Want a Boardman!!

[GrasB]

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.

 

[John the Monkey]

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.

 

[John the Monkey]

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)

 

[GrasB]

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.

 

[Matty]

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.

 

[John the Monkey]

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.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

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.

 

[rsvdaz]

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

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

 

[pickup1980]

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

 

[GrasB]

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.

 

[bauldbairn]

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.

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.

 

[rsvdaz]

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

 

[red devil]

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.

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.

 

[gaz]

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

 

[GrasB]

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.

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.