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Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc

9
£3,900.00

VERDICT:

9
10
Excellent bike for fast riding that can cope with everything from racing to endurance
Weight: 
8,100g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

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Boardman's road bikes have been consistently good performers in road.cc tests over the years, and the SLR 9.6 Disc is no exception. It's a really good bike that neatly toes the line between race and endurance, offering enough speed for the former while adding in plenty of versatility for the latter. If you ride quickly on tarmac and you want a bike to handle all your riding, it's definitely one for the shortlist. Boardman has dropped the 'Endurance' tag, presumably to emphasise the fact that this is a quick bike that's been aero-optimised, but it's still a good choice for longer rides too.

  • Pros: Engaging ride, versatile enough for all-year riding, excellent value
  • Cons: A bit of rotor rub from the fork under load

The frame: more aero, more lightweight

We looked at the whole of the SLR 9 series a while back. Boardman's SLR bikes have been winning plenty of accolades, and bringing a new version to market always carries a bit of risk if the outgoing bike is well liked. One of the areas that Boardman has concentrated on with the new bike is its aerodynamic performance. Boardman has a shiny new wind tunnel of its own now, of course, so plenty of opportunity to refine the design.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

"The obvious flaw with the [previous] SLR Endurance was its aerodynamic attributes," Boardman told us. "The frame was great for long, steep climbs where its low weight played to its advantage, but we knew it was giving something away when it came to fast flat sections. So that was our challenge for the new SLR platform: how could we capture the award-winning ride characteristics of the outgoing SLR Endurance and make it even faster?"

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-1.jpg

Boardman already has the AIR series of aero road bikes so the idea wasn't to make the SLR into that, but just to move it a bit closer in terms of aerodynamic performance. Boardman says it's dependent on the size of bike and rider, but it's effectively halved the gap: at 40km/h the difference between the AIR and the outgoing SLR design was 20W; now it's 10W.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-6.jpg

The frame design isn't over-heavy on the aero touches. There's a lot of squared-off tube profiles, a flat-topped top tube, an aero-profile seatpost and a recessed seat clamp.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-16.jpg

The seatstays are dropped, and the bike's bottom bracket area is sculpted to allow smooth airflow.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-20.jpg

There's a new fork design that uses a thinner leg profile, and both the frame and the fork of the SLR Disc bikes are designed to take up to a 30mm tyre.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-23.jpg

Boardman uses the same mould for all the SLR Disc bikes, but the 9 series bikes get the most expensive carbon layup. The 8 series bikes are made from C7 carbon, which is mostly Toray T700, and the lower end 9 series models use C8, which is a mixture of T700 and T800. This bike, along with the rest of the 9 series models, uses C10, which is a mix of T800 and T1000. The higher modulus carbon allows for a lower weight while keeping a similar level of stiffness; Boardman claims a raw frame weight (in Medium) of 790g and 360g for the fork, which is 80g lighter than the outgoing model.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-8.jpg

The SLR 9 series bikes start at £1,500 (currently reduced to £1,249) for a rim-braked SLR 9.0 with a C8 frame. The SLR 9.6 Disc I rode is only out-specced by the 9.8 and 9.8 Disc, which get Zipp wheels and a SRAM Red eTap groupset.

The ride: composed, fast, comfortable

If there's one word that sums up the ride experience of the SLR 9.6 Disc it's probably composed. Right from the off the Boardman feels like a bike that's been well considered. It's not a bike that looks especially flashy, but everything about it is high quality, and the ride kind of reflects that. It's a very well-behaved bike to the point where often it doesn't even feel especially fast. There's very little of the seat-of-your-pants feel that you get from some road bikes, especially skittish super-light ones.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc - riding 2.jpg

At a whisker under 8kg the Boardman is comfortably light, but you can certainly go lighter for a similar spend, not least by opting for the rim-brake version of this bike, which is £500 cheaper and a claimed half-kilo under what the disc version weighs. Some of that extra weight is in the groupset itself, and some in the heavier build of the disc wheelset to cope with the braking forces from the callipers.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-2.jpg

The position on the XL bike I tested is 'comfortably quick' but not especially aggressive. With a stack-to-reach ratio of 1.49 in XL it's definitely endurance rather than full-on race; the smaller bikes get a bit lower at the front in relation to their reach. The SLR bikes are available in sizes down to XXS (this is the same frame size as the women's XS) to accommodate riders down to 1.55m. There's a 20mm stack of spacers at the front to adjust your bar height, and the seatpost has a three-position adjustable layback for further tinkering.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-5.jpg

I didn't find it hard to get comfortable, and the drops position felt purposeful enough for going quickly.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc - riding 3.jpg

Wind the Boardman up along the flat and it's happy to cruise along with minimal input. It responds well to sprint efforts too: stamp on the pedals and there's no noticeable flex along the power line.

