Road Bikes

Boardman bikes need little introduction. The brainchild of ex-pro rider and world-record holder Chris Boardman MBE (surely he should be a ‘Sir’, by now?), the brand has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2007.

The SLR 8.6 sits at the bottom of Boardman’s extensive road-bike range, but it still sports a well-appointed, triple-butted aluminium frame and a full-carbon fork (both the blades and steerer are carbon, though the steerer is not tapered).

The Boardman SLR 8.6’s aluminium frame is semi-compact with a gently sloping top tube. It has dropped, keyhole-profile seatstays for rear-end comfort, front and rear mudguard fittings, as well as fittings for a rear rack. It’s also the same price as it was a couple of years ago without any reduction in component quality which, as supply issues and inflation take hold in the cycling world, is becoming increasingly rare.

The Boardman SLR 8.6 represents a fine entry into the world of road bikes. 4/5

Read the full review here Cycling Plus Magazine April 2022

Pulling the Boardman out of its box, I couldn’t help but tap the top tube to check the frame wasn’t carbon. Although it’s alloy, the well-smoothed welds at the top tube, head tube and seatstay junctions have the look of a carbon frame.

That’s given the lie by the fishtails around the bottom bracket welds, but it’s still impressive in a lower priced frame, where large lumps of excess metal are more the norm where the tubes meet.

It’s part of a package that looks and rides well above its entry-level pricetag and includes a slender all-carbon fork and dropped seatstays for a modern looking frameset.

Boardman has redesigned its alloy SLR frameset for 2021, swapping from rim brakes to the disc brakes that are now rapidly becoming the norm for most road bikes, from race-proven thoroughbreds and increasingly down to lower priced machines.

The Boardman SLR 8.8's well thought-out spec leads to a ride that surpasses its budget pricetag - 4.5/5

Read the full review here Boardman SLR 8.8 Disc Cyclist Magazine

Boardman SLR 8.8 Disc review: possibly the best road bike (well) under £1000

Boardman’s alloy frameset has a quality look beyond its price. The tubes are shaped to add comfort where it’s needed, like in the thin seat stays, while providing a robust main triangle that helps with power transfer. The down tube changes shape from top to bottom, while the top tube tapers front to back and the seat tube fits a standard 27.2mm wide seatpost.

The SLR 8.8 Disc rides like a much more expensive bike than its £800 price tag. It’s smooth, comfortable and eats up the miles. A lot of that’s down to those wide tyres, which let you lower pressure to avoid being bumped around on the usual less-than-smooth British roads.

Boardman SLR 8.8 Disc gives you all the features of a modern road bike in a great value package. There’s plenty of gear range and the disc brakes give reassuringly effective stopping power. Boardman has made compromises to hit the bargain price, but they’re cleverly chosen and don’t detract overtly from the bike’s performance. - 5/5

Read the full review here Boardman SLR 8.8 Disc T3

It's not like it's been developed to purely hit a price point either. It rides really well, offering a comfortable, no-nonsense frame and fork with well-balanced handling to suit beginners or those who want to exploit its all-weather capabilities.

While many mid to top-end aluminium alloy frames show excellent ride qualities thanks to clever design and development of the tubing, some of the cheapest and most basic can still feel a little unforgiving in their feedback and be a bit harsh on certain surfaces.

At this price, the SRL 8.8 Disc is more likely to be considered by those new to road riding – your first bike, possibly, or your first road bike at least if you're coming from a hybrid or mountain bike background. The Boardman is perfect for this; it's an easy bike to ride and it gives you all of the fun and sense of speed roadies crave with none of the drawbacks like twitchy handling or a nervous rear end from a short wheelbase.

Two or three years ago, I knew roughly what a particular budget would get you from each brand off the top of my head, but the cycling world, like every other market, has changed dramatically in terms of pricing. Which is what makes it even more remarkable to be looking at this Boardman and going, bloody hell, that's cracking value for money. Not just in the current climate, but generally.

The key for me though is that Boardman hasn't achieved this by offering a 'gas-pipe' frameset with a nice paint job. The SLR gives a quality ride and balanced handling, matched to a blend of components that complement while keeping the price down.

