Boardman Bikes Reviews 

Got a old boardman comp which I still ride today great bike , went to Halford for a replacement, really disappointed with the newer version. Plastic break leaves, (mine aluminium). Cheap breaks,and gears . My old one all spram high spec.
They really cut corners on the boardmans. To replace mine with the same specifications the guy from Halford said you looking at well over £1000 Mark.
The new boardman hybrid is a cheap replacement from the old Hybrid. Not worth the money . I walked away .

I've had a couple of Boardman bikes and they're great bikes generally, but let down by cheap components and poor after sales service.

My first boardman needed a new wheel when the unsealed bearings on the hub started to get grit inside, damaging the surface of the hub.

Second bike for my fiance had the handlebars lock up whilst she was riding it which was very scary and dangerous! I took the headset apart and found cheap unsealed bearing races again that had rusted and disintegrated. Replaced the headset with sealed bearings and the bike is better than new.

Boardman don't have any customer service team and there's no way to contact the company directly. Customers are referred to Halfords, who's own customer service is getting worse or Tredz who tried to help but had no details on touch up paint.

If you buy a boardman, check the bearings and replace with sealed units before they fail.

Just bought the Boardman ADV8.9 adventure bike and first impressions are wow!!! This is my 4th Boardman bike in the last 12 years. I remember getting my first Team bike in 2012 and I had that for about 7 years and had so many fantastic rides with that bike! Then I got the CXR9.0 in 2016 and still have it. I've done NC500 once and the Outer Hebrides (3 times) on this bike as well as lots of long day trips, like the Borders and Trossachs. i've got my everyday reliable hybrid too. I've been looking at getting into a bit more gravel / adventure stuff so decided to go for the ADV8.9. The ADV8.9 orange colour looks stunning with a good gearing ratio with x2 front chainring, 48/32 and 11/36 cassette, hydraulic brakes (excellent), great tyre clearance, currently running 40mm Schwable, nice relaxed geometry and I actually prefer Aluminum over Carbon as I gives me the option for a bike rack as well as bike packing. I also like external cabling easier for maintenance none of this stem/head tube internal stuff. Shimano GRX perfect, who needs Di2! Overall fantastic price for the specification! Looking forward on doing some multi day adventures and hopefully planning the "Badger Divide" route later on in the year, Inverness to Glasgow - off road! Chris and his team are excellent.

Thanks a lot Boardman!

Dougie, Glasgow : )

Just purchased a Boardman 8.6 hybrid rode it a couple of times now its a great bike for the money £540 found no problem so far

I have a boardemand 8.9 hardtail and i must admit I have never had an issue with it. Great on the road and also great for offroad / trails. Great bikes. I saved up for nearly 6 months to purchase my bike I know its not the most expensive mountain bike but its worth the world to me.

I purchased a pair of Boardman cycle shorts several years ago which are still intact and wearable. I recently purchased another pair and within two weeks the seam split completely. I returned them to Halfords and was given replacement pair. After wearing them twice the exact same thing happened again. There is obviously either a design fault or the material used is of a far inferior quality. This is not an isolated incident as there are several similar reviews on Halfords website. I cannot understand why Chris Boardman is putting his name to this rubbish unless he cares more for money than his reputation.

Zero aftersales or Customer Service from Boardman - I bought a £300 kids Halfords owned brand Boardman bike a few weeks back and my litle boy chipped the paint on day one. Ive emailed, reached out on twitter and instagram asking for help with the colour to get it repaired only to be ignored on all fronts. The phone support can't help either and they told me to "google it". All im asking for is a colour code from a bike that they manufacture.

I bought a Boardman MTX 8.9 £900 a year ago from Tredz. In 1 year it has been off the road for over 2 months waiting on parts, the headset has seized and the pedal crank come off 4 times, each after being "repaired" by Tredz/Halfords. I have also spend £180 and many trips backwards and forwards to the repair shop. Zero faith in the brand. I have seen the many poor reviews about Boardman, so I am not overly hopeful of a happy ended.

Dont buy a bike from Halfords brought a boardman bike feb last year for 650.00. Since purchase took it back 4 times first time the pedal fell off the next three times loose spokes. The last time the wheel was badley buckled. Halfords said it will cost me 120.00 for a new wheel. I asked for a refund or exchange they said no so i complained to customer service and the next thing they agreed to change and fix my wheel. But i dont want the bike back they are not fit for purpose

We have a range of Boardman bikes from a 12 year old CX comp, a hybrid commuter, a womens Adv 8.6 and and Adv8.9 and a full suss MTR8.8. For the price we paid (second hand, typically 50% or less than the already good RRPs) they really are bargains. I couldn't comment on Halfords customer service as I maintain them and replace things as needed. Although after 12 years the CX is very much not the original, it has raced CX extensively, toured across Europe, bikepacked in the Highlands, gets used for commuting and is hacked around on all the time. The MTR is excellent being thrown down local extreme trails with the kids and copes well with a 90+ kg old man on board. The Hybrid does what hybrids should, needs little attention, ever. The total cost for all of them is less than RRP for many other brands, and keeping them on the road is straightforward and cheap enough too. What is not to like.

