Mmmmmmm

Volagi Liscio

absolutely fallen in love with this bike. Think disc brakes are the way forward (love them on my Boardman crosser) and just adore the way this bike looks. Would be ideal for my West to East challenge too - light, fast and comfortable

But it has Shimano components Now equipped with Super Record it would be perfect

I'm a heathen and happy enough with Shimano though I should prefer the Italian stuff.

(thanks barnacle for fixing the URL - not sure where I went wrong but I'm tired so not surprised I screwed up)

You had two 'http://' bits.

I believe i just found my next toy...

I'm looking at getting one from Canada. Not available in Europe yet.

Then fit Di2 and job's a good'un

That looks very nice

If it came with Campag as standard, it'd be perfect.

Volagi are going to quote me for supplying one from the US. I'm guessing it's going to be cheaper for my brother to bring one with him and forget to pack it for the return trip.

Richard, do you think the Boardman CX is a good bet for an all year round fast commuter (roads only, no track but pot holes++)? Or is it too much of a compromise in speed ie. better off with a proper road bike and an old mountain bike with ice spikers for when the weather's really bad?

Jim

That's a really good question, Jim, and one I was asking myself this morning. Here's the pros and cons, assuming you use Boardman year-round:

Pros (for Boardman)
- Takes full mudguards - much drier in crappy weather
- Drops - great for keeping out of the wind
- Rack mounting points - good for panniers (I don't use them)
- Disc brakes - brilliant in wet weather all year round

Cons (against Boardman)
- Fully kitted out (guards, lights etc), it's heavy: 13kg with Gatorskins (3.5kg heavier than my Focus Cayo)
- Marathon Winters are heavy (nearly 1 kg each). I'm guessing the Boardman (with Winters) is heavier than my Cube Reaction MTB fitted with Ice Spiker Pros (14kg)
- It's definitely slower than my Cayo (about 1mph over my 15 mile commute - even on the downhill leg)
- It's not as comfortable as the Cayo (which is nearly all carbon)
- I don't like SRAM Apex (swapped my bike to 5600 105 which, net, cost me about £100)

So I think the Boardman is a great all-rounder and I will probably keep it if I get a Volagi - though the Volagi would have most of the benefits (discs, guards etc) without the weight so maybe not. I'd need an MTB so I could use the Cube for the icy days (which tend to be less windy).

Hope that helps

I can add to this, I have the hard tail boardman and it is good bike, but certainly makes the roads hard work.

I do approx 60 miles a week cycling to and from work. (I cycle in 2 days a week and drive the rest)

I have ordered a proper road bike as found the MTB just to difficult to maintain speeds. My Road bike will be my first so got nothing to compare to. I am a little concerned how it will cope with pot holes.

There is a Boardman MTB that comes with carbon forks that seems to be getting rave reviews for road and off road so that might be a good compromise.

Some advice:
1. Avoid them as much as possible
2. Fit a slightly wider tyre (25c rather than 23c for instance)
3. Keep the pressures up and check regularly. If you're a roadie virgin, then pressures of over 100psi will seem very high but my rear tyre sits at 120+psi. I can't remember the last time I got a pinch flat.

The difference in speed is incredible - you'll be looking at 3-5mph improvement depending on which tyres you use on both bikes.

Cheers Richard. I think I'd be better off with a half-decent road bike and turn my current (cheap) hybrid into a winter hack.

All good advice re. tyres: I remember when I first pumped up a set of 25c's to 100psi - I couldn't believe the difference in speed.

Jim

Yep, get a track pump and use it every week at least. My tyres are at 140psi!

I've got the 2011 Boardman CX Team too, and also the Giant TCX 1, and am still keeping my eyes on a 2011 Specialized Tricross Comp.

Originally I intended to get only one bike, and bought early in 2011 before the Boardman (CX) came out, it was a choice between the TCX1 and TriCross Comp (TCC) and I went for the TCX1. At the time, the RRP of the TCX1 was £1200, the TCC £1400 and the CX £900 (but came out too late for me to buy initially). Wifey works in a bike shop and could get TCX1 and TCC for £700

My commute is 16 miles each way and a mix of road and off-road forest tracks, quite a few stones/flints on the tracks and plenty of crap on the roads too.

So here's my 2p-worth...

Boardman CX
- great value for money, I bought when there was 10% off making it £800, since then the RRP has gone up to £1000 but you can get a discount to make it £850, but soon it will be last years model (new one came out March/April)
- OE Avid BB5 disc brakes are unimpressive. I’ve tried the official and unofficial ways to adjust without luck, it’s hard to find the right compromise between short lever travel and rubbing/squeaking. BB7 upgrades seem the way to go, but that’s another £100 at least (most places out of stock for a month at the moment, I’m still waiting)
- I love the extra centre brake levers, tend to use them more when off-road, and the drop handlebars are great for finding different positions to avoid fatigue (same for all 3)
- Takes full mudguards, but most need some minor fiddling to fit, ie: lengthen the hole in the rear top bracket, bend the stays around the front calliper (I made new ones from thick coat hanger wire)
- one of the runs of cable along the downtube seems amateurishly attached with cable ties
- cables at front look a bit haphazardly arranged
- not a great fan of the SRAM levers, prefer the Shimano’s on the other 2
- range of gears is great for my ride, with 34-50 front and 11-32 rear, I need to use 34F/32R (=1.06 ratio) for some steep forest tracks whereas I have to get off and walk with the TCX, and using 50F/11R (=4.55 ratio) for max speed on the road really helps to cut the overall commute time by several minutes, but takes a surprising amount of effort, probably due to the tyres
- the step up from 34 to 50 at the front is very large, it takes a little time and I can only do it when in top gear (11) at the back, so this gives less flexibility overall
- OE tyres were rubbish, at least for my ride, I lost count of how many punctures I got in the Richey Excavador’s. In the end I went for Schwalbe Land Cruiser in the same 700x35 size, around 600g weight per tyre, a lot more than the flimsy Richeys (sidewalls seem to be made of balloon rubber) but less than the 900g of Schwalbe Marathon Plus or Tour tyres.
- Any bike fully kitted out (guards, lights etc) and with heavy winter or puncture resistant tyres will be heavy. The CX is heavier than the TCX, which I put down to the disc brakes
- the pointy underside of the top tube makes it harder to strap on my front light battery pack

