Bike advice - 1000 euro ish, carbon frame?

Davemcfar

Hi all,

My old olmo aluminium bike has seen better days and am thinking of upgrading.

Thinking about the Boardman http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon.html
Anyone any experience?

Any other bikes for that kind of money you can recommend?

New or second hand,

Cheers, Dave

ROK ON

Davemcfar wrote: »

Hi all,

My old olmo aluminium bike has seen better days and am thinking of upgrading.

Thinking about the Boardman http://www.boardmanbikes.com/road/road_team_carbon.html
Anyone any experience?

Any other bikes for that kind of money you can recommend?

New or second hand,

Cheers, Dave

A UK based bike company (Terry Dolan) had a special offer on twitter yesterday.
His top of range Dolan Aurora bike for 1250stg.
I cycle a Dolan and it is a fine bike.

Maybe worth checking out.

Davemcfar

Cheers mate I'll look into it
Do you know where I can get dolan bikes in northern or southern Ireland?

jdt101

Davemcfar wrote: »

Cheers mate I'll look into it
Do you know where I can get dolan bikes in northern or southern Ireland?

Kilgrews in Cork.

ROK ON

Davemcfar wrote: »

Cheers mate I'll look into it
Do you know where I can get dolan bikes in northern or southern Ireland?

You can.
Worldwide Cycles in Clonmel
Wheelworx in Dublin
Siopa Rothar in Limerick

However the special offer was only direct from Dolan.

Go onto Twitter.com and do a search for Dolan Bikes to search for the special offer.

Http//:twitter.com/Dolan_Bikes

Full ultegra 6700 Aurora but has askium wheels.
Still good value I thought.

Davemcfar

Cheers, I'll check it out

So any comments on the boardman bike?

Russman

I guess somebody has to say it so here goes.... :-)
Planet X seems to be popular with the guys on the forum, full carbon with Ultegra or Rival for around the €1000 or thereabouts. Gotta be worth a look IMO

Bikerbhoy

Dolan - Hollingsworth Templeogue

Davemcfar

Great value alright,

Not sure if I like the look, nice but think the boardman looks a bit better?

ROK ON wrote: »

You can.
Worldwide Cycles in Clonmel
Wheelworx in Dublin
Siopa Rothar in Limerick

However the special offer was only direct from Dolan.

Go onto Twitter.com and do a search for Dolan Bikes to search for the special offer.

Http//:twitter.com/Dolan_Bikes

Full ultegra 6700 Aurora but has askium wheels.
Still good value I thought.

jdt101

Russman wrote: »

I guess somebody has to say it so here goes.... :-)
Planet X seems to be popular with the guys on the forum, full carbon with Ultegra or Rival for around the €1000 or thereabouts. Gotta be worth a look IMO

What is a Planet X? :D:D

Russman

LoL, some obscure brand that nobody on here rides.........allegedly

Davemcfar

Russman wrote: »

LoL, some obscure brand that nobody on here rides.........allegedly

Planet x are decent bikes but been reading some great reviews on the boardman, which no one seems to know much about?

jdt101

Russman wrote: »

LoL, some obscure brand that nobody on here rides.........allegedly

Is it a bicycle?

Lumen

Russman wrote: »

I guess somebody has to say it so here goes.... :-)
Planet X seems to be popular with the guys on the forum, full carbon with Ultegra or Rival for around the €1000 or thereabouts. Gotta be worth a look IMO

More like €1200 at current exchange rates. I blame the Greeks.

Russman

Davemcfar wrote: »

Planet x are decent bikes but been reading some great reviews on the boardman, which no one seems to know much about?

To be honest I'm no expert by any means but personally I think the Boardman looks a little better, not mad about the very sloping top tube on the PX {ducks his head while waiting for the blows to rain in} But a lot on this forum seem to have them and swear by them. With a few honorable exceptions.

Mind you I wouldn't say no to either !

Russman

Lumen wrote: »

More like €1200 at current exchange rates. I blame the Greeks.

Correct, forgot about that whole little hiccup the ould Euro is having.......

blorg

Planet X is a great bike and there are a lot of owners on here. The Boardman gets very good reviews- the main sticking point seems to be that assembly can be a bit hit and miss with Halfords but you could always get a competent mechanic like Mr Skeffington to give it the once over so I wouldn't let that put you off too much.

