Boardman HT pro update

[Sway]

Hey guys,

Had my Boardman for a month now, time for a quick ownership update..

Firstly, fking love it! Really stiff, superb forks, excellent geometry.

Decided I had far too many gears, so removed the front mech and am running the 42t only. All fine for a couple of weeks, but last ride (on road) it came off repeatedly. Need to find a chain device which is compatible with BB30 and e mount front mech boss. Any ideas?

Couple of niggles:

BB30 seems to have just started making some noise, however this may be the stty pedals it came with. Ear is firmly pricked.

Tyres. Conti Mountain Kings. My word they are ste. Rubbish on hardpack, and useless on any slightly damp ground. Definite replacements needed - Schwalbe for the South Downs Way and similar?

Brakes. Not actually the brakes, although they are bloody sensitive to perfect bedding in - three attempts later I have brakes that don't scream, but could still do with some copperslip behind the pads. My problem is the hoses - I can understand why, but having hoses that are long enough to fit an XL frame on a small means stupid excess galore. I've never bothered with the 6 week 'tighten a few cables' shop service before,however tempted to get Halfords to trim the cables and bleed them as part of the service... Likely that
I'll need to rebleed in short order, but must be worth a go shirley?

Other news:

Bought a hydration pack for £16 from Tesco, awesome value for money. Met helmet feels comfy, and channels as much air as my old, stupidly expensive Giro Helios. South Downs Way and interconnecting bridleways are paradise compared to my old mtb stomping grounds of Richmond Park and Teddington Lock.

Need a few more tools (Avid bleed kit, powerlink pliers, BB30 removal and press tool), and some better shorts (any recommendations for cross country baggies with liner?).

Also, current upgrade list runs at:

Pedals - probably Superstar nanotechs.
Tyres - Schwalbe Racing Ralph/Nobby Nic?
Finishing kit - the Boardman comes with lovely kit (carbon seatpost, etc.), but it all says Boardman too many times (28!!!). Dunno whether to go for stealth black or colours to match (either lime green or black'n'white) May even see if anyone just wants to swap for some OEM finishing kit from another brand.
Dropper post - long way off due to cost, but really fancy a KS Lev.
Saddle - Charge Spoon as a tryer?

Refuse to post pics until the hoses are sorted and it has less logos, but there's a nice pic on the Boardman website...

Oh, and I'm officially like the Olympics. As a direct result, two fellow 30 year olds have availed themselves of Hargroves' 0% finance and bought themselves Cubes. One for a couple of hundred quid more, yet mine is still lighter, has better quality kit (although the new XT brakes are fecking awesome) and is the same colour. His has Easton logos though, so I'm a bit jealous...

Inspiring a slightly older generation!

[blippo1984]

I tried to buy a Boardman once. The boy in the shop wouldn't put pedals on it for me to try. I didn't bother.

Sounds like a nice bike but why change all the bits before they break?

[Sway]

blippo1984 said:

I tried to buy a Boardman once. The boy in the shop wouldn't put pedals on it for me to try. I didn't bother.

Sounds like a nice bike but why change all the bits before they break?

Gotta admit, my Halfords experience wasn't great until I started dealing with the store in Guildford...


As for the parts changes, I'd bloody hope none of the bits I want to replace will break!

Tyres and pedals as the ones that come with any bike are placeholders - generic rubbish that are decent for everything but useless at actually being good at what you want to use them for.

Finishing kit is pure vanity. It just really annoys me how many times the same logo is displayed on the bike. Seatpost is due to how awesome they are for mixed riding. Tried one out and within five minutes was amazed at the difference in riding.

Nothing too drastic/gimpy...

[blippo1984]

I think I'm just a cynic who has been there and bought the gear too many times...

That said I am pretty set in my ways. I'll put my bike up so you can judge

[phil-sti]

If the BB30 bottom bracket is making a noise you can guarantee its goosed.

[anonymous-user]

whats the issue with the BB30?

[Matt London]

The BB30 on my Boardman was knackered within a month. The warranty replacement lasted a year.

[Rolls]

Only a month from a bb30.. Wow, not impressed!

[CoolC]

Sway said:

Finishing kit is pure vanity. It just really annoys me how many times the same logo is displayed on the bike.

Are the logos stickers? A bit of heat from a hairdryer helps them come off. If not the seatposts etc. from Superstar have a good review from a friend of a friend who has just splashed a load on his bike blinging it up.

[Sway]

BB30 seems to be affected by two issues.

One is the bb shell needs to be absolutely precise, and the bb needs to be installed perfectly. Tricky in mass production and with Halfords mechanical skills.

The other is the exposure to the elements, breaking down the bearings.

The initial batch of Boardmans were installed with insufficient grease, so needed removal, grease and reinstallation...