Well specced and a great ride feel from a bike that looks and feels more expensive than it is. 8/10

Read the full review here Boardman SLR 8.8 Disc Road.cc

Mat tested the previous version of this bike back in 2018 and was very impressed, and now I've ridden the 2021 version I can see why. It's brilliant!

At the heart lie Boardman's C7 frame and fork, which use the same aerodynamic design and geometry as the rest of the SLR range, albeit here with a different grade of carbon fiber.

The Boardman SLR 8.9 Carbon remains a top-level contender for bikes around the £1,000 mark, especially with its new upgraded groupset. The frameset is high upgradable too, pleasingly aero and also very versatile.

Fast and fun thanks to a great frameset and impressive spec list – especially for the money!

Read the full review here Boardman SLR 8.9 Carbon Road.cc

Boardman has finally had to put up the price of its carbon fibre SLR 8.9 – but this has been accompanied by an upgrade to a mainly Shimano 105 groupset. And Boardman has also worked to improve the contact points.

Throw in a frameset with the same aerodynamic profiles as Boardman’s top-level 9.6 and the SLR 8.9’s 2021 iteration looks to offer the same impressive value as its predecessors.

Despite that price increase over the 2020 model, which we also rated, the SLR 8.9 is still one of the least expensive carbon road bikes you can buy right now....

Read the full review here Boardman SLR 8.9 Bikeradar

"Retains the crown for best-value bike, despite the £100 increase" 4.5/5 

Cycling Plus Magazine August 2021

The last Boardman bike I rode, a slick matt silver Team Carbon Fi, has been superseded by the women’s SLR range, first launched in 2019. The SLR has always set its goals on being “light, stiff, and comfortable” – a difficult trio to get right. However, like the Team Carbon before it, the SLR does manage to tick these boxes very well. Though ownership has passed on, Boardman is famous for having constructed its own wind tunnel at the Boardman Performance Centre. This frame has been aero optimised, and there are clear nods to drag reduction – such as the squarer, deeper tubing, dropped seat stays and hidden Seatpost clamp.

The SLR 8.9 certainly offers a streamlined feel, which is accentuated by a stiff bottom bracket. Certainly, when riding it I found that pushing through the pedals the transmission felt very efficient and the SLR 8.9 is responsive when going along a straight flat section of road.

While the dynamics of the bike aren’t quite in time trial territory you could get away with using the SLR 8.9 on your local 10-mile event, especially on a sporting course where dips and dives in the road can make a road bike a more natural choice.

The set-up was designed following extensive testing and research done at the former Boardman Performance centre. The bike was constructed using data from fittings by lead bike fit specialist, Bianca Broadbent. Designers used the numbers from hundreds of bike fits to finesse the geometry and the contact points. I note that the headset angle of the 2021 SLR is slightly shallower compared with the Team Carbon, and a steeper seat angle on the smaller sizes. These adjustments give rise to a shorter reach to the handlebars, and therefore a more upright position, meaning less strain in the lower back area when doing long rides such as cyclosportives. That said, with a stack and reach of 520mm/376mm on the size small, this is still a relatively racey geometry. It’s not a million miles off the 517mm/383mm of the pro-ready Specialized Tarmac SL7 in a comparable size 52, as an example. I didn’t feel overly stretched out at all on this frame, and there was plenty of compliance built-in. I can see it being a happy companion for a long sportive.

Clearance has been an area of focus with the SLR 8.9. With wider tyres increasing in popularity, the brand has ensured this model can accommodate 28mm tyres, and the decreased head angle mentioned above allows decent toe clearance when the SLR 8.9 is fitted with mudguards.

The cables are neatly tucked away, diving into the frame at the downtube. However, they’re not tidied into the handlebar itself as per some very high end, integrated bikes – this might look a little bit messier, but it does make maintenance considerably easier.

The two-piece bar and stem are also easier to work with and make adjusting these components much more user friendly, too. Featuring a standard diameter 27.2mm seatpost also makes replacement easy should you choose to make a swap at a later date.

Read the full Cycling Weekly review here -  Boardman SLR 8.9 Women's / Cycling Weekly

The SLR includes some good quality components for its price point, notably having a full carbon fibre frame and forks with the Shimano 105 groupset. It has a neat finish with internally routed cables and cool paintwork if looking stylish is your thing. Finally, the frame is specially designed to be versatile enough to ride the SLR 8.9 in different settings while providing comfort.