Given that the Aurora frame retails at £895 on its own though if you are happy with the integrated seatpost and 170mm cranks that is cracking value. Although they say 6700 the pic looks like it is 6600 but I wouldn't let that put you off. Aksiums are good wheels on a bike in that price range, solid wheels.

http://twitpic.com/1n4c6k

Davemcfar

Russman wrote: »

To be honest I'm no expert by any means but personally I think the Boardman looks a little better, not mad about the very sloping top tube on the PX {ducks his head while waiting for the blows to rain in} But a lot on this forum seem to have them and swear by them. With a few honorable exceptions.

Mind you I wouldn't say no to either !

Yeah I agree, fancy sloping top tubes are more for the ladies

Think I might just take the plunge and get the boardman, then review it here

ednwireland

here have them boardmans available exclusively from halfords, couple of guys here have them i think (prob out racing), seen a few out on sportives nice looking bike. the ritchey wheels didnt get a great rep but if your not heavy shouldnt cause a prob, i'm sure someome who owns one will appear.

plenty of planet x's around as well

i bought a focus cayo from wiggle

ther you go
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055871920&highlight=boardman
bones36 has one

Davemcfar

blorg wrote: »

Planet X is a great bike and there are a lot of owners on here. The Boardman gets very good reviews- the main sticking point seems to be that assembly can be a bit hit and miss with Halfords but you could always get a competent mechanic like Mr Skeffington to give it the once over so I wouldn't let that put you off too much.

Given that the Aurora frame retails at £895 on its own though if you are happy with the integrated seatpost and 170mm cranks that is cracking value. Although they say 6700 the pic looks like it is 6600 but I wouldn't let that put you off. Aksiums are good wheels on a bike in that price range, solid wheels.

http://twitpic.com/1n4c6k

Yeah Halfords arent exactly specialists in assembling road bikes so I'd look after that myself.

Sounds silly but just not too mad about how the dolan looks. Great spec for the price though

mike12

Hi,
Not all halfords are bad on the assembly have a boardman hybrid myself from them no probs with it at all, All the boardman bikes seem to get great reviews the best bike in the price range seems to be a fairly common assesment, went to the Halfords in swords there is a Foirgen guy who works there who is big into his bikes and will look after u.
Mike

tomc

Dont overlook the Focus from Wiggle, in and around the same price. The have a limited edition for 2010 with a choice of colours, saw the Blue out on the road near Templeogue this week and I went a dark shade of Green:cool:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Cayo_105_2010_Ltd_Edition/5360045298/

TomC

papac

Think I might just take the plunge and get the boardman,

My friend bought the Boardman team a few weeks ago and is delighted with it.
I had a few spins myself and could not find any fault with the bike.
As it comes out of the shop its not a comfy all day bike-a bit stiff and buzzy.(I am used to a plusher bike however). A change of bar tape and some 25mm tyres should make it alright for all day spins though imo.

Worth noting you can get 15% off you or someone you know has an axa insurance policy. I have got this discount several times now and never been asked for evidence.

Also my friend is really tall so needed an extra large which took two weeks to order from UK. They matched the sterling price in euro because of this. Price was 999 euros. Maybe if you find a Halfords online that doesn't have the bike you want in stock you could do this also. My buddy paid 850 euros for his team carbon after they took off the axa discount from the already reduced price.:eek:

mike12

papac wrote: »

My friend bought the Boardman team a few weeks ago and is delighted with it.
I had a few spins myself and could not find any fault with the bike.
As it comes out of the shop its not a comfy all day bike-a bit stiff and buzzy.(I am used to a plusher bike however). A change of bar tape and some 25mm tyres should make it alright for all day spins though imo.

Worth noting you can get 15% off you or someone you know has an axa insurance policy. I have got this discount several times now and never been asked for evidence.

Also my friend is really tall so needed an extra large which took two weeks to order from UK. They matched the sterling price in euro because of this. Price was 999 euros. Maybe if you find a Halfords online that doesn't have the bike you want in stock you could do this also. My buddy paid 850 euros for his team carbon after they took off the axa discount from the already reduced price.:eek:

http://www.groupschemes.com/partners.html
Join up here if you don't have AXA again they look for no proof that you work in the Airport the Discount is 10% in Halfords. Did you look into doing the bikes to work scheme.
Regards Mike

blorg

papac wrote: »

My buddy paid 850 euros for his team carbon after they took off the axa discount from the already reduced price.:eek:

:eek: is right, that is phenomenal.

