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Chris Boardman bikes - Page 2
dudley 
| 12 Mar 09:11 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | As a general rule, i wont buy anything from Halfords. Their standard range is woeful and their staff knowledge is pitiful. They are a chain pumping volume over quality. However, they are now exclusive stockists of the new(ish)Chris Boardman Range. I like the look of them, and they seem reasonable priced against their competitors. Anyone have any experience of them? thanks in advance |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
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dudley
| 13 Aug 08:14 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | £40 to the local guy. will be pennies well spent. He'll probably sort out all the other Halford's related issues you haven't found yet! |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
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jmagla
| 13 Aug 13:13 |
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Joined: 09 Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile | Well I had a good look at it when I got back from work, the cogs on the rear derailleur look to be misaligned (across all the gears). I took it in and said what I thought was the problem, he tried to say it was only like that when certain gears were selected but told him it was not right. They are now changing the rear derailleur (didnt have a new one in stock, so are taking the one of the display bike, not ideal but shouldnt be a problem....hopefully, I checked that one whilst in the shop and it sounded fine), hope to get it back tonight but may be tomorrow. I hope once this is done , all is well, but like many others it has probably put me off buying a decent bike from them in future. It makes you wonder how it made it past the PDI? :-) I will report back. Cheers Michael |
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jmagla
| 13 Aug 16:08 |
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Joined: 09 Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile | Back again, the derailleur has been changed and all is now good, little or no noise and its like a different bike, I can see why the Boardman's have got such good reviews. I am doing the Great North Bike Ride at the end of the month, so for peace of mind I think I will invest £40 at my LBS. Thanks for all the advice...I am happy again :-) Cheers Michael |
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RonnieG
| 15 Aug 06:36 |
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Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 24 Bike: My Profile | Boardman Hyrbrid Pro here. Awesome looks. Awesome ride. And a great price v spec. Look beyond the halfords issues. Not every LBS is great. Not every other retaler is beyond issues. Get the bike. If it's not 100% set up. Pay a minimal costs to do so at the place of your choice. Perspective: Cars at 10-30k are going through PDI and still an issue on the road for new owners. Not saying this is good/ correct/ fair, but it'll happen. Unless the bike is dangerous, and to be fair....do the brakes work does the handle bar connect with the wheels, are the wheel on tight. The rest is detail, personal preference and tuning. |
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jmagla
| 16 Aug 10:24 |
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Joined: 09 Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile | Hi Ronnie, I agree with your sentiments on the bike, I have the Team Hybrid, have had it out for a couple of decent rides since I got it and (now its been sorted) am very pleased with it. I see your point about looking beyond Halfords, but don’t fully agree with it (and I am certainly not having a go at you here), I would expect them to be able to build up a bike with a reasonable amount of proficiency. I wouldn’t expect to buy an expensive watch for example and then have to take it to an independent watchmaker to have it regulated properly. I think the main reason many people (now including myself) have concerns with them is because of the number of times problems seem to arise. In my case the noise from the rear derailleur was both obvious and excessive and it should never have passed the "inspection", when I took it back another employee tried to fob me off with a reason for the noise. Even the bell wasn’t tightened onto the handlebars properly. I don’t think it is unreasonable when spending fairly large sums of money on a bike to expect it to be set up correctly. To be fair to Halfords, it seems to be fine now after the new derailleur was fitted, and many, many people have bought from them and are very happy. I do think they could, and should up the quality of their service; the original guy who built my bike was perfectly polite etc when I picked it up, but you could cut his lack of interest with a knife. In the Boardman range they have a real diamond, every time I have been in, there are always people looking at them (and picking new ones up), but if they want to make the most of its potential they need to improve their quality of set up. |
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RonnieG
| 18 Aug 02:40 |
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Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 24 Bike: My Profile | Can't disagree with you there. I beleive the issue is, as you allude to, inconsistency. In one store you will get someone who's an enthusiast and competent and able to sell (after all that's what they are in business for). and maybe a backroom mechanic to PDI. In another you'll get varying degrees of that combination. In some places, unfortunatly the scores for interest go into a negative and that's where ,maybe, better awareness by mngt needs to kick in. Shame , because as you say, they have a real diamond in the bike. I believe most stores ranging the bikes went through a vigorous training program and hand over procedure but, unfortunatly, the economics of the present day have caught up and some of these people have either moved on,been moved or redeployed. No different for any business i supose. Glad you're sorted now and we still have a bit of summer left to enjoy. |
