Has Boardman Team been Obsoleted?

Timmyboy

Story here when I went to Halfords to enquire about getting a bicycle on the Cycle to Work schme and went looking for pricing information and availability details.

Anyhow I was enquiring about two bicycles, the Team Carbon and the Team (made of Aluminium). Got the prices for both from the staff who were very helpful (Tralee branch). Was told that the Axa voucher would not work along with the Cycle to Work scheme. :mad::(:rolleyes: I am upset over this.

To cut a long story short. This narrowed my choice down to the Team which was about 375 Euros Cheaper and carrying the same groupset seemed to be the one to get the formal Cycle to Work quotation on.

Anyway one of the staff goes to check on the price and availability only to find out that the Boardman Team (SRAM Rival, Aluminium Frame, Ritchey wheels and kit) is no longer available and being obsoleted.

Any one aware of this?

Also, any one aware of when the new Boardman 2011 range may come out so as that this obsoleted model would be replaced by another?

Currently I thik that I may also need to consider the Boardman CX Pro as another option for a bit extra durability for Kerry roads and commuting? Any opinions on this instead of a pure Road Racing bike like the Team?

Thanks for all assistance.

knipper

I bought a Boardman Team Carbon a few months ago and they tried to refuse me the 15% Axa discount.
They said it could not be used in conjunction with other offers..
When I challenged them on this nicely and asked if I could speak to a manager they changed their minds and let me have the discount.
I argued and I think its perfectly reasonable that they get the exact same money from the bike to work scheme as they would for a cash purchase.
So there is no good reason that you can't get this discount except they think cos people are getting the tax break that they wont fight for this discount.
The cycle to work scheme is not a Halfords offer by any stretch of the imagination.
The staff agreed with me when I explained this and there was no problem.
This was in the Cork branch.
I would think about going back in to discuss this with them if I were you.
Best of luck with it.

c montgomery

Hi tommy,

I have a team boardman which was 1000 and my friend has the team carbon which is 1250. Those prices were changed about 2 months ago, revised up 250 each.

The new range should be out this/next month back at the original prices, or so i have been told by my friend who works there.

If i had my time again id get the carbon bike for 250euro more. It looks much better and once you have a carbon bike you prob wont want to upgarde but if you have the aluminum one youll always want the carbon:D

c montgomery

knipper wrote: »

I bought a Boardman Team Carbon a few months ago and they tried to refuse me the 15% Axa discount.
They said it could not be used in conjunction with other offers..
When I challenged them on this nicely and asked if I could speak to a manager they changed their minds and let me have the discount.
I argued and I think its perfectly reasonable that they get the exact same money from the bike to work scheme as they would for a cash purchase.
So there is no good reason that you can't get this discount except they think cos people are getting the tax break that they wont fight for this discount.
The cycle to work scheme is not a Halfords offer by any stretch of the imagination.
The staff agreed with me when I explained this and there was no problem.
This was in the Cork branch.
I would think about going back in to discuss this with them if I were you.
Best of luck with it.

AFAIK if your company are dealing with the bike to work scheme themselves you should get the discount. However if your company is getting a third party like bike2work.ie to do all the administration and stuff you will not get the discount as halfords pay this company directly 10% of the purchase price which is where your discount goes.

Timmyboy

Cheers Knipper.

It is definitely worth a shot with arguing the point about the Axa voucher again I think. I think that I will need to make the points that you made directly to the manager myself and be certain about it.

I would go for the Team Carbon if I get the Axa voucher bargain.

Otherwise it's the aluminium Team or whatever remains if it is still available....?

Lumen

Timmyboy wrote: »

Currently I thik that I may also need to consider the Boardman CX Pro as another option for a bit extra durability for Kerry roads and commuting? Any opinions on this instead of a pure Road Racing bike like the Team?

