Bikes & Gear

Reviews

Bike Features

Workshops

Buyers Guides

Gear Browser

Boardman MTB HT Pro (09) | $1593.98
Change Currency What's this?

The Pro is a riding revelation in every sense of the word

BikeRadar verdict

45 out of 5 stars

"Backs up its claims with exceptional performance on the trail, and all at an incredible price"

By Jenn Hopkins, What Mountain Bike

Boardman’s off-road offerings are a relatively new venture and the Halfords-backed brand just keep springing surprise after pleasant surprise on us. We had high hopes for the aptly-monikered Pro and it didn’t disappoint.

Ride & handling: A revelation, in every sense of the word

We loved the Pro and have happily ridden it day after day. If the season had started we’d have taken it racing but instead settled for a few unintentionally fast rides where it successfully laid waste to erstwhile friends while retaining a cheery grin.

It’s managed to capture some of the old-school ‘tool for the job’ mentality that really makes a hardtail shine, and although having 100mm up front might sound limiting, it’s surprising what you can actually ride when you put your mind to it.

The delicate looks harbour a latent aggression that that sees you in the big ring more often than is wise and transforms scrabbly, tenuous ascents into refined exercises in uphill poise. It’s tight, balanced and flatters every spare watt of power out of your engine.

Frame: Clean and crisp, with great attention to detail

Straight out of the box this one is a stunner. White bikes have that enduring, undefinable ‘thing’ – and manage to hang onto it even when plastered in a test’s worth of muck. The Pro drew admiring glances from all angles thanks to its good looks and, at just over 24lb, there’s a respectably racey frame at its heart.

It looks like the quintessential lightweight hardtail in profile but from any other angle it’s obvious that serious work has gone into making it as stiff and light as is machinely possible.

From the severely flattened diamond profile top tube that’s wider than it is high to the flared, oversized down tube, the single conventional tube profile left on the bike is the seat tube.

The seatstays have just enough heel-clearing kink to keep us happy, chainstays are square profile to kick back every scrap of power and the flared head tube accommodates a sleek, tidy integrated headset.

Cutaway dropouts are an elegant touch, while a slightly offset seatstay/top tube junction underlines the contrast between skinny, buzz-killing stays and the burlier, stiffer front end and down tube.

Delicate looks hide an inspiring character that loves to big ring : delicate looks hide an inspiring character that loves to big ring

Equipment: Flawless spec for the money

The build of the Pro is astonishingly good value: it might only give you a penny’s change from a grand but it wrings every advantage out of its spec.

RockShox’s Reba fork never fails to slap a big grin on our faces, and the Race variant here saves an ounce over the SL and features the external Floodgate adjustment.

It would be tempting to criticise the lack of remote lockout on a race-orientated bike but the fork’s more than good enough to render it redundant; compression damping is proper ‘set-and-forget’ perfect and, once you have the Floodgate threshold tweaked to perfection, you really won’t miss having a fifth bit of handlebar furniture to smack your knee on.

Ritchey’s Pro seatpost, saddle and pleasingly comfortable mid-rise bar are in keeping with the overall speedy theme and, although it’s not as light as the carbon we’d no doubt be tempted to upgrade to, it isn’t going to hold you back.

Matching Ritchey XC Disc wheels are light and tough with double-butted stainless spokes, resilient rims and sealed cartridge bearings.

Continental Speed King 2.1in tyres are the only choice we’d query; they fit the fast and light brief perfectly but are small with a very tall, narrow profile, forcing us to run a higher tyre pressure than is comfortable. Fitting something marginally larger but, crucially, rounder in shape would up the Pro’s fun quota even further and, with a careful tread choice, shouldn’t impede rolling resistance either.

Forward motion is taken care of by a mixture of SRAM X.O and X9, with an attractive Truvativ Stylo GXP chainset drawing more lust.

Avid’s Elixir R brakes match neat, slimline levers with good stopping power. With 160mm rotors fitted at both ends you’re not going to be hauling yourself up out of freefall with them without a struggle but they suit the ethos of the bike and we never really managed to outrun them.

The spec is fl awless for the money: the spec is fl awless for the money

User Reviews

Post your review

  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    well chuffed with mine, not had a single issue with it.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I have the 2008 version and its a great toy!!!! I have covered about 800 miles on it and all I can say is its fast, but it always, always wants to go faster, over 30mph down a lumpy bit of singletrack isn't enough. If it could talk it would be screaming faster, faster!! the 2008 bikes has conti explorer tyres which are rubbish!! other than that the spec is perfect!!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I have the 2008 version and its a great toy!!!! I have covered about 800 miles on it and all I can say is its fast, but it always, always wants to go faster, over 30mph down a lumpy bit of singletrack isn't enough. If it could talk it would be screaming faster, faster!! the 2008 bikes has conti explorer tyres which are rubbish!! other than that the spec is perfect!!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I also have the 08 version and it really is a great bike, but surprise surprise the only problem is the setup by Halfords. Customer service wise they were good but their bike building skill level is poor. I would also echo the comment re the tyres they are rubbish!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Looks like a contender for my £1000-£1200 lightweight HT

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    looks and sounds just what im looking for but will never buy one as Halfords are totally SHI! at building bikes and i would not trust my life to them shame you cant get it else where or id have one o well im sure ill find some think else just as god for the same price

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Bought one of these last week, amazing spec, very light, and all for under a £1k.....can't go wrong. Wasn't sure about the Speed Kings to start with, but they handled my 48 mile mixed terrain ride with ease.

    Okay, Halfords can be a problem, but just buy it and set it up yourself or ask LBS to do it for you...will only add £30-£40 to overall cost.

    Excellent bike and worth every penny of its £999.99

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Bought one myself two weeks ago, set up already by Boardman - I bought mine boxed and the gears just needed a bit of tweaking and the bars and pedals put on, very easy to do and the bike is great in every way - weighs about as much as a bag of crisps.

    Only thing I didn't like were the grips but I swapped em out for a set of lock ons - Halford also very nicely threw in a brand new set of SPD pedals when I said I didn't like the cage pedals.

    Don't judge all Halfords the same - my local store (Farnham) ordered in the bike for me same day and are extremely enthusiastic and knowledgable - they were gutted they couldn't assemble it for me but they gave me some great pointers - all of which were useful...

    No problems with bike or store at all, I am bit of a beginner but I have been ragging the bike XC with some tricky rocky descents too. It is fast and feels totally solid the whole time nothing rattles although the brakes can squeal a bit in the mud sometimes.

    The white paint job does show up the mud nicely - not sure if this is a bad thing though as it encourages me to clean the sh!te off it after a muddy ride.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Why not just give it the once over yourself shamus? I do it with every bike i buy just to get everything positioned how i like it. It looks like cracking value but you could probably do even better with an end of liner at Paul's Cycles.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I had been looking for a fast lightweight HT for some time , and saw this ...read all the info i could find and ordered one from Halfords...I cant fault my local branch in Pool, Cornwall as they did a good job building it up.

    What i will add is the first one came with a few paint defects so they ordered another without question. The replacement was perfect in every way except for the saddle , which came without Ti rails as the spec list implies !! but they did knock off £20.00...O well...

    I have ridden the bike a few times now and it has proved its self to be one stunning Hard tail....As others have said the tyres could be better , but when they are worn out they will be changed for a more suitable set...

    The white paint job is actually a pearlescent white ...and I like it.

    I would thoroughly recommend it to all and feel it must be THE top spec bike out there for £1000 !!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I bought one from my store in Ashford kent - they set it up perfectly, great service. Love the bike, however found the stem a little long so switched for a ritchey WCS 70mm one, much better, also tyres were ok on singletrack etc but hate them on any hard surface, feels not far off cornering on ballbearings, will change them out when worn for another type. So impressed with it Im not looking at getting a team carbon road bike also.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Great bike, fantastic spec, Speed Kings are so-so, stem is too long as dgw15 says, fitted a Thudbuster LT and the ride is carpet smooth over all but the roughest surfaces. Worked out at £592 on the Cycle2Work scheme including a Thule 9403 bought with the £100 of free Halfords vouchers. Just needs some Ergon grips and bar ends to make it my perfect XC machine. Halfords were great too.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    got mine yesterday via bike2work. Had to go 20+ miles from home to find one in my size. The saddle was CroMo not Ti railed, and the rebound adjuster on the fork went awol on the ride home (if it was ever there) but I called them and they said "come back in and we will sort it out straight away" Going back Wednesday. Know any LBS's open at 19:30 on a weekday? not round here you don't.

