The Boardman CX frame is made from smooth-welded, triple butted aluminium (the butting process reduces tube wall thickness, saving weight in lower stress areas) which makes it extremely light as well as looking very well finished too. Aluminium as a frame material here is eminently practical as it is comparatively inexpensive but has great stiffness and lightweight properties - ideal for this type of bike.

It is disc-brake specific giving it very clean lines unobstructed by brake bosses on the frame and enables the use of cable actuated disc brakes. The rear brake post-mount sits neatly inside the stays on a forged, machined drop-out which transfers braking forces to the frame in a controlled fashion and also makes fitting rack or mudguard hardware easier too as the brake caliper is tucked out of the way. From there the stays curve up to an attractive wishbone junction which not only looks good but makes for increased rider comfort over rough terrain too.

The disc brakes are both more powerful than the regular cantilevers normally found on CX bikes and also allow for great tyre/mud/mudguard clearance. Thoughtfully, Boardman have used brake-hose routing for the brake lines meaning the cables are fully shielded from water and mud (and will work better than unshielded cables in nasty conditions), and that should hydraulic disc brakes for cross bikes become available in the future (a number of component manufacturers are working on this as we speak) you'll be able to fit them to this frame without using work-arounds or leaving unsightly unused cable-stops.

The frame features a tapered head-tube giving great rigidity up front for cornering and braking confidence and comes with full rack and mudguard mounts too so you can kit it out as a winter training bike, tourer or commuter depending on your requirements. You also get a full carