Gravel bike

[jjcd]

I'm thinking of getting a gravel bike as I've been cycling a lot more lately but using my hardtail which is not suited to the routes I am doing (country roads, few gentle forest/gravel trails etc). Looking online i've come across the Boardman ADV 8.6 - https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2331-... . Available at Halfords for £775 and I can get 10% off which seems to me to be a reasonably good deal.

I wondered if anyone has the Boardman or has any opinion/advice? £750 is probably the top of my budget.

Thanks!

[ED209]

Boardman bikes have a good reputation as decent value bikes. Me and the wife had a couple of boardman hybrids which were fine.

Halfords reputation for putting bikes together properly isn’t quite as good though.

[tertius]

I’m sure the Boardman is a fine bike, but if you were prepared to go used I think £750 would get you a far superior bike. A look on eBay suggests you would easily get a 105 (or equivalent) equipped bike with hydraulic brakes for that money. In fact I see a year old Boardman CX offered for £350 or best offer giving a fair idea.

[jjcd]

ED209 said:

Boardman bikes have a good reputation as decent value bikes. Me and the wife had a couple of boardman hybrids which were fine.

Halfords reputation for putting bikes together properly isn’t quite as good though.

Okay thanks - i've heard that from a few people, I'm handy with the tools so would probably put it together myself if I get one from Halfords...

[jjcd]

tertius said:

I’m sure the Boardman is a fine bike, but if you were prepared to go used I think £750 would get you a far superior bike. A look on eBay suggests you would easily get a 105 (or equivalent) equipped bike with hydraulic brakes for that money. In fact I see a year old Boardman CX offered for £350 or best offer giving a fair idea.

Okay great - I will have a look and see what I could get used - thanks!

[gangzoom]

jjcd said:

Okay thanks - i've heard that from a few people, I'm handy with the tools so would probably put it together myself if I get one from Halfords...

Am on my 3rd Halfords commuter bike and been using them on/off for commuting since 2000. The frist one was nicked, the 2nd sold for more than what I paid for it during lockdown and my current one is 2 years old now having done 3000 miles, and this year alone has done 1000 miles.

I've never had any issues with our local Halfrods, I may be lucky though. They are good value, but if you can get a used one for half price it's even better value!!

[loskie]

are you eligible to get a bike on the cycle to work scheme? Even if you don't cycle to work many schemes are quite happy to turn a blind eye to that.

[Barchettaman]

That’s a decent bike, but I would first swap the knobbly tyres out on the hardtail first for a 35mm gravel tyre, go for a few rides on it in that set up and see if a new bike really is necessary.

You could also try fitting a pair of bar ends inboard to replicate the ‘hoods’ of drop bars:





Or swap in a new handlebar like this:



Spirgrips are specifically designed to replicate the feel of road handlebar hoods and mount inboard:

[OutInTheShed]

Barchettaman said:

That’s a decent bike, but I would first swap the knobbly tyres out on the hardtail first for a 35mm gravel tyre, go for a few rides on it in that set up and see if a new bike really is necessary.

You could also try fitting a pair of bar ends inboard to replicate the ‘hoods’ of drop bars:

......

Except the hoods of a gravel bike's bars give you the brakes and gears at your finger tips.

A spare pair of wheels and some compromise tyres is worth considering.
Schwalbe Land Cruisers are OK on the road or most bridle path conditions and reasonably puncture resistant.
OTOH gravel bikes are popular for good reason.
Having tried one, I'm tempted.
Not sure about the 1x gear system though.

[ZetecTDCI]

Trek, Giant and SPecialized all do nice alu framed, carbon forked Sora equipped bikes with mechanical disks for about 1100. On this basis, I'd say the boardman is excellent VFM even without your discount. I think the days when we used to say alu frames were a harsh ride are in the past.

I recently bought a trek domane al3 for 1100 (am delighted with it) and I'd suspect that I'd not be any less delighted if I'd gone for the ADV.

(mechanical / hydraulic brakes - I wanted mechanical for this bit (for commuting /utility). Shimano hydraulic calipers are very prone to weeping oil and contaminating pads IME. I've happily traded outright power and better modulation for reliability. The cable disk on the tandem seems to have lasted well with no reduction in stopping power over the years)

Edited by ZetecTDCI on Saturday 14th May 22:41

[OutInTheShed]

ZetecTDCI said:

Trek, Giant and SPecialized all do nice alu framed, carbon forked Sora equipped bikes with mechanical disks for about 1100. On this basis, I'd say the boardman is excellent VFM even without your discount. I think the days when we used to say alu frames were a harsh ride are in the past.

I recently bought a trek domane al3 for 1100 (am delighted with it) and I'd suspect that I'd not be any less delighted if I'd gone for the ADV.

(mechanical / hydraulic brakes - I wanted mechanical for this bit (for commuting /utility). Shimano hydraulic calipers are very prone to weeping oil and contaminating pads IME. I've happily traded outright power and better modulation for reliability. The cable disk on the tandem seems to have lasted well with no reduction in stopping power over the years)

Edited by ZetecTDCI on Saturday 14th May 22:41

I have Shimano hydraulic discs on my otherwise mediocre mountain bike, they are excellent and have been trouble free. We have some serious hills around here. Braking power and feel is important to me. Those brakes are the one part I'd take off that bike if I sold it. Obviously the lever end of the system will be different with drop bars, but the caliper is probably similar. I do know someone who's had grief with rear hydraulic discs seizing and dragging due to living somewhere flat and not using the back brake much. Not Shimano IIRC.

[ZetecTDCI]

I was thinking about the price of these bikes in general again.
This was the cheapest bike I've bought for myself in many years and its amazing how much better a bike you get for ~1k than you used to.
The wheels may prove to be a weak point, but pretty much everything else is so close in function and performance to 5k bikes that for light use I don't see much point in spending any more.

[PomBstard]

From my own experience, a gravel bike with clearance for 35-40c tyres, hydraulic brakes, and a 2x set up is probably the cycling worlds' answer to a one bike garage. It'll be capable enough off-road, certainly on firetrails trails/singletrack/towpaths, whilst having enough gearing to make a decent distance on-road a viable option, and the stopping power to keep it all in place.

Mine has a sturdy custom 29" mtb wheelset that were surprisingly affordable, and have proven to be very capable.

Tyres may be the compromise factor in all of this and will need to suit your circumstances.

[OutInTheShed]

PomBstard said:

From my own experience, a gravel bike with clearance for 35-40c tyres, hydraulic brakes, and a 2x set up is probably the cycling worlds' answer to a one bike garage. It'll be capable enough off-road, certainly on firetrails trails/singletrack/towpaths, whilst having enough gearing to make a decent distance on-road a viable option, and the stopping power to keep it all in place.

Mine has a sturdy custom 29" mtb wheelset that were surprisingly affordable, and have proven to be very capable.

Tyres may be the compromise factor in all of this and will need to suit your circumstances.

If I had to have one bike, it would be hard to beat my old school hardtail mountain bike.
It's not as good as a gravel bike in many situations, but half-decent front suspension means I can enjoy the bumpy stuff around the woods which I simply would not do on a gravel bike.
A modern mountain bike isn't the same though, 'all purpose' seems to have been designed out. Creating a market for gravel bikes.

Add a little front suspension to a gravel bike, and what d you have? Apart from something that costs more than two bikes it replaces?

[loskie]

OP: I'd suggest looking at a Giant Roam

[PomBstard]

OutInTheShed said:

PomBstard said:

From my own experience, a gravel bike with clearance for 35-40c tyres, hydraulic brakes, and a 2x set up is probably the cycling worlds' answer to a one bike garage. It'll be capable enough off-road, certainly on firetrails trails/singletrack/towpaths, whilst having enough gearing to make a decent distance on-road a viable option, and the stopping power to keep it all in place.

Mine has a sturdy custom 29" mtb wheelset that were surprisingly affordable, and have proven to be very capable.

Tyres may be the compromise factor in all of this and will need to suit your circumstances.

If I had to have one bike, it would be hard to beat my old school hardtail mountain bike.
It's not as good as a gravel bike in many situations, but half-decent front suspension means I can enjoy the bumpy stuff around the woods which I simply would not do on a gravel bike.
A modern mountain bike isn't the same though, 'all purpose' seems to have been designed out. Creating a market for gravel bikes.

Add a little front suspension to a gravel bike, and what d you have? Apart from something that costs more than two bikes it replaces?

You are correct, but so am I as it depends on the range of ability you’re looking for in a bike. The HT wouldn’t be as much fun chasing roadies, in the same way the gravel bike wouldn’t be a great steed when the going gets too choppy.

[emicen]

I’ve had an ADV8.9 since Dec 2020.

Boardman:
- Top level spec is always higher than other bigger brands for a given price point, but drill down a bit and obvious quality compromises become a bit apparent. Nothing disastrous, but things like rust appearing on spoke nipples after only a couple of winter rides is a bit disappointing
- Factory build quality is iffy. Mine still had rolled up paper bunged in to some threads, which is used to stop paint going in threads
- Some poor design features. Believe the 8.6 runs the same fork as my 8.9, the carbon fork. The bosses for mudguard/pannier mounts are inconveniently high up the fork leg, they’re inboard and one is badly obscured by the brake line

Halfords:
- massively store dependent on the service you will receive
- if anything goes wrong, they’ve now removed the ability to even phone the store for any fashion of update

I’m not saying don’t go for it, I’ve been looking at the 8.9E for a potential commuter, but go in with your eyes open.

[sone]

I bought a second hand Specialized Diverge gravel bike last year for about £1100.00 and haven't ridden any of my other bikes since. It is for me the perfect single bike garage. I think mine is 4 or so years old and I'm tempted to go and try the latest model just to see if its even better.

[OutInTheShed]

PomBstard said:

You are correct, but so am I as it depends on the range of ability you’re looking for in a bike. The HT wouldn’t be as much fun chasing roadies, in the same way the gravel bike wouldn’t be a great steed when the going gets too choppy.

Roadies get more annoyed if you catch them with a MTB!

For maximum effect, you want something that looks like a 'pub bike'.

[keith2.2]

With a bit of imagination you can get something far more interesting.

Not right for you necessarily but I paid not much more than that for a 2011 Yeti ARC-X cx bike. Limited run, brand heritage, beautifully made and a joy to behold. It made a really nice addition to the collection. Life’s too short to (drive boring cars) ride boring bikes.