It's possible to eke out a bit of rotor rub at the front wheel under heavy loads, suggesting that maybe the comfort requirements at the front have taken precedence over out-and-out stiffness there. It doesn't affect the handling: this is a bike that very much goes where you point it, with a planted feel when you lean it into the corners and neutral steering. The excellent Shimano hydraulic disc brakes give you masses of confidence that you can slow yourself up if you need to.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-19.jpg

The SLR is a pretty comfortable bike for a fast machine. Partly, that's down to the fact that Boardman has specced the 9.6 Disc with Vittoria's excellent (if slightly fragile) Corsa G+ tyres in a 28mm width, which I was happy to run at 80/85psi for general riding. They're great all-rounders, offering a big air chamber for comfort and lots of grip when you lean the bike over or get out of the saddle on a greasy climb.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-10.jpg

Even with the tyres pumped up as hard as they suggest is sensible, the Boardman is no boneshaker. There's a bit of suppleness in the ride that makes it easy to pilot even on dubious back-road tarmac. It's no sofa, and is still a firmer ride than more out-and-out endurance bikes, but I've completed 100km+ rides on this bike with ease, in spite of it having a Fizik Arione saddle fitted as standard, which is a long way from being my favourite.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-15.jpg

The 9.6 Disc uses Boardman's Elite Alloy handlebar, which is a perfectly serviceable standard compact design, and own-brand tape that's decent enough too.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-4.jpg

The Knight Composites 35TLA wheels are excellent; 35mm is ideal for an all-round wheel and they performed very well even in some very gusty conditions. We've tested the wheels on road.cc before and they did very well; these wheels made for Boardman don't have quite the same build quality – DT Swiss hubs are swapped out for Knight-branded units – but they're very well built and they feel like a quality addition to the bike's spec.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-9.jpg

They're tubeless-compatible too, if you want to embrace the world of sealant and compressors. The Vittoria tyres aren't, though, which is a shame. However, they're not the longest-lived of tyres, so it won't be long before you can lob some tubeless tyres on in their place.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-25.jpg

> Buyer's Guide: tubeless tyres

Shimano's Ultegra Di2 groupset probably needs no introduction: it's the best value electronic groupset out there, and offers exceptional shifting performance for the money. Boardman has located the junction box on the stem which isn't the neatest solution or the most aero, but it is easy enough to get to there. My only bugbear with the Di2 system is that it's too easy to forget which button does what as they're not a different action like the mechanical shifters are. Left to my own devices I generally reprogram the shifters so they work more like paddle shifters, with the top buttons doing the front and the bottom doing the rear.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-3.jpg

So who's the bike for? Well, you could show up to a local race on the Boardman fresh out of the box and not feel like you were giving anything away, but realistically most people aren't racing; a rung below that, it's a great bike to chuck at a sportive, the local club chaingang, rides with your friends... more or less anything that's quick, really.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc - riding 4.jpg

The Di2 groupset and hydraulic disc brakes are superb in all conditions, and Boardman has sensibly added hidden mudguard mounts on both the frame and fork so you can winterise the SLR if you don't want to swap to another bike when it gets cold and wet, or you just don't have another bike.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc-11.jpg

If you're looking for a proper endurance bike for longer events then the position will be good for that and it's reasonably comfortable, but it's firmer of ride than an out-and-out endurance bike. The option to fit a 30mm tyre goes a long way to mitigating that, and if you went tubeless with a set of Schwalbe G-One Speed tyres the Boardman would certainly be all-day comfortable.

Not cheap, but a lot of bike for the money

This bike has an RRP of £3,900, but it's £3,499 on Boardman's own site, and everywhere else, so that's realistically what you're going to be laying out. You might consider Boardman to be a value-led brand, and if you do you might be thinking that three and a half grand is a lot to be paying for one of its bikes. But let's unpack that.

A Ribble SL Disc with Di2 and Cosmics would cost £3,800, and the Knight wheels are more costly than a pair of Cosmics; okay the Knights on the Boardman aren't quite the £2,000 aftermarket build with DT Swiss 240S hubs, but they're still very nice wheels. A similar Canyon Ultimate CF SL build is over £4,000, and a Giant TCR Advanced is £4,500. So you're getting an awful lot of bike for your money.

> Buyer's Guide: 15 of the best 2019 disc brake endurance road bikes

All that's to naught, of course, if the Boardman doesn't perform. But it does: it's a fast and efficient bike that's comfortable and easy to live with. It doesn't have any obvious foibles, and the level of spec for the money is top drawer. You can have the same spec without the posh wheels as the 9.4 Disc for £600 less, but the Knights are excellent and it'll cost you plenty more than that to upgrade later, so if you don't have nice wheels already and you want some then you might as well go the whole hog.

Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc - riding 5.jpg

I've been very impressed with the SLR 9.6 Disc and I can thoroughly recommend it as a bike that's well equipped for fast riding. If you're after a do-it-all bike that's good for everything up to the odd race, then it has a lot going for it. If it's just a race bike you're after, then the lighter, cheaper rim-braked version would be the one to go for in my opinion.

Verdict

Excellent bike for fast riding that can cope with everything from racing to endurance

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road.cc test report

Make and model: Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc

Size tested: XL

About the bike

List the components used to build up the bike.

From Boardman:

FRAMESET

Boardman SLR Disc - C10 Carbon

Boardman SLR Disc - C10 Carbon

FSA PF30 with 24mm adapter

GROUPSET

50-34T

Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8050 SS

Shimano Ultegra R8070 Disc Brakes 160mm Front / 140mm Rear Rotors

Shimano Ultegra R8000 - 11-30

Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8070 2x11

Shimano CN-HG701

Shimano Ultegra R8000

Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8050

COMPONENTS

Fizik Antares R7

Boardman SLR Carbon 0-20mm adjustable offset

Boardman Elite Alloy

Boardman Elite Alloy

Boardman Soft-grip

FSA No.42

Not Included

WEIGHT

Approx 7.9kg - based on a Medium

WHEELSET

Knight Composites 35 TLA Disc

35mm Carbon, Tubeless Ready Clincher

Vittoria Corsa G+ 28mm

Tell us what the bike is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about the bike?

Boardman says, "The SLR 9.6 Disc enhances the already impressive package of the SLR 9.4 Disc with the addition of a Knight Composites 35mm TLA wheelset. These 35mm deep tubeless ready carbon wheels are lighter and more aerodynamically efficient, meaning the SLR 9.6 Disc cuts through the air even more efficiently along the flats, as well as flying up the hills. Knight have designed their wheels to reduce turbulence at the trailing edge, meaning cleaner air is flowing onto the frame, letting the SLR frameset's advanced aerodynamic profiles work at their best.

"With the same light, stiff and comfortable frame and fork as the flagship SLR 9.8 and Shimano's fantastic Ultegra Di2 hydraulic disc brake groupset taking care of shifting, the SLR 9.6 might well be the perfect all-round road bike. With clearance for 30mm tyres and hidden mudguard mounts on the frame and fork, there's no reason to put your summer bike away when the weather turns and the roads get rough with the SLR 9.6 Disc."

Where does this model sit in the range? Tell us briefly about the cheaper options and the more expensive options

One off the top: 9 series bikes start at £1,500 rrp (currently £1,249) for the rim brake SLR 9.0 and top out at £5,900 rrp (currently £4,499) for the SLR 9.8 Disc.

Frame and fork

Overall rating for frame and fork
 
9/10

Tell us about the build quality and finish of the frame and fork?

Very nicely built and finished in matt silver.

Tell us about the materials used in the frame and fork?

C10 carbon, which is Boardman's mix of Toray T800 and T1000 fibres.

Tell us about the geometry of the frame and fork?

See geometry chart at https://www.boardmanbikes.com/gb_en/products/2258-slr-9.6.html for full geometry.

How was the bike in terms of height and reach? How did it compare to other bikes of the same stated size?

Stack 600mm, reach 402mm. Mid-way between full race and endurance.

Riding the bike

Was the bike comfortable to ride? Tell us how you felt about the ride quality.

It's a firm but comfortable ride. The ride quality is generally good, with the bike coping with poor tarmac pretty well.

Did the bike feel stiff in the right places? Did any part of the bike feel too stiff or too flexible?

All pretty good, save for some rotor rub on the fork under load, especially climbing.

How did the bike transfer power? Did it feel efficient?

It feels very efficient, with cruising speeds needing minimal input.

Was there any toe-clip overlap with the front wheel? If so was it a problem?

No issues.

How would you describe the steering? Was it lively neutral or unresponsive? Pretty neutral.

Tell us some more about the handling. How did the bike feel overall? Did it do particular things well or badly?

The bike is easy to live with, it goes where you point it with no twitchiness in the handling.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's comfort? would you recommend any changes?

I'm not a fan of the saddle but that's a personal thing. Handlebar tape is decent rather than great.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's stiffness? would you recommend any changes?

Wheels transfer power well and are nice and stiff.

Which components had the most effect (good or bad) on the bike's efficiency? would you recommend any changes?

The Vittoria tyres do a good job of keeping you rolling when the surface is poor.