I have a Boardman 8.9e adv bought in Feb 2022 from Halfords, so only 8 months old and already having trouble with Battery and with the actual motor mounting. The problem is Boardman wont talk to me as all they want to do is palm you off to Halfords, and unfortunately Halfords don't seem to know what there doing and don't carry half the parts you require... so Very very disappointed in both these companies would never purchase a Boardman or use Halfords again unless i had to

I have a Boardman 8.9e adv bought in 2021 from Halfords. I like the bike although the Freehub started to play up after about 6 months and is still hot fixed. The problem is Halfords are totally incompetent. Their process for booking a bike for service is rubbish and the service you get after you get an appointment is pathetic. Boardman seem fine for the price but their choice of Halfords as a partner is deeply flawed. Don't buy any bike from Halfords!

Shocking service from this well known brand. New bike, seat clamp has been lost by me. Thought i contact them for a part. I been given the run around by Boardman Bikes. Telling me Halfords would be able to get it for me. As they Boardman are owned by Halfords. No help there. I stay well clear of this bike maker. Replacement parts are a key part of buying a bike. All i want is a replacement seat clamp for my Boardman SLR 8.9. Reflects badly on Chris Boardman great name. Stay well clear of this brand of bike.

my Boardman hybrid pro 2012 served me well with just usual wear and tear until the frame had catastrophic failure and broke into two. It's never been used for anything but commuting. I thought customer services would help but nope, nothing. Frames shouldn't collapse, could have ended so badly.

I bought a ladies 8.8 MTX Boardman Hardtail in December 2020. By March the bearings in the headset had completely corroded despite light use and being kept indoors. The chain had stretched by 1mm and damaged the cassette. The bike finally came back to me mid August after endless, calls / livechats / emails to the resolutions centre. I said if i don't have it for my holiday i didn't want it back. It came back with no gears / gear shifters to go bike camping in Scotland. I know there is a parts shortage but when i started to play hardball after having no bike for 4 months they bought a crankset. Customer service is shocking neither they nor Boardman care that i'm paying monthly for a bike i've not had / been able to ride since March. It is supposed to be a commuting bike, they must only commute to the end of their road a couple of times a week if they think that bike is good enough.

I've had an ADV 8.9 2021 for around 9 months and ridden approx 1000km in that time, including during winter (muddy, wet, gritty etc). Overall I believe this bike is very good value for money considering you get the GRX rear mech and hydraulic disc brakes, which are great. The bike isn't very light, but that's to be expected at this price point. I've really enjoyed riding it as my first gravel bike. However, there have been multiple issues with it as well. The first was the rear mech, which didn't shift properly. Halfords replaced this under warranty. The next issue was the freehub body. The hubs are cheap and made by Formula. The freehub gave up after 6 months and was loose and rattly. This was replaced by halfords at my expense. This freehub body lasted 3 months and I will now replace it myself now that I understand how to do it. I'll be getting a better set of wheels ASAP. You can really tell this is where Boardman have saved their money. The bottom bracket bearings have lasted 9 months. The drive side cup siezed on, and couldn't be removed. Halfords are currently assessing whether this is covered under the frame warranty, since it was installed by them and makes the bike unusable. I had wanted to replace the BB with a higher quality one which could have its bearings replaced. Service from Halfords is typically slow and frustrating and often the workmanship is poor, but unfortunately I have no choice but to use them where warranty or own-brand components are concerned. I will never buy a bike from Halfords again

Purchased the women’s 8.6 adv (gravel) bike Aug 2020 and bike has been nothing but trouble. The bike has been looked at independently and the bottom bracket is too short along with frame alignment issues. The service from Halfords is non existent and Boardman aren’t interested. I’m pretty sure Mr Boardman had a better vision for his brand than what’s being delivered via Halfords. My advise would be, save a little longer and buy a better brand.

I bought a Boardman CRX8.9 in March 2018 and have had nothing but troubles. Bearings in the back wheel gave out, disk brake issues and constant punctures. I know what you are saying thats the road. Well, NO. Its the wheel. The spokes are off centre which means the rim tap doesnt cover the holes. Therefore when you ride the bike the innertube gets puntures on the in side againts the rim. I have used tape to go around the rim several time to make sure all holes are covered. After the puncture is repaired getting the tyre back on the rim is a massive issue. I cant decide if this is tyre or the wheel, but I suspect it is the wheel. Poorly designed. If you offered me a free Boardman, I wouldn't thank you, I'd probably pass. Ironically, when I was last in a bike shop, they only had Boardmans for sale.

I bought a £1k Boardman adv 8.9 from Halfords, within 5 months the rear bearings and bottom bracket failed.... twice. Halfords claim that the faults were caused by 'wear and tear' - which is absolutely ridiculous. Are Boardman manufacturing 'adventure' bikes which cannot handle a 25 mile commute on tarmac without self-destructing within 5 months (twice?!)?! Moreover I emailed Boardman twice about this issue - no reply. Shocking product and zero customer service.

Can only say about my experience, bought my Boardman hybrid MTX 8.6 July 2020 and I’ve had to return it back to Halfords (who have been excellent) 3 times now for snapped spokes , not very happy with this product and won’t be buying another Boardman bike .