| my1minuterant | 19 Aug 05:50 |
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Joined: 19 Aug 2009 Posts: 1 Bike: | After much lobbying, finally my firm to taking part in the Cycle 2 Work scheme. But much to my dismay, they decided to go with Halfords as the supplier. However, the Boardman Comp SC was what I was after so I though what the hey. I have to say that I have never come across a company that didn't want to do business with someone as much as Halfords. I firstly ventured into the Bikehut branch in the City of London and was told that didn't have the bike, were not going to order it for me and didn't when know one would be in. I informed the shop assistant that, according to their website, they had one in stock in the Enfield store. I was told that I could not order it online, and they had no facility for it to be transferred and I would have to go and get it myself. Exaspertated at this point but with the voucher burning a hole in my pocket I did exactly that. The bloke at this store was excellent and duly put my pedals on for me and asked if there was anything else he could do. The bike I have to say, has been worth all the trouble that I had to go through to to get it. In the three weeks I have had it, have never had such a comfortable and quick ride. I think the moral of the story is that Chris Boardman should do something about his distribution network and he'd sell a lot more bikes |
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jmagla
| 19 Aug 08:40 |
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Joined: 09 Jul 2009 Posts: 10 Bike: My Profile | my1minuterant, I agree totally with you, if the Boardman bikes were available elsewhere they would sell a lot more, or if each Halfords store selling these bikes (actually) had a dedicated "Boardman" technician. This is what they say they have, but they dont, not from my experience anyway. Glad you are happy, as I am, with the bike, pity we had to go through so much grief to get there! |
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banbowers
| 19 Aug 08:45 |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7 Bike: My Profile | Hi there are some Halfords stores with Dedicated Boardmen Technicians the Portsmouth store has a Dedicated Boardman Tech .He is very good indeed and knows the Bikes very well .I will agree though that the normal day to day bike People at halfords are realy not up to scratch |
| My Latest Route: May 2011 Portsmouth and Langstone Harbour | |
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jd
| 21 Aug 09:54 |
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Joined: 11 Jul 2009 Posts: 13 Bike: My Profile | Yes i bouht one last year bike ok ,but service crap |
| matt 2612 | 29 Sep 17:50 |
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Joined: 29 Sep 2009 Posts: 1 Bike: | excellent bikes , i have a fs pro mtb , awesome in wales earlier this year , plus i have a comp road bike , very pleased with that also , very well kitted ouy for the money . now for the bad news , had to wait 6 months for mtb , comunication and back up is very poor , as is the mechanical back up , very hit and miss , depending on who you deal with , a couple of good lads who know there stuff and lots that think they do...a real shame for a world champion with good quality bikes .. |
| spenner | 04 Oct 12:30 |
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Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 Bike: | Buying a bike from 'HALFORD'S' then just forget it they can't it right. This is the second time I have bought a bike from there and they cant get it right. I ordered the CBoardman Road Team bike (£799.99) size XL back in June before I went on holiday on the cycle to work scheme, only to fine when I returned they didn't order it, so over a month later they finalling got it in. The bike was excellant unit just over 3 weeks ago some prick pulled out in front of me in his car and wrote off my bike and put me in hospital. I ordered the same bike 'CBoardman Road Team bike (£799.99) size XL' over the phone as the insurance had paid out in full on my bike. I thought I was in luck when they said they one in "great I will have that". Went to pick it up even thought I still cant ride because I have a busted shoulder. The guy comes out with my nice new bike which looks very small for me 'Thats because its a medium'. So god only know's when I will get a new bike oh well at least my shoulder will be ok by then.... So for the long rant folk's just think Halford's are a waste of space. Very unhappy Halford's customer. |
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dudley
| 05 Oct 03:39 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | sorry to hear about the accident, Spenner. Hope you're moving again soon. Not unduly surprised regarding Halfords, though! One thing that i'm keen to sort out. Boardman sizing is S, M, L, XL rather than standard frame sizing. As you cant get a demo ride out of Halfords, and the model you want is usually out of stock, how the hell did you go about getting the right one?! |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
| saundinho | 07 Oct 17:20 |