    First impressions? Great bike for the money, L frame was right way to go (was toying with an M) and Guildford Halfords know what they are doing from a customer service perspective. Set up was perfect and I mean spot on perfect.

    Instant upgrades to make it suit me? Ritchey Pro Ergo bar ends, Ritchey white bar grips, white crud/race guard, Shimano M647 DX spd's and a black Brooks B17 Narrow saddle all on order.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Workhard - As a matter of interest, how tall are you? I have a frame size dilemma because at 5'10" I think I may be between sizes.!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    I got my pro two days ago and wow! this bike is wicked. Absolutely awesome acceleration, kit level is best in the bis, an the service i got from my branch in Grimsby was faultless they even trimmed the steerer an swapped the front mech for a low rise x9. The saddle though is jus nasty man did nasty things to my ass after 2 hour test ride. swap it out asap. Just don't be worried about halfords cos they've been great so much better than my lbs velosport in Cleethorpes, i've had two stumpy's from them and had problems with both that should have been picked when assembled, one was quite dangerous! Anyway enough of the moan about snobby lbs, the boardman pro is a stunner very highly recommended.

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    Hey Ujack we heard you the first time!

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    im thinking about one of these OR a CUBE LTD RACE, any oppinions??

    0.3
  • User review of Boardman MTB HT Pro (09)

    redpompsk1 sorry mate didn't see your comment until today. I'm six two. Upgrades went as on as planned, can't get the brooks saddle far enough forward so am seeking a Ritchey zero layback post to make up for this - not unusual if you choose to go down the brooks route but the posts are are rare as hens teeth. Crudguard went in the spares box immediately and was replaced with a white CycraGuard which fits without fouling the cables unlike the crud. Oh well.

    Not ridden her as much as I might have liked this summer but have done a few hundred km's including a couple of six - seven hour day rides. What a great bike. Comfy, forgiving, light, chuckable, climbs like a rocket. Could maybe do with a slightly bigger rotor up front for the downs - always the way on an L frame with one size fits all across the size range brakes I think, after all I'm going to weigh lots more than someone who buys an S aren't I? Spending the time to tune the front fork was a worthwhile use of time my time.

    A word about the tyres. The original spec.'s Achilles heal. She is now shod in conti mountain king protection folders (2.2 on back and 2.4 up front) The original wire bead Speed Kings didn't like my riding style and territory at all. I'm a big, and slightly clumsy lump and the tread blocks were way too far apart on the speeds meaning downland flints shredded them via big blow outs on back-to-back rides. Second one left a hole I could put my thumb thru and required gaffer tape to get me home.

    0.3

You need to login or register to post comments.


Bad Good    

Specification

Name:
MTB HT Pro (09)
Built by:
Boardman
Price:
$1593.98

Available Sizes:
L, M, S
Available Colours:
White
Weight (lb):
24
Year:
2009

Frame & Fork:

 
Frame Material:
Ultralight super butted race spec aluminium
Fork Model:
RockShox Reba Race with external Floodgate, 100mm

Brakes:

 
Brakes Model:
Avid Elixir R

Transmission:

 
Cranks Model:
Truvativ Stylo GXP
Rear Derailleur Model:
SRAM X0
Front Derailleur Model:
SRAM X9
Shifters Model:
SRAM X9

Wheels:

 
Rims Model:
Ritchey XC disc
Tyres Brand:
Continental
Front Tyre Model:
Speed King Supersonic
Front Tyre Size:
26x2.1
Rear Tyre Model:
SpeedKing
Rear Tyre Size:
26x2.1

:

 
Bottom Bracket Height (in):
12.25 in
Chainstays (in):
16.69
Seat Tube (in):
15.98 in
Top Tube (in):
22.24 in

Related links

BikeRadar is not responsible for the content of external websites

Also on BikeRadar