A cyclocross bike is not necessary for cycling on the road.

knipper

Just to let you know I got my bike through the bike2work system so doubt that should make any difference.
A friend did the same when he got his Boardman Team.
Best of luck.

flatface

c montgomery wrote: »

Hi tommy,
The new range should be out this/next month back at the original prices, or so i have been told by my friend who works there.

Really? Did he comment on the spec - any differences?

Timmyboy

c montgomery wrote: »

AFAIK if your company are dealing with the bike to work scheme themselves you should get the discount. However if your company is getting a third party like bike2work.ie to do all the administration and stuff you will not get the discount as halfords pay this company directly 10% of the purchase price which is where your discount goes.

Thanks c montgomery,

I will check with my company on Monday to find out how they do the handling of the payment as part of the bike to work scheme. I think that my company might be handling it by direct pay/ Purchase Order style payment themselves.

If that is the case then I will get back down to Halfords and see if I can negotiate me for the Axa voucher benefit and hopefully be successful with that based on what others have achieved. I hope that if they can see that they will be receivin the equivalent cash value as if I had walked in without the cycle to Work scheme that they will allow me to receive the Axa voucher benefit.

I think that the Carbon Fibre if I could get it at the 1275 or so (based on the 15% Axa discount from the original basic price of 1500) would be a good price for the bike.

At this stage Carbon Fibre would be my general preference but I still have wishes for durability and something about the extra weight and material grade of the CX bike seems attractive to me and that was why I mentioned it. Just that little bit tougher and stiffer I guess than the regular Aluminium Team (which I think is 6061 aluminium, rather than the crosser CX which I think is heavier weight 7005 aluminium)

All going well though I will be successful with the Axa voucher and can get the Carbon Fibre based Boardman Team before long.....

Here is me wishing positively.:)

Timmyboy

c montgomery wrote: »

AFAIK if your company are dealing with the bike to work scheme themselves you should get the discount. However if your company is getting a third party like bike2work.ie to do all the administration and stuff you will not get the discount as halfords pay this company directly 10% of the purchase price which is where your discount goes.

Thanks c montgomery,

I will check with my company on Monday to find out how they do the handling of the payment as part of the bike to work scheme. I think that my company might be handling it by direct pay/ Purchase Order style payment themselves.

If that is the case then I will get back down to Halfords and see if I can negotiate me for the Axa voucher benefit and hopefully be successful with that based on what others have achieved. I hope that if they can see that they will be receivin the equivalent cash value as if I had walked in without the cycle to Work scheme that they will allow me to receive the Axa voucher benefit.

I think that the Carbon Fibre if I could get it at the 1275 or so (based on the 15% Axa discount from the original basic price of 1500) would be a good price for the bike.

At this stage Carbon Fibre would be my general preference but I still have wishes for durability and something about the extra weight and material grade of the CX bike seems attractive to me and that was why I mentioned it. Just that little bit tougher and stiffer I guess than the regular Aluminium Team (which I think is 6061 aluminium, rather than the crosser CX which I think is heavier weight 7005 aluminium)

All going well though I will be successful with the Axa voucher and can get the Carbon Fibre based Boardman Team before long.....

Here is me wishing positively.:)

Gers_punto

Cutting along story short here.... The Road Team Carbon And The Road Team are both obselete.

Dont hold your breathe on the new stock as it aint coming into full circulation until December, with dribs and drabs arriving at select stores in the mean time

Timmyboy

Gers_punto wrote: »

Cutting along story short here.... The Road Team Carbon And The Road Team are both obselete.

Dont hold your breathe on the new stock as it aint coming into full circulation until December, with dribs and drabs arriving at select stores in the mean time

Thanks for this information Gers_punto.