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Joined: 07 Oct 2009 Posts: 3 Bike: | Hi, has anyone with a Boardman road bike experienced any problems descending with regards to front wheel wobble. I have had the bike since August 08 and the first time I descended a steep hill the whole front end wobbled to an alarming degree. I took it back to Halfords store and explained the problem. After having it a couple of days I phoned up and they said there was nothing wrong with it. After insisting there was, they put a new front wheel on. Needless to say this had no effect and the wobble continued. I learned to put up with it and using my rear brake to slow down it usually rectified it, but defeats the object of descending!!! Just last Thursday whilst going down a steep hill, the wobble came on so sudden and violent that the front wheel went from under me and I ended up in A&E with stitches and very nasty road rash (still healing). Any advice and comments or similar experiences welcome. Thanx |
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mattk
| 08 Oct 05:16 |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 116 Bike: My Profile | Hi Saundinho, Have you got disc brakes? If this only occurs when using your front brakes then it could well be your disc thats warped. If you'd been using the brakes quite a bit they can get really hot and if you stop at lights or something and apply your brakes the pads can compress the metal on discs. This would cause the front to wobble as you say. It happened to me and I too wondered what was going on. If this is the case you just need to replace the brake rotor (disc). Sorry to hear about the accident... glad to hear you're on the mend. The wobble could have worked the wheel loose which could explain why the wheel came off. |
| My Latest Route: Feb 2010 National Cycle Network 15 NCN | |
| saundinho | 10 Oct 18:17 |
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Joined: 07 Oct 2009 Posts: 3 Bike: | Hi, the wheel didnt actually come off it just swayed violently and made the front wheel leave the road. No I dont have the disc brakes either!! I use the rear brakes if i feel the wobble coming on and this usually slows down enough to reduce wobble! Its very un-nerving, but the bike is great apart from that, good spec etc. if only halfords could fix it or do something about it i would be more than happy to still use the bike!! Cheers |
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banbowers
| 12 Oct 03:46 |
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Joined: 20 Jul 2009 Posts: 7 Bike: My Profile | Hi there Get halfords to check and Tighten the head stock as the Boardman tech that set up my Bike said that being carbon Fibre they can compress with use and get loose and just need tightning up after about 60 to 100 miles or so |
| My Latest Route: May 2011 Portsmouth and Langstone Harbour | |
| saundinho | 12 Oct 18:08 |
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Joined: 07 Oct 2009 Posts: 3 Bike: | Hi, I took it back after 3 weeks from new and they checked it over! I had it serviced by them several weeks later and only recently had a new headset fitted!! I have had an email from them asking to take the bike in to assess it. So hopefully they will take it seriously now i've had an accident on it! So fingers crossed!! |
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mattk
| 13 Oct 05:12 |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 116 Bike: My Profile | Yeah, don't be scared of taking it back though - a new bike should be fit for the job its intended for. If need be, get them to replace it! |
| My Latest Route: Feb 2010 National Cycle Network 15 NCN | |
| spenner | 08 Nov 05:46 |
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Joined: 01 Jul 2009 Posts: 6 Bike: | I wish Halford weren't the only people stocking Boardman bikes, it took them 5 weeks and three goes to get the me the correct size and bike...What can I say Halfords cant do their job at all. If it wasnt for them stocking a cracking bike I would of gone somewhere else. On another note have any seen the new 'Limited Edition' bikes Boardman have just brought out. Check out his website http://www.boardmanbikes.com/ I bet you cant get hold of one though with only 500 being made and Chris is having one for himself... |
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globalfish
| 27 Nov 20:15 |
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Joined: 27 Nov 2009 Posts: 14 Bike: My Profile | I wouldn't say it's exactly difficult - there aren't really many things to adjust. It's far easier to sort than a bit of c**p Ikea junk. At the worst it's a few screws and a cable. If you can't do that, I hope you don't drive! |
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dudley
| 07 Dec 10:07 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | it's not whether you can, it's whether you should. |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
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mattk
| 07 Dec 12:27 |
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Joined: 07 Apr 2009 Posts: 116 Bike: My Profile | I agree with Dudley here, if you buy a new bike from a bike shop it should be properly setup (as they advertise) and fit for its job without having to tweek anything. Of course it always helps if you have an idea of how to tweek settings for a couple of months down the line when cables begin to stretch and parts start to wear/break in. |
| My Latest Route: Feb 2010 National Cycle Network 15 NCN | |
| samwardill | 04 Jan 15:55 |
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Joined: 04 Jan 2010 Posts: 1 Bike: | I have a Boardman Comp 09. I have had a lot of problems with the tyres. They often come off (tyres come out of the rim) when pumping up. I tried to use some Marathon tyres and I had to give up because the tyres would not stay on. Recently the inner tubes seem to keep folding over on themselves. It feels like the rim is too small. Has anyone else seen this issue? Any ideas? Should I use a smaller tube? |
