulics are spongey and almost can be pulled to the slippy handlebar grips. Halfords kept it for a week and worked their magic i.e. returned it to me in the exact same condition so I'm taking it to a mechanic friend from
CRC to either tell me my head's cut and the bikes just wick or that it needs a few tweaks here and there before it'll ride like it should.
I've chosen the cycle to work scheme to get me a bike that I can use to lose some weight and get to work. I'm going to test both cube bikes at evans next week but I can't use my cycle to work voucher there as it has to be used at either independent retailers, Halfords or Tredz online. The Hyde race and the SL road Race are both great and I want to see how much of a difference the gears are going to make. Thanks for everyones advice and i'll be sure to update once I have made my decision!
