I'm an occasional road rider but fortunate to now be in a position to be spending a little more time each year in Spain so ride solidly for a a couple of weeks a year and this in going to increase. My current road bike is fine but it is over 10 years old now, tech has moved on a lot and, well, I just want a new bike so why not.
Luckily I can use Cycle2Work so limted to Halfords, Tredz or other vendors who accept the scheme and I've been looking at £2k-£3k price point. I keep coming back to the Boardman SLR 9.2 and struggling to find any reason to not just hit the order button. Good spec, good looking, good value. Is there anything else I should be looking at?
If not, next question will be which size Boardman for 180cm rider, this seems to put me at top end of Medium or bottom end of Large.
Ta
In your exact position I went with a Ti Colibri and the upgrade to carbon wheels.
Sonder Colibri Ti 105 | Titanium endurance road bike
No regrets. I thought I might still use my old bike for 'summer' but it's been relegated to the turbo.
Only problem is the Large is out of stock. Might be worth a call to them as by the time your voucher is processed they may well be in stock again anyway.
Negatives (because it's great so this is the shorter list)
And in terms of spec the alpkit bar tape is atrocious, the softest foam imaginable. With better tape the bar's aren't too bad. The seatpost is stiffer than a joke about medicated corpses. And the saddle has a grippy print, but only on one side which makes it incredibly uncomfortable on that side (who at alpkit decided that more friction was desirable on a saddle?). So it's ideal, as long as you already have a preferred saddle and a couple of hundred extra to spend on a carbon seatpost and some nice bars and tape.
It's not an outright speed machine, but it keeps up enough that I'm the limiting factor. I'd probably put some faster 30mm road tyres on it when the WTB's die. But they are quite good for being able to ride cycle paths without worrying about fragile 'race' tyres.
The mudguards are too short for group riding, the rear needs to come down to the 90'clock position. I wouldn't recommend them except that as a C2W purchase they'll keep me dry until I fit something better for winter club rides.
The Ti bottle cages need re-shaping to actually fit bottles properly. I put them in a G-clamp and squeezed a bit at a time until they matched the curve of a bottle. Again, it's fine for C2W because that makes them cheap, but I'd have sent them straight back if I'd paid full price.
If you want absolute speed, then this is your size .........
Cannondale SuperSix Evo 3 Road Race Bike 2024 Viper Green
Would need Pauls to put through their halfords upcharge separately though.
Halfords/Tredz do say you can get in touch and they'll price match or source bikes without the upcharge, in reality they just seemed to say no to whatever I asked.
You get a great spec. for the money with the Boardman but is it's fairly aggressive geometry what you want? What bike do you have currently (assuming it's geometry suits you)? Even if the geometry suits you you might need to factor in needing a shorter stem if you go with the L as the reach is quite long and adding a 110mm stem onto that might be too much of a stretch (and you'll need to factor in a brake bleed for that assuming it's fully integrated)
Find myself in the same position and have reached the same conclusion as you.
Can't find much better, and I've looked hard.
There is the odd shop-damaged bargain around at £2.5k e.g Trek Domane or Giant TCR, so keep eyes peeled. PedalOn take C2W on these too. PedalOn Scratch & Dent bikes
If you're not a Di2 fan, they're launching a Rival version of the Boardman for £3,100 in the autumn, with own-brand 50mm carbon wheels. Boardman SLR 9.4 Ltd Edition
I'm currently thinking this is what I'll go for, over the 9.2. Mainly because I've already got AXS gubbins in the fleet and have always wanted carbon wheels 😎
Height-wise, 'fraid I can't help. I'm a solid Medium @ 177cm. My current old Boardman SLR from c2014 is a 56cm... And that is fine for me... /\0/\
On the sizing, I'm 5ft 8in (with a long torso) and their mediums always fit me well.
I have the older SLR, the first disc model. It's a good balance of speed and comfort IMO. I'd certainly look at them if I wanted a new roadie.
Just selling mine as I don't ride road any more, ping me if you fancy a barely used one for well under a grand.
Dolan accept Cycle2Work vouchers. I originally got a Boardman from Tredz...but it was a) wrong size for me (my fault) and b) broken (their fault) so I spent a bit more time umming and aahing and plumped for a DolanTuono Disc and love it. Dolan were great to deal with as well.
First road bike since I was 16 (I'm 51!) and really enjoying it.
it's fairly aggressive geometry what you want? What bike do you have currently (assuming it's geometry suits you)? Even if the geometry suits you you might need to factor in needing a shorter stem if you go with the L as the reach is quite long and adding a 110mm stem onto that might be too much of a stretch (and you'll need to factor in a brake bleed for that assuming it's fully integrated)
It's quite low which makes the reach look longer I think at 57cm. If you leave all the spacers under the stem then it's probably a fairly average ~56cm sort of reach. The angles are half a degree slacker than 'average' too, most bikes would be 73deg, or even 74 on aggressive race bikes.
I'm 181cm (just shy of a proper 6ft) but short legs / long torso so find I'm either stuck on a 56cm with a short TT or a 58 and have little post showing. So fit wise either need a sloping TT or fairly aggressive geometry (but can always run spacers) which are fundamentally the same coin really, it's just marketing as endurance and aggressive solutions to the same problem. I've even played around with longer stems.
Unless the OP has really long legs I would go with the large.
All good feedback, thanks.
Looking again, I probably want something closer to endurance bike rather than racing, so perhaps the geometry on the Boatdman is a bit racey. I have a gravel GXT Ti Dolan so will take a closer look at them. The Tourno looks ace but, based on my costly mistake of buying the wrong size GXT, I’d definitely visit Dolan for sizing/fitting.
My Cube Attain GTC Disc is 388mm reach with a very upright 610mm stack and 54cm BB to top seat tube. My Deda adjustable stem effectively lowers the stack to ~575mm when under all spacers when my lower back is happy.
177cm tall and stumpy legs (BB to saddle top ~72cm).
I'd be a medium on the SLR9.2, 388/563mm aggressive geo and bit more post exposed at 50mm.
https://www.paulscycles.co.uk/bikes/road-bikes/cube-attain-c62-slx-road-bike-2025-cottonblack__14629
is comparable, think they accept Halfords C2W vouchers, possibly with a feeling.
