Halfway down the rutted, slippery track on the deserted North Downs, pellets of mud bouncing off the tyres and into my face, I remembered why mountain biking in a British winter can be such fun: it’s the grown-up equivalent of leaping into puddles. Getting grubby is half the point.
I am something of a lapsed devotee. My own ageing mountain bike has lain idle in a garage for several years as I took to the more straightforward pleasures of road cycling. The Boardman’s job was to tempt me back.
In my absence, the pursuit has acquired more stylistic touches – machines with sofa-plush front and rear suspension; fat bikes and their monster truck-sized tyres. The Boardman is the more traditional variant known as a hardtail, with a suspension fork at the front but nothing more hi-tech than big-ish tyres and your knees to absorb the jolts otherwise. If your idea of mountain biking joy is descending a boulder-strewn, purpose-made trail at 40mph, it won’t be for you.
But my route involved sodden downhill tracks as well as long climbs. This is where you need a mountain bike that gives you confidence when things get fast and tricky, but isn’t sluggish on climbs.
For some people, the Boardman would err too much towards the racey side of things, as befits the company’s founder, Chris Boardman – the 1992 Olympic track pursuit champion who went on to race in the Tour de France – who sold the company to Halfords in 2014. But it suited me fine. The 120mm give in the forks absorbed unexpected jolts on descents, helped by 29-inch diameter wheels (the “29er” in the name) and chunky Continental tyres. Even on a damp day I could point the bike at ankle-deep mud and slippy tree roots without worrying about sliding face first into the muck. Similarly, on the climbs I managed to wheeze up everything without having to take a break.
The pedals turn a single chainring, with the gear lever shifting between 11 rear cogs, ranging in size from a 50p piece to a small dinner plate. This can make the gaps between gears quite big, but the idea is that unless you’re a racer, it’s a worthwhile price for the lack of faff.
This is lot of mountain bike for the money considering high-end, specialist creations can top £7,000. The combined result was a very happy, increasingly mud-decorated me.
Boardman Mountain Bike Pro 29er in numbers
Price £1,000
Frame Alloy
Fork RockShox Reba RLT
Groupset Sram GX (1x11 gearing)
Wheels Mavic XM 319
Tyres Continental Mountain King 2.2in
Weight 11.5kg
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