Giant TCX1
- the better looking out of the 3 IMHO
- lighter than the CX (since no disc brakes?)
- some brake judder from fronts
- cannot use clip-on mudguards like Crud Catcher 2 even though I was told they would fit – they are really for road/race bikes since the cyclocross tyres are too wide – there are other mudguards that might fit, but need to adjust brake set up and fiddle with P clip brackets etc – I took a gamble here and it didn’t pay off
- the Shimano (two lever) shifters are brilliant, I much prefer them to the SRAM’s
- all 3 cables pass along the top of the top tube, the little clear rubber protector rings always move backwards and soon look dirty
- gear ratios are narrower than either CX or TCC, this is my main problem, I didn’t know what ratios I would want until I had bought it, the front is only 36-46, and with the rear 11-28 I can only get 36F/28R (=1.29 ratio) for going up hills (where I have to get off for some hills) and for speed only 46F/11R (=3.25 ratio) which makes it easy, but can’t go as fast
- OE tyres are Kendal small block 8, IIRC only had one pinch puncture with these due to pressure being a bit low

Specialized TriCross Comp
- wasn’t so keen on the white/black paint job but it has grown on me
- best combination IMHO of gear shifters, gear ratios, 3 gear wheels on front (30-39-50 front and 11-28 rear, to give 1.07 - 4.55 ratios almost identical to the CX), mudguard mounts, and concealed cables
- well overpriced when new, better value now for £980, I could get for £900, still debating…
- front forks were subject to a recall for failure of the brake mounting points, but some bikes may not have had this done

So I’m still trying to choose between keeping the CX and upgrading to BB7’s (cost £100), or keeping the TCX1 and bodging some mudguards but also changing the gear set (cost more than £100) or buying the TCC (helluva lot more, but can recover some money by selling the other two).

And then Richard comes along to tempt me with that Volagi…group buy perhaps? (but it doesn’t have the extra centre brake levers)

Yup - the Volagi (with BB7s & aluminium wheels) is still only 17lbs (7.7kg) so, although discs might be heavier, I don't think it's by too much. I should weigh the BB5 I have in the cupboard along with a 105 brake caliper to see the real difference. I think the Boardman is just quite weighty.

I never used the interruptor levers so didn't miss them when I converted to 105. The levers are much better on the current set-up with none of this gear lever jamming against the bars malarky I had with Apex.

I can't believe I've gone from racing downhill mountain bikes to contemplating buying a road bike in less than 2 years!

I knew buying an xc bike and starting to pedal up hills was the start of a slippery slope - but didn't expect it to be so fast. Next I'll be clipped in with disco slipper and wearing lycra.



This thread isn't helping!

Ease into it - you know you want to....

I'm mostly roadie though, for practicality sake, I wear MTB-soled shoes. Just so long as you don't wear baggies over lycra (or, if you do, you're consistent and wear socks with sandals and tuck your vest into your pants...)

I managed to catch my self just before buying a set of tights the other day, though scrubbing my legs after every ride is a pain I just can't bring my self to get lycra'd up - the under-short nappies are bad enough but a necessity for the longer rides.

Is baggies over lycra frowned upon? I never knew that! I've always assumed they were a sort of 'courtesy short' for the thoughtful roadie!?

I'd best get myself down to Matalan and stock up on white sportsocks

God, yes - definitely.

This topic is useless without pictures! Some of us have no idea what you're talking about...

Pictures of what? The bikes? The shoes? The lycra?

I don't think anyone here wants to see me in my bib shorts

Well - I'm going to be the first owner of a Volagi in the UK

lucky bastard! good on you

I hope you got a good price, what changes have you got planned apart from Di2 (worth the cost?) Tyres? Anything else?

And my bike dilemma grows, I just bought the Specialized Tricross Comp only to realise that the secondary brake levers are mounted so close to the stem clamp there's no room even for a bell My 2x16 mile commutes today on the Boardman were a lot slower due to the muddy tracks (and being unfit)

Price was good and a free "team" kit thrown in

I'm going to think about Di2 but I think I will go that way - I'm not planning on swapping my bike again too soon! Tyres? Dunno - 4000s have been good for speed. Gators great for the winter (ice free) commute.

Yup - that's one of the reasons I dumped the interruptor levers - nowhere for bell, lights, Garmin etc

I took the Focus Variado today (Ali road bike) felt so much faster than the Boardman - shorts helped though I think (so mild today)

Shorts in January, in Scotland

Well done on the bike Rich, full report asap please.

Tough as old boots me

My legs weren't too happy though - grit blasted with ice cold road shiite for an hour, they looked as though I'd walked through a field of nettles after I got out of the shower! White socks was a mistake too!

Yup - I'll be reporting on the bike as soon as it lands. Folk at Volagi were very friendly and I think they are more excited about getting the first bike into the UK than I was...

Should have worn some tights under baggies...