Boardman Hybrid Comp Alternative?

[eztiger]

Hi,

I'm sniffing around a new bike for mostly road cycling but also the ability to get onto very light dirt tracks / cycle paths etc if need be.

I'm liking the look of the Boardman Hybrid Comp :

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_comp.ht...

Unfortunately it's Halfords only. My work is part of cyclescheme which means I can't buy from Halfords. And Boardman is exclusive to them for the moment.

I'm fairly ignorant about bikes but to my eye it looks a good spec for the price (£499 in store or about £440 or so online with discounts) and I'm struggling to find a bad word about them on the web (the fact you have to go into halfords to get one aside!). I'm tempted to just splash out and ignore any potential savings I can get through cyclescheme but thought I should ask if anyone can recommend a similar alternative that might be a bit more available?

£4-500 is my budget, but after the cyclescheme discount I think that puts my real life budget up to about £7-800.

Not after anything fancy but some gears and disc brakes are on the list. Subtle / discrete appearance would also be a plus. I also like the fact the boardman hybrid comes with the bar ends as standard..it's the little things

Suggestions? Matching the spec of the Boardman blow for blow wouldn't be a bad option...

Or if anyone has managed to get a Boardman bike outside the Halfords supply chain...

ta!

[anonymous-user]

eztiger said:

Hi,

I'm sniffing around a new bike for mostly road cycling but also the ability to get onto very light dirt tracks / cycle paths etc if need be.

I'm liking the look of the Boardman Hybrid Comp :

http://www.boardmanbikes.com/hybrid/hybrid_comp.ht...

Unfortunately it's Halfords only. My work is part of cyclescheme which means I can't buy from Halfords. And Boardman is exclusive to them for the moment.

I'm fairly ignorant about bikes but to my eye it looks a good spec for the price (£499 in store or about £440 or so online with discounts) and I'm struggling to find a bad word about them on the web (the fact you have to go into halfords to get one aside!). I'm tempted to just splash out and ignore any potential savings I can get through cyclescheme but thought I should ask if anyone can recommend a similar alternative that might be a bit more available?

£4-500 is my budget, but after the cyclescheme discount I think that puts my real life budget up to about £7-800.

Not after anything fancy but some gears and disc brakes are on the list. Subtle / discrete appearance would also be a plus. I also like the fact the boardman hybrid comes with the bar ends as standard..it's the little things

Suggestions? Matching the spec of the Boardman blow for blow wouldn't be a bad option...

Or if anyone has managed to get a Boardman bike outside the Halfords supply chain...

ta!

dont worry about the halfords supply chain, they only build the bike if you ask them too.

they can be hit or miss, some shops have keen bikers who do a good job, others have less keen staff. the bikes are brilliant, my 08 road comp has seen hundreds of miles... just buy it online and get it delivered boxed, it will be waiting for you in the box at the store, take it home and finish it off yourself, its really easy and you only need to do a few minor jobs.

if its mostly road with the occasional light loose surface rides, dont discount a road bike, i use mine on tow paths and other loose surfaces, old railways etc and its a hoot. dont think that road bikes cant mix it with hybrids on the rougher stuff, i havent damaged a wheel yet despite some interesting routes over the winter. keep the front end light and pre empt any bigger hits and you will be fine, you do get some funny looks but thats all part of the fun. the cheaper end of the road bike market tend to have solid components not ultra light race spec stuff so they can takea few knocks and you wont notice....

[Pupp]

My GF has just bought a Giant Dash-4 for exactly this sort of use. It flies on the road, is light and responsive, and with some slightly chunkier rubber will more than capable on tow paths and forest tracks

[eztiger]

pablo said:

they can be hit or miss, some shops have keen bikers who do a good job, others have less keen staff. the bikes are brilliant, my 08 road comp has seen hundreds of miles... just buy it online and get it delivered boxed, it will be waiting for you in the box at the store, take it home and finish it off yourself, its really easy and you only need to do a few minor jobs.

Thanks - but the problem is my work scheme doesn't cover halfords. So in theory I'm doing myself out of a 40% odd discount.

It's why I'm looking for something with a similar spec / as good as the boardman from elsewhere.

[Roman]

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/fitness-3-54-57-6956...

[anonymous-user]

eztiger said:

Thanks - but the problem is my work scheme doesn't cover halfords. So in theory I'm doing myself out of a 40% odd discount.

It's why I'm looking for something with a similar spec / as good as the boardman from elsewhere.

ah i see, misread the post....

[Raven Flyer]

Don't forget that the final payment is now typically 25% of the new bike price, so the saving is greatly reduced, even for 40% tax payers. For lower band tax payers, the scheme is nothing more than a loan and you may do better by haggling on ticket price and funding the purchase yourself.

[eztiger]

Raven Flyer said:

Don't forget that the final payment is now typically 25% of the new bike price, so the saving is greatly reduced, even for 40% tax payers. For lower band tax payers, the scheme is nothing more than a loan and you may do better by haggling on ticket price and funding the purchase yourself.

I'm most of the way towards just buying it outwith the scheme with the Boardman - not sure how much haggling I can do with Halfords though.

However whilst the final payment value in the cycle scheme is now set, how that is applied is still discretionary to the employer.

In my case, after the 12 month period is up I can continue leasing the bike from my employer. At no monthly cost and with no final payment.

I still don't own the bike, but it doesn't cost me any extra. I can then decide to take full ownership at any point (or hand the bike back) - invoking the final payment but based on a sliding scale of the bikes age / depreciation at the point I do it.

After ~5 years I pay £0 due to depreciation on the bike. Presuming I still have the bike.

So as long as I can hold onto the bike (and employment ) for two or so years that 25% final payment value starts tumbling.

Not great, but still a saving. I'm going to pop into halfords and discuss monies with them tomorrow. No idea how far I'll get!

[OneDs]

You could always ask your company to give you the bike, after 12 months you'll only be liable to the income tax on FMV (so 40% of 25% or 20% of 25%) which will be significantly less than the 25% or 18% after 12 months and then you don't have to extend your hire period.

[Gnarlybluesurf]

The cyclescheme discout really has lost it's appeal in my opinion and the discounts now are marginal after all the hassle of it and the seemingly ever changing rules regarding the final payment.

If it were my money i'd look on ebay or gumtree for someone like yourself who's bought the bike and then not taken to cycling... there are a lot of those around.

The saving will be greater and bikes are designed to take a lot more abuse than most people give them

Only buy bikes with the original paperwork then you can be sure that they are not stolen, are the correct age stated and most importantly if anything goes wrong then you can take it back to halfords...

Alternatively just buy new... you won't the spec for the money on another bike cyclescheme or not...

[eztiger]

Gnarlybluesurf said:

The cyclescheme discout really has lost it's appeal in my opinion and the discounts now are marginal after all the hassle of it and the seemingly ever changing rules regarding the final payment.

If it were my money i'd look on ebay or gumtree for someone like yourself who's bought the bike and then not taken to cycling... there are a lot of those around.

The saving will be greater and bikes are designed to take a lot more abuse than most people give them

Only buy bikes with the original paperwork then you can be sure that they are not stolen, are the correct age stated and most importantly if anything goes wrong then you can take it back to halfords...

Alternatively just buy new... you won't the spec for the money on another bike cyclescheme or not...

Thanks, I've had a nosey on ebay. Sadly due to living in the sticks (i.e scotland!) there aren't many local without travelling a few hundred miles. And I'd be hesitant to buy blind.

All round good advice above though - appreciated. I think your last comment is hitting it on the nose.