Rate the bike for efficiency of power transfer:
 
8/10
Rate the bike for acceleration:
 
8/10
Rate the bike for sprinting:
 
7/10
Rate the bike for high speed stability:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for cruising speed stability:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for low speed stability:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for flat cornering:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for cornering on descents:
 
9/10
Rate the bike for climbing:
 
8/10

The drivetrain

Rate the drivetrain for performance:
 
10/10
Rate the drivetrain for durability:
 
9/10
Rate the drivetrain for weight:
 
8/10
Rate the drivetrain for value:
 
8/10

Tell us some more about the drivetrain. Anything you particularly did or didn't like? Any components which didn't work well together?

You can't really go wrong with Ultegra Di2.

Wheels and tyres

Rate the wheels for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the wheels for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the wheels for weight:
 
8/10
Rate the wheels for comfort:
 
8/10
Rate the wheels for value:
 
8/10

Tell us some more about the wheels.Did they work well in the conditions you encountered? Would you change the wheels? If so what for?

Knight wheels are high spec for an off-the-shelf build at this price.

Rate the tyres for performance:
 
9/10
Rate the tyres for durability:
 
6/10
Rate the tyres for weight:
 
7/10
Rate the tyres for comfort:
 
9/10
Rate the tyres for value:
 
7/10

Tell us some more about the tyres. Did they work well in the conditions you encountered? Would you change the tyres? If so what for?

Vittoria Corsa G+ tyres are lovely while they last, which isn't ages.

Controls

Rate the controls for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the controls for durability:
 
8/10
Rate the controls for weight:
 
7/10
Rate the controls for comfort:
 
7/10
Rate the controls for value:
 
8/10

Tell us some more about the controls. Any particularly good or bad components? How would the controls work for larger or smaller riders?

Boardman own brand bar is good, bar tape is okay.

Your summary

Did you enjoy riding the bike? Yes

Would you consider buying the bike? Yes

Would you recommend the bike to a friend? Yes

How does the price compare to that of similar bikes in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

A Ribble SL Disc with Shimano Ultegra Di2 and Mavic Cosmic wheels would cost £3,800. A similar Canyon Ultimate CF SL build is over £4,000, and a Giant TCR Advanced is £4,500.

Rate the bike overall for performance:
 
8/10
Rate the bike overall for value:
 
9/10

Use this box to explain your overall score

Boardman has neatly dissected race and endurance with the SLR. It's not necessarily the absolute best out there at either, but it does a better job than most of being versatile enough to do both. Okay, £3,499 isn't exactly small change, but you'd be hard pressed to find a bike this well specced for the same or less. Overall it's a compelling package.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 45  Height: 189cm  Weight: 92kg

I usually ride: whatever I'm testing...  My best bike is: Kinesis Tripster ATR, Merida Scultura

I've been riding for: Over 20 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, fixed/singlespeed, mountain biking, Mountain Bike Bog Snorkelling, track

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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6 comments

Avatar
Prosper0 | 4 years ago
1 like

For sure, a nice looking bike but how many of these will they sell?

4 grand for a bicycle is bike snob territory, would you buy a ‘budget brand bike’ for that price? No matter how good it is? Like buying a maxed out Ford Focus for the same price as a basic Jaguar?

 

 

Avatar
teakay | 4 years ago
0 likes

How do you think the rim brake version will stack up as a race bike against the usual suspects (tarmacs,TCRs, Canyons etc)?

Avatar
dave atkinson replied to teakay | 4 years ago
0 likes
teakay wrote:

How do you think the rim brake version will stack up as a race bike against the usual suspects (tarmacs,TCRs, Canyons etc)?

I've raced on a previous incarnation of the rim-braked SLR (https://road.cc/content/review/180536-boardman-road-pro-carbon-slr) and that was a great race bike. i suspect the new bike would do a bang-up job too

Avatar
Chris Hayes | 4 years ago
0 likes

Decent looknig bike and a good review, but I'd struggle to justify spending £3.5k on a (Chinese-built, at a guess?) budget-brand bike with wheels I've never heard of.  

Avatar
teakay replied to Chris Hayes | 4 years ago
1 like
Chris Hayes wrote:

Decent looknig bike and a good review, but I'd struggle to justify spending £3.5k on a (Chinese-built, at a guess?) budget-brand bike with wheels I've never heard of.  

Look up Knight wheels they are from some big industry players and well rated.

Avatar
Chris Hayes replied to teakay | 4 years ago
0 likes
teakay wrote:
Chris Hayes wrote:

Decent looknig bike and a good review, but I'd struggle to justify spending £3.5k on a (Chinese-built, at a guess?) budget-brand bike with wheels I've never heard of.  

Look up Knight wheels they are from some big industry players and well rated.

You're probably right...especially if they come with their 5 year warranty and crash replacement then that's something... Still couldn't spend GBP 3,500 on it though...Not even half that.  It's not the bike...it's me.

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