Clifton CC

For £3k the Boardman sounds a bargain. The list price for the 404's is £1.5k and 2010 SRAM Red group is about £1.7k so you are getting the frame and finishing kit for nothing!

I've not seen any reviews of the bike but buying from Halfords wouldn't put me off just go in knowing exactly what you want and take any "advice" they give with a pinch of salt!

Have you looked in this months Cycling Plus? They've got nearly 1000 road bikes listed.

Was in Halfords this afternoon and had a look at the Boardman that was on display, looks great value for money. They also had the frame and forks only at £1.3k!

I think an issue that is being over looked here is, is this a bike to race or to ride?
A race bike should be more of a tool built with reliable parts that don't cost the earth if they get damaged and need replacing.
On the other hand a fancy Summer bike that only gets ridden in the dry for clubrun/sportives can be completely different, top of the range groupsets and carbon wheels, the only limit is your wallet.
The most important thing is to get something that fits you and suits your riding.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Board-pro-race-sp ... 19bbdc6183

just down the road. It could go cheap, you never know!

Just a quick reference for Planet-X - I'm at the cheap end with anSuperlight Team (alu) frame built up with Centaur group, but the bike is fantastic to ride (especially for a taller rider) and looks great too. I just added a set of their model B semi-section wheels which I'm similarly happy with. And they are just down the road in Donny so I don't feel I'm selling out to some supra-national internet behemoth when I order from them.
If it were me I'd give their Titanium Pro Road a look...
tom

tomf wrote:If it were me I'd give their Titanium Pro Road a look..

They are running out of those, because their deal with Lynskey has ended. I read somewhere they plan to source their titanium frames from Van Nicholas instead, but those have yet to appear on their new web site.

Might have a bid on that Boardman, but with 4 days to go it's going to go up quite a lot more.