Not good for me. I am going to try to do a deal for a Road Team Carbon with the Rival shifters if there is still one available in my size.
I met a supervisor today who was positive and helpful. Seems that they work with a voucher system in order to process the payments on the Cycle to work scheme and it appears that this is why they are unable or unwilling to offer me the 15% discount from Axa. Bummer!:(

I did discuss with him though that would it be possible to at least apply the 15% voucher to the non 1000 value part of the Government scheme. This might be possible. I am going to drop back to the shop tomorrow or Wednesday to see if I can get at least 15% off the 500 Euro price part that is not under the 1000 Government portion Cycle to Work piece of the Road Team Carbon. That would get the price down to 1425. Still the best value Carbon bike that I can get in Kerry.

This is really outside of my budget by way too much but I am thinking that it is what to get if I can.

I am concerned that the Cycle to Work scheme will get the drop in the next Budget. If I cannot get a Road Team Carbon then I will try for the Boardman CX Pro and do it up with Continental Grand Prix 4000 S tyres. That's where my thoughts are going right now.....:rolleyes: (I quite like the idea of putting some momentum into the CX on good tyres and passing some guys on Carbon Fibre bikes if I could manage it;))

Gers_punto

what is your size buddy ???

cdaly_

Timmyboy wrote: »

I met a supervisor today who was positive and helpful. Seems that they work with a voucher system in order to process the payments on the Cycle to work scheme and it appears that this is why they are unable or unwilling to offer me the 15% discount from Axa. Bummer!:(

Ignore all that and don't mention Bike To Work.

1. Choose your bike.
2. Demand the Axa discount
3. Ask for an invoice.
4. Bring invoice to work and have them raise a cheque.
5. Bring cheque to shop.
6. Take bike away

The Bike To Work scheme is relevant to the shop only if you're working through a Bike To Work broker (who take up to 10% commission in the handiest consumer rip-off I've seen in recent times). The shop doesn't need to process any 'Bike To Work' payments, they just need to issue an invoice and get paid...

If they're really picky about it, ask work to raise the cheque before you go to the shop, then get invoice and pay with cheque at the same time.

knipper

I'm surprised they are being so stubborn about the 15%.
I used the bike2work scheme and had no problem getting the sterling price match discount.
In fact I then used the 15% halfords voucher you get with the bike2work voucher and got that discount as well!
This brought the team carbon from 1249 to 850.
This meant I had to cancel my original order (Boardman comp)and ordered the higher spec bike (team carbon)but I was not leaving without using my full discount esp if it meant upgrading to the team carbon.
I read about this on a thread on boards and chanced my arm, a friend did the same when buying the comp.
I know I prob should not have gotten the second discount but there should be no problem getting the AXA discount.
Might be worth trying to get a sterling pricematch instead of the 15% off.
I know they used to do that when I bought mine about 2 months ago.
Best of luck its worth putting in the effort if it gets you a better bike.

younge

Gers_punto wrote: »

Cutting along story short here.... The Road Team Carbon And The Road Team are both obselete.

Dont hold your breathe on the new stock as it aint coming into full circulation until December, with dribs and drabs arriving at select stores in the mean time

Can I ask why you say obselate, going ordering one tomorrow through cycle to work scheme? Team carbon that is- still a great bike according to 99% reviews, actually even 100%

Inquitus

younge wrote: »

Can I ask why you say obselate, going ordering one tomorrow through cycle to work scheme? Team carbon that is- still a great bike according to 99% reviews, actually even 100%

It's also 150 euro off as of today so 1349.99 yoyos

blorg

younge wrote: »

Can I ask why you say obselate, going ordering one tomorrow through cycle to work scheme? Team carbon that is- still a great bike according to 99% reviews, actually even 100%

I took it to mean discontinued, e.g. they aren't making that particular model any more and it will be replaced next year. Nothing wrong with the bike.

Timmyboy

At least I have not purchased just yet. If I cannot get the AXA voucher benefit then this reduction at least may be the best way to get me on a carbon bike.

I will try to vist the store over the next two or three days.

Initially I thought that the range was being phased out. When speaking with the lads in Tralee that is what I picked up. I guess the bikes were selling well enough and now it is time to just get rid of the last remaining stock.