Paul Kiernan

While the Boardman and Planet-X are great bikes (I have a PX myself and love it:)) the Dolan is a 2k bike while the others are 1k bikes!

If you weren't happy with the Aksiums great price here for Ksyrium Elites.

Having said that if you can get the Boardman for €850 that's not much more than half the Dolan price at current sterling rate.

papac

is right, that is phenomenal.

Yeah- I was tempted by the pro carbon-1300 with those dicounts. Limited stocks so would be easy to find a shop that would have to order one.
Has to be the cheapest 7.2 kilo bike on the planet. (with judicious wheel trading you could have a sub uci limit bike for under 2 grand I reckon.)
It would always be a Boardman though.:)

kona

AFAIK Boardman are like apple I-pods etc and no Discounts are offered on them as Boardman want to keep the bike "premium" and have a set price. I think Mr.Papacs friend was very lucky.

No way in hell are Halfords making enough margin on the boardman selling it at e850, Id imagine thats very very close to Cost.
Those AXA things are great you get discounts everywhere with it.:)

Lumen

papac wrote: »

Has to be the cheapest 7.2 kilo bike on the planet

Is it really that weight?

papac

Is it really that weight?

Afair. Maybe a tad either way but you just have to pick it up really. Its feckin' light.

I think Mr.Papacs friend was very lucky.

I asked in my local store and was told if I ordered a Pro Carbon Large it would take two weeks and I would get it at the sterling rate minus the axa discount. Halfords are screwing the exchange rate anyway- 999 sterling is not 1250 euros (or certainly wasn't a short while ago.)-so they aren't losing that much. - Halfords can well afford to get stung on a few high end bikes imo.

kona

papac wrote: »

I asked in my local store and was told if I ordered a Pro Carbon Large it would take two weeks and I would get it at the sterling rate minus the axa discount. Halfords are screwing the exchange rate anyway- 999 sterling is not 1250 euros (or certainly wasn't a short while ago.)-so they aren't losing that much. - Halfords can well afford to get stung on a few high end bikes imo.

No doubt as a masive company they could afford to give them away.....However they are a business and have to MAKE money not lose it.

No hurt in asking but perhaps name the exact store you got this in so everybody can avail of it;)...Halfords have a contract to sell Boardman exclusive for 7 years or something, Im sure the price structure RE:discounts is applied here. Matching Euro to Sterling is at the managers discretion obviously and getting 15% on top is a unbelievably good deal....so good that Id imagine Halfords are making nothing on the bike....matching sterling 1 for 1 is going to lose halfords ,money on tax and costs etc.
THen knocking off 15% is going to rape their margins. Even at RRP Id say they make around 20% profit on those Boardmans. Suddenly for you they are making maybe 3% on the bike... e30 profit on a e1200 bike isnt worth stocking.

BTW the Euro has taken a serious Dive in the last few days so Id get in while you can

papac

However they are a business and have to MAKE money not lose it.

I am a business myself and I know all about that. Sometimes I forget to dot my i's and cross my t's and I take a bit of a hit and somebody gets a good deal-that's life.Seems that's whats happened here.

Just hope some corporate lackey doesn't read this and go running to management to tell em they've fcuked up.-

kona

papac wrote: »

I am a business myself and I know all about that. Sometimes I forget to dot my i's and cross my t's and I take a bit of a hit and somebody gets a good deal-that's life.Seems that's whats happened here.

Just hope some corporate lackey doesn't read this and go running to management to tell em they've fcuked up.-

I dont think this is a dot the i and cross the T, they obviously know that they are basically making a loss on the bike.....Similar retardism that was displayed by investors recentley. Maybe Halfords ae so stupid and incompetant, not only can they manage to repair bikes to a crap standard, they can also manage to make no profit on a e800 sale.

Im just saying that people should get freaked when they try the same and are refused, thats all, your mate was lucky, perhaps the reason for such a deal had more to it that simply getting a bike silly cheap.

