2014 Boardman CX Team… Does it do what it says on the tin?

Terrible! I must admit, I
Terrible! I must admit, I emailed them every week for several weeks before I got a response.

Quote:Interested by the

Interested by the thoughts on the bb7… I have no experience with them, but thought they were better

not used BB5’s so can’t compare just went with the forum consensus that BB7 better than BB5 as easier to adjust and I built up bike so had choice at not a big price difference
In theory you can turn the inner adjuster by hand on the BB7’s so quick and easy to do – in practise it is hard to turn and often need to dig out torx tool – I think BB5’s don’t have the monkey fingers dial and you have to use the torx tool – if you keep a tool handy it is only a 30second job each wheel then they are a consistent brake – problem is single moving pad design is not for the lazy

edit not forgetting that discs are much better than rim brakes when commuting in the wet – I see the Boardman come with bar top levers – great for when sitting up in traffic – as said above downside is limited room for lights

Not a Boardman CX rider but
Not a Boardman CX rider but some interesting points.
Have a Kinesis Pro6 which I use for gravel trails some single track and commuting – run BB7’s and think the issue for me is lack of predictability. If I’ve remembered to wind in and out recently and I’ve managed to wind the inner side without digging out a torx wrench and are set up how I like then I’m not going to panic and grab too much and lock out in traffic but sometimes the amount of movement is just not what I expect. Much better than rim brakes and simple to set up but you have to do it too often or not consistent enough. So when they are readily available I’ll be fitting some spyres not an obvious design solution (cable to hydraulic) but looks very neat and reviews good. Though I suspect UCI endorsement of road discs is pretty close so might see some other options soon.
As to front mudguards Pro6 comes with eyelets and I’ve run full mudguards but the toe overlap (small frame) when doing “u bends” on bridges needs a lot of careful coordination – so beware you may get mudguards but if your commute has tight turns you may need to be very alert

Let us know how you get on.
Let us know how you get on.

You’re welcome to the
You’re welcome to the mudguard solution 😀 I’ve fed it back to my local Halfords as well, as I am sure that this will be a contentious issue for other potential purchasers. One thing to add though, I had a little exchange of emails with Boardman at the beginning of March who advised that they are currently reviewing an upgraded fork for the CX which includes mudguard eyelets. They couldn’t offer any sort of lead time (other than saying they’re expecting to sign it off soon), but they did say that it would be available to current owners under warranty.

I’m considering the TRP Spyres as well, but I’m torn with just how much I want to put into the bike given its role as my year round commuter this year and then my bad weather commuter next. When it comes to replacing the brake pads, I might consider a brake upgrade with a bit more thought. My LBS suggested that removing the interrupters would improve brake feel immediately, so I think that will be the first job.

For your consideration, I’m running 28mm Gatorskin Hardshells and I find that stopping quickly is not hindered by the BB5s, but the rear wheel locking up, especially on a wet road, so the brakes have enough power, but they are faffy to set up and keep set up.

Other than that, one absolute positive that this bike does have is that when I get on my “nice” bike, it feels like a “very nice” bike in comparison (not that there is anything terribly wrong with the CX, it gets far more use than any of my other bikes).

My commute is a 17 mile round trip 3 or 4 days a week and I’ve been within seconds of my best time on the CX which I had set on a Cannondale Synapse previously, so it’s not a bad fast commuter on balance.

bollandinho wrote:I wouldn’t

bollandinho wrote:

I wouldn’t say that a click is inherent to the BB30, given that my Cannondale Synapse has a BB30 and is silent.

Strange that, my Cannondale Synapse had a BB30 too and that clicked, and it took several attempts by the LBS to resolve the issue, but eventually they did.

Unfortunately, my Synapse 6 found it’s way under the front of a car whilst I was on it. Fortunately the Synapse Carbon 6 that replaced it, which also has a BB30 (BB30A), hasn’t shown any BB issues.

I’m running a Cateye Volt 300 at the moment and yes, it sits above the interrupter levers so it doesn’t interfere with them.

However, how about contributing an answer to the OPs question?

I wouldn’t say that a click
I wouldn’t say that a click is inherent to the BB30, given that my Cannondale Synapse has a BB30 and is silent. It’s more inherent to Halfords. My Boardman became far better once I took it to someone who knows there way around those components, and that really isn’t the case at Halfords in my experience.