Specialized Allez or Boardman Road Bike Comp ?

[CPD]

I have a good hybrid but am looking to up my distances significantly, entering my first triathlon and need something quicker. Given a choice between :

A Specialized Allez 24 :
http://www.cyclesuk.com/104-258610

Or a Boardman Road Bike Comp :
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/...uctId_556689_langId_-1_categoryId_165710#dtab

.... which would you choose, and why ?. Many Thanks.

 

[p90ade]

i have 2 boardmans (admitadly neither are the road) but i am very pleased with both, no problems with my mountain bike and the hybrid i used to commute and tour last year was bullet proof. and if you find someone in your halfords store who knows their stuff, halfords arnt that bad.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

The Boardman. Slightly more individualistic, buying one means bucking the naysayers and Halfrauds knockers, Mr B is a great bloke, and buying a Boardman seems to get up so many peoples noses.

 

[accountantpete]

The Boardman is single speed which is for enthusiasts of that genre only - in the real world you are going to need 8/9spd at least esp for triathlons.

The Allez will get you from a to b ok but if you are competing it will put you at a serious disadvantage to someone with a really good frame and a decent pair of wheels.

Any chance of saving a bit more and going for the Boardman Carbon or Planet X ?

 

[Garz]

I have one of them so wont biased(ly) contribute.

 

[Willo]

As said above, the Boardman you've linked to is single speed compared to an Allez triple, so not really comparable. As far as I'm aware, the cheapest Boardman road bike to compare comes in at over £600, albeit with a higher spec compared to the basic Allez. Speaking to people I know who have owned a few bikes, they rate the Boardmans highly particularly in terms of what you get for the £s.

Saying all that, I will be blatantly biased I have an Allez 24, which I'm really leased with so far. Was the most comfortable for me after sitting on a few, and I like the look of it which inspires me to get up and out.

 

[amnesia]

If you can stretch to £650 for the Boardman Comp (with Tiagra / 105 mix) then get that... if you can't, I would save a little until you can

I sold a virtually brand new one last week for well under £500...

 

[Alien8]

If you looking specifically at triathlons and not much else road riding I would suggest neither bike is your best bet and you might be able to get something more triathlon orientated - but I don't know anything about triathlons.

For general road riding (assuming you mean a geared not single speed Boardman) I would say they are much of a muchness in terms of bang for your buck (but you probably get a bit more from a Boardman).

I looked at both about a year ago and in the end went for an Allez because in the end I just preferred it, look and all, to the Boardman. I've had no trouble with it since.

 

[earth]

The Boardman you posted is a single speed. I don't think you ment to do that

However look at the Specialized.. All the parts are unbranded and it doesn't even specify the rim manufacturer. The only thing that is specified are the mechs and shifter and they are the lowest ones Shimano do. I would not go near that at half the price. You don't really know what you are buying. Because the parts are unbranded they can put what ever parts they find cheapest on it. When a manufacturer puts their name on something they have to uphold thier reputation.

 

[steve52]

i have an allez had it for 3 years now and its been brllient

 

[Paulus]

The Allez frame is very good, And in time is well worth upgrading with a upmarket groupset such as shimano 105 or Campag veloce.

 

[DannO]

Hi, I have an Allez 16 2010 model and so far I have found it very good

 

[Rob3rt]

I am a newby but I'd probly go with the allez out of those 2 (assuing the single speed was not a mistake), although personally I really dislike the appearence of specialized frames, or stretch to buying a boardman geared bike, for between £650-800 vs the allez, but then I'd take it to a different shop and pay them to service it and set it up (I looked at the Hafords boardmans, and they were appalingly set up and assembled, and the guy in the shop pretty much only knew one thing, the carbon was lighter than its aluminium counterpart, he kept repeating this in a droning voice until I left). This again will be bumping up how much its going to cost you though if you go elsewhere to have the set up corrected (although they might check it over and tell you if it needs setting up or not for free - because you may get a decent halfords staff member setting yours up, im sure they arent always bad, but from my local halfords I can only comment - appaling).

 

[Eviljeem]

I had a similar decison to make last year, and I went for the Boardman Comp. Cost me £650 for the geared version, and another £25 at my lbs to set it up how I liked it, he even chucked on a free pair of pedals for my clipless.

I have been very happy with the bike and used it both for commuting in London, and rides out into kent. The only downside is you can't fit mudguards to it.

 

[adscrim]

The only downside is you can't fit mudguards to it.

But you can fit race blades or crud raceguards.