Why would anybody inform management of a **** up? If anything they be waiting for them to be fired due to **** ups, not doing their jobs for them.


Also ask your mate how long those frames are guarateed for !

Davemcfar

Can I throw the cervelo s1 into the mix, any comments?

Lumen

Davemcfar wrote: »

Can I throw the cervelo s1 into the mix, any comments?

It's not even close to €1000, unless you're talking about just the frameset.

Davemcfar

Lumen wrote: »

It's not even close to €1000, unless you're talking about just the frameset.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=65379692

Its a little more expensive but is it worth it?

papac

used it for a season and half its been well cared for and being washed and maintained on a regular basis.

So it been used for somewhere between 0 km and 20000 km and had some servicing and cleaning. That's good to know.:)

Davemcfar

papac wrote: »

So it been used for somewhere between 0 km and 20000 km and had some servicing and cleaning. That's good to know.:)

The grey hazy elements of buying second hand

olmo

Hey Davemcfar, Did u get the Boardman?Im looking at 1 also especially as if I can get 15% Axa discount and the bike to work scheme:D Will u give a report on how u got on? Thanks Olmo

Davemcfar

Hi Olmo,

Bought one last week. My advice is Halfords in Swords, great service and nice set up
Halfords in Carrickmines was my nearest but.... went elsewhere
Very happy with it, worth every penny, very light and nippy

olmo

Well done davemcfar happy cycling on it. I dropped into Halfords in Coolock today. Guy told me I can get the Axa 15% discount but not with the bike to work scheme!I dont see why I cant as they get paid either way.Ill check in another Halfords store and see what they say.

ipodrocker

ok im in the similar position, have my eye on the planet x carbon, but now seen cannondale have nice carbon one called synapse.

am now wondering what people have here in terms of carbon bike apart from the boardman which a few earlier posters have said they have.

ednwireland

ipodrocker wrote: »

ok im in the similar position, have my eye on the planet x carbon, but now seen cannondale have nice carbon one called synapse.

am now wondering what people have here in terms of carbon bike apart from the boardman which a few earlier posters have said they have.

well last year we were all talking about these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Focus_Focus_Cayo_105_2010_Ltd_Edition/5360045298


i got one as did a few other people ( some complain about cable rattle on the top tube brake cable but i cant say i notice it)

although i did really want a ribble sportive racing (but they have serious supply issues )

and then planet x is prob the best value out there

ipodrocker

yeah i have noticed the planet x bikes have done up in price recently.

would the sram rival be better groupset than shimano 105?

Lumen

ipodrocker wrote: »

would the sram rival be better groupset than shimano 105?

The shifting works differently on SRAM, so there are subjective elements to the comparison (read up on Double Tap if you're interested). I believe Rival is lighter.

Can't speak for their relative longevity, but I personally prefer SRAM to 105, or anything by Shimano for that matter.

Basically, SRAM is only worse if you hate Double Tap. Which some people do.

ipodrocker

cheers for that i heard of Double Tap a while ago just didnt read much into it but looks pretty cool.

so im guessing you would go for Time or Look Keo pedals.

Lumen

ipodrocker wrote: »

cheers for that i heard of Double Tap a while ago just didnt read much into it but looks pretty cool.

so im guessing you would go for Time or Look Keo pedals.

If one pedal system was obviously better than all the others then all the others would go out of business, then there would be only one pedal system, which there isn't.

I have Time pedals. I got them because they are French - this is the most important aspect of pedal function. I'd owned Looks before which are also French, and was quite happy with them but was curious to try something different (I believe Sarkozy suffers from similar temptations).

Anyway, the front part of one of my most expensive Time pedals snapped off recently, and others have reported a similar problem. Merde.

Davemcfar

I used to use shimano but I find the sram rival better, the double tap takes a little bit of getting used to but feels better now that I am

ednwireland

toying with the idea of speedplays as the new looks (keo max 2) seem intent on buggering up my knees my old looks are fine though

olmo

Picking up my new Boardman tomorrow afternoon. Thinking of getting the Look Keo 2 Max Alberto Contador pedals in the morning so maybe go for a spin in the eve:D.Im like a pig in xxxx

Davemcfar

Best of luck, see ya on the road