Road bike recommendations

That Boardman 'looks' a lot better than a Ribble or a Dolan.

Sexy is expensive in the bike world.

The Canyons look lovely for the price tag, and Planet-x do a lot of nice budget bikes.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/c/q/bikes/road-bikes?sort=price-asc

Halfords used to (claim to) be able to source almost anything else for you if you were buying using a cyclescheme voucher, and some other places will accept Halfords own vouchers. But if it has to be a Boardman, reviews say they're pretty good.

(Don't know if that's helpful in convincing you to feel better about the situation.)

my boardman team CX looks fairly average but is an absolutely bloody awesome bike to ride, I love it. For the money its very much worth it although has the stigma of being sold by Halfords. Dunno bout the road bikes but i imagine they are good quality too.

Halfords will special order you another bike - just tell 'em what you want.

You know the bike is as good or better than anything else you can get for the same money. The only problem is the brand and the sex appeal.

Embrace the 'Boardman' brand. It's seen as a bad thing, mainly imo due to the Halfords link. Instead of thinking of it as a Halfords own brand, think of it as a Boardman in the way that you'd think of a Merckx or Moser bike.

This bike was reviewed in the May issue of cycling plus. Review was pretty good all told.

when was the last time that cycling plus did anything but give a bike a good review?

Have to be honest when I see a rider hurting as he is riding a bike with a hideous fit(not just slightly off but anything more than an hour in the saddle will cripple them for weeks) look down at the bike and it's one of the halfords brands.

"every single person with a brain who sees you will say "he's the sort of cunt who buys a bike at halfords"

^^This. I don't want to be that cunt.

Kinetix have unused UnitedHealthCare frames upto size 54.

Rose bikes also have a CRS frameset (including seatpost, headset and stem) in size 57 for under £900 which is good. You get a crash replacement warranty on that too.

Both these frames could be build up nicely and come in under £1500.

"every single person with a brain who sees you will say "he's the sort of cunt who buys a bike at halfords"

^^This. I don't want to be that cunt.

Adopting zero-fucks-given attitude with a smattering of inverse snobbery is a real money-saver in the long run – I highly recommend it. :)

Embrace the 'Boardman' brand. It's seen as a bad thing, mainly imo due to the Halfords link. Instead of thinking of it as a Halfords own brand, think of it as a Boardman in the way that you'd think of a Merckx or Moser bike.

I always feel I'm missing out on something with Merckx bikes. The man himself is a legend but the bikes (new and old) don't seem so special. It's a personal thing or maybe a generation thing perhaps.

(1) No - the problem is brand, sex appeal and the abysmal customer service you will get from Halfords (common knowledge) and Boardman themselves (based on limited personal experience). And the fact you'll be supporting a big car part company not an LBS.

The alternatives listed in the OP were Canyon, Dolan and Ribble. Not heard too much about Dolan, but I've heard nightmares about Ribble customer service and any issues with Canyon involve sending a bike back to Germany. And a purchase from none of these companies would do anything to support the OP's LBS.

I've only ever had excellent service from Halfords, dealing with car and bike products. Never had any dealings with Boardman.

Rose CRS for the win. I have one and it's an absolute rocket. Total bargain. I'm sure the Boardman suggested would be great too (if you can either rebuild it yourself or are prepared to take it to another bike shop for them to properly screw it together).

The Canyons look lovely for the price tag, and Planet-x do a lot of nice budget bikes.

This.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CBPXSLPULT6800/planet-x-pro-carbon-shimano-ultegra-6800-road-bike

any issues with Canyon involve sending a bike back to Germany.

This isn't actually true - UK office is in Kingston so pretty local (assuming you're in london), and when I smashed a pair of forks 3 years ago I had a new pair within 3 days (and at 1/3 price due to crash-replacement bargains).

I've only ever had excellent service from Halfords, dealing with car and bike products. Never had any dealings with Boardman.

Most people who buy halfords bikes leave them in the shed, you can buy any bike and it will preform perfectly well at sitting in a shed, actually buy a lawnmower instead it also has 2 wheels and takes up less space in the shed while being awful to use as a bike so still fulfills all requirements of a halfords bike.

Lots of sales in halfords are either a £200 special hybrid that will be ridden into the ground from around now when the weather is nice to about when the clocks change again(if that) or a more expensive bike fitted badly, my friend has a £500 29er hybrid he got 2 years ago and did 100 miles tops on it before it hit the shed where it remains, why? On the day he was instore they only had large frames in stock and he needs small-medium, staff checked he could barely stand over the top tube so jobs a goodun bike fits.

Sure if you need to buy some lube or a set of brake pads then you buy a sealed product they can't mess with but when you need something that involves any choice/input/skill from anyone be careful.

my friend has a £500 29er hybrid he got 2 years ago and did 100 miles tops on it before it hit the shed where it remains, why? On the day he was instore they only had large frames in stock and he needs small-medium, staff checked he could barely stand over the top tube so jobs a goodun bike fits.

His fault as much as theirs, unless he had never ridden any other bike in his life.

Yeah, I'm assuming a buyer that's a LFGSS reader, choosing a Boardman after considering a Ribble, Dolan or Canyon is someone that is going to be capable of picking a suitable bike, getting it home and making sure it's fit for use. So stories of substandard BSOs and bikes handed over with backwards forks etc don't really apply. The shop is just somewhere to get the bike. The only times I could see customer service becoming a factor would be a warranty claim.

His fault as much as theirs, unless he had never ridden any other bike in his life.

No, I would definitely says it's the shop fault, since they're the one who sold him a bike too big for him.

Seen too many bicycles from Halfords that was poorly fitted.

The question should be; why does your work HAVE to go through Halfords?! As far as I'm aware you just get your employer to confirm you actually work for a salary and Bob (Jackson's) your uncle!

Sexeh biek? Get a foffa if you are into that sort of shit.

If you need a complete bike and quick for training you could buy one of the alloy models. It looks like they come with guard eyelets.

None of the Boardman bikes seem bargainous to me. They're all low end Shimano now rather than SRAM.

Do some sums, HTFU and make a decision :-)

His fault as much as theirs, unless he had never ridden any other bike in his life.

Not in years, think he had a bike when he was 14ish(still growing) and the hybrid thing he would have been 25ish. Blame aside it says lots about halfords. Just look when you are in a halfords at the product range and bikes customers wheel in/out for repairs, it will tell you lots about the setup. They don't sell many locks/clothes/shoes/tyres/brake pads, people who ride often need clothes/shoes to ride in(?) also anyone who gives a damn about the bike they buy will buy a decent lock(unless it's just left in a shed?). Tyres are almost all own brand, no regular cyclists riding bikehuts on ££££ bikes. Brake pads, they only ever have 3-4 sets of pads on the shelves but aren't they usual regular cyclist consumables?

The backwards forks thing is crazy and "not an issue" but hey that same guy is going to fit your carbon forks and carbon seatpost which I'm sure will be just fine, he might not know what a bike looks like but I'm certain he knows how to calibrate and use a torque wrench, honest.

I have a really long list of things I look for in a bike shop. Not any perfect shops but I know which I go to for cheap lube and which I would want to build/fit a bike.