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dudley
| 10 Feb 04:46 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | any advice on sizing? ever more complicated these days as everyone's frame geometries are different, metric, imperial etc. if i was buying a bike for £150, i'd sit on it and say "that's about right" When i'm spending £1,000, i want to be sure it fits. I'm finally getting round to getting the Team Carbon (missed the Cycle to Work window last year through dithering) Halfords will not let you have a test ride Halfords refused to put pedals on the display model in the shop to see how it fitted stationary hard to judge fit when you can't put feet on the pedals, and get lots of tuts when you want the saddle up and down. Desperately trying to find someone local who has one willing to let me ride a couple of hundred yards! we used to get more customer service in this Country buying three brass screws for a shilling from the local hardware store than we do now buying something for £1,000! Halfords, I'm sure you're coining it in courtesy of Mr Boardman, but you'd make even more money if you trained your staff beyond KFC levels... |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
| boardman-comp | 14 Feb 16:51 |
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Joined: 12 Jan 2010 Posts: 3 Bike: | i agree in a way that when u buy a new bike u shouldnt have to mess about with gears etc, but the truth is cables stretch etc. i have a boardman comp, and yes when i bought it, i wasnt impressed, but only because it had sram x5 shifters and the shimano chain snapped.halfords replaced the chain for a sram {free of course}.then £50 for sram x9 shifters and now its as good as any bike double the price. it aint your rims m8 its the continental tyres there a loose fit but do the job. |
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dudley
| 23 Mar 04:46 |
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Joined: 16 Jan 2009 Posts: 498 Bike: My Profile | Well, after a year of titting about, then waiting for the company C2W scheme window to open, my Boardman Team Carbon arrived on Saturday afternoon. a 15 mile shake down ride on Sunday with the Allen keys to set it up, and get used to the SRAM double tap system, and i'm good to go. cycled to work this morning (13 miles) and whilst the fitness level has a way to go to get back to where it was, the machine is fantastic. A joy. Furthermore, whilst my initial dealings with Halfords were poor, it turns out that the Boardman trained chap was on holiday. When he was around, all other staff deferred all things Boardman to him, and he set the bike up faultlessly and quickly. No noises, ticking gears, rubbing things. Smooth as. I am delighted with the bike, and surprisingly delighted with the service provided by Halfords (Dunfermline) After the 6week free check up, i think i'll revert to the LBS for servicing and spares. It is closer, and they are good for coffee and a chat! In short, a £1000, through C2W at around half price cannot be bad, particularly when rated as one of the best bikes available in this price bracket. I've already encountered bike snobs who turn their nose up at it, and others who drool. I'm a drooler. |
| My Latest Route: Nov 2009 Forth Estuary Circular | |
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geeka
| 06 Apr 09:11 |
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Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 50 Bike: My Profile | hi guys ive had a boardman hybrid since july and its been a joy to ride, got some more off road tyres which helped on the canal paths near me (leeds liverpool canal). id highly recommend them as most people have said it depends what halfords branch you actually goto as some are good and some shocking, im quite lucky as the one in keighley is good. ive taken out the bike maintainance contract (34 quid for 3 years) and you get an annual service as well as fitting anything new needed. ive taken it down afew times due afew issues with brakes and gears and they have just sorted them for no charge. |
| simbob | 30 Jul 10:51 |
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Joined: 30 Jul 2010 Posts: 1 Bike: | I am having the same dilemma here, the boardman hybrid pro is the better value for money, i know this. But i am having trouble with the whole halfords thing (last bike i bought there was a raleigh burner in 1982!). Saying this i wanted to try a Cannondale Bad Boy 700 from my LBS (supplier of specialised/cannondale/trek/lapierre/marin/commencal). It took 3 weeks to get it out of their warehouse, no-one ever returned my calls, when it did arrive it was the previous years model and this year's is all sold out. When my disappointment was obvious their interest waned rapidly. I'm sure their mechanics know what they're doing, but don't assume just because a shop stocks great brands means the customer service is any better. As there is no other Cannondale supplier for 40 miles i am leaning back towards the Boardman and this forum may just have convinced me. |
| new2cycling | 20 Aug 08:34 |
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Joined: 20 Aug 2010 Posts: 1 Bike: | I was this close to buying a carrera valour, but at the last min a friend of mine offered his boardman hybrid comp bike to me for £250 (he lost intrest after 2 rides). Have read a load of reviews so snaped it off him. The only problem that does seem to pop up is the tyres. Just looking for a bit of advice, are the standard tyres any good and if not what tyres would you recomend?? |
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