[blippo1984]

To be fair to Halford, the guys in the shop may or may not be as good as any other store. I remember many years ago the local Halfords to me enticed all the best mechanics across to work for them when they were setting up the bike-hut.

I just found it amusing/frustrating that they sell high end bikes (in my view anything over £800 is generally for the serious enthusiast) but treat the basics such as buying the right size as a bit of a lottery. That said, its probably easy money shifting Boardmans at the moment due to TDF, Olympics and the general decent value of the bikes. Half the guys I know at work have one.

[option click]

CoolC said:

Sway said:

Finishing kit is pure vanity. It just really annoys me how many times the same logo is displayed on the bike.

Are the logos stickers? A bit of heat from a hairdryer helps them come off. If not the seatposts etc. from Superstar have a good review from a friend of a friend who has just splashed a load on his bike blinging it up.

If not stickers, then you could sand them off with some fine wet & dry. Take a look over on Weight Weenies for tips - they're always doing stuff like this.

[metalsteve]

OP, with regard to your question about shorts with liner, i recently bought some endura humvee's from crc. These come with a padded clickfast liner. These are my first padded shorts and i really like them, i purchased them after reading lots of good reviews. Like many others i had to go up a size, i'm a 32 waist and had to buy 34 shorts.

[billzeebub]

I love my 2012 Boardman Pro HT. It has been slightly modified- the white seat and handlebar grips have gone, replaced by a brown Charge Spoon ( brilliant for the money) and LizarsSkins respectively, Lizard skin chain guard and wasted £35 on a Boardman Carbon bottle age!!..will be looking at one of their road bikes too next year I think..

..oh, and it also now sports a 2" Ph smiley in white..

[Sway]

billzeebub said:

..oh, and it also now sports a 2" Ph smiley in white..

Ooooh, that would look smart...

Pretty sure it's not the pedal thread, the intermittent noise I'm getting isn't a click, but definately a dry bearing 'schsss'. New pedals will be on their way at the weekend, so I'll be able to have a good poke around to see what the issue is.

Good shout on sanding the logos, I've got some very fine wet n dry so will give that a go. Means I can hold off on spending the cash on finishing kit, and spend it on tools and workstand (used to work as a mechanic at a bike shop, and hate working on bikes without the proper kit).

Been looking at Endura baggy shorts - do they all come with liner, or are some not liner compatible? I noticed they do the liner seperately, so could always try it out first under normal shorts.

[robpearson]

some models come with liners, like the humvee, but a few of the others don't, but are compatible. Fit seems to vary too...

[mk1fan]

pablo said:

whats the issue with the BB30?

They're rubbish. Great in principle but poor in application.

Have you moved the chain ring to the centre of the chainset? If you've keeped it on the out side then the chain won't like 'first' gear as it'll be twisted too much. Did you shorten the chain? Also a single speed specific or unramped chainring has longer teeth (as it doesn't need to allow for shifting). so will hold the chain better.

Tyres are a personal thing. I ride Maxxis Minion/High Roller set up - although the jump and XC bike have Spesh Fast Track - as this copes well with everything.

Saddle, again a personal choice. You have to get used to a saddle. I ride SDG but that's because they fit me.

Edited by mk1fan on Wednesday 15th August 09:35

[anonymous-user]

mk1fan said:

pablo said:

whats the issue with the BB30?

They're rubbish. Great in principle but poor in application.

Have you moved the chain ring to the centre of the chainset? If you've keeped it on the out side then the chain won't like 'first' gear as it'll be twisted too much. Did you shorten the chain? Also a single speed specific or unramped chainring has longer teeth (as it doesn't need to allow for shifting). so will hold the chain better.

um, ok. i know lots of roadies/triathletes with bb30s who have not had any issues but as they will all be 53/39 i'm guessing the issue is a mtb thing? has anyone fitted a 2x9 or 2x10 to a bb30 mtb yet?

[Sway]

Mine was 2x10 until I removed the inner ring...

Haven't moved the chainring to the lower bolts, as with 2x10 the chainline is fine either way.

Funnily enough, it's the higher cassette gears that I seem to be having trouble with, bit can't remove links otherwise the lower cassette gears will put too much strain on the rear mech.

Not sure whether to go for a chaindevice (found out e13 do one to fit onto the emount boss), a single speed ring (not sure if one is yet available for the fsa 2x10 cranks) or both.

More experiments needed...

All part of the fun!

[mk1fan]

Sway said:

Funnily enough, it's the higher cassette gears that I seem to be having trouble with, bit can't remove links otherwise the lower cassette gears will put too much strain on the rear mech.

Sounds like the chain was too short to begin with then. Fitting a chain device would just make this worse.

If the chain is dropping off the top of the chainring then you could try one of those replacement 'mech type' chain guides. Not sure if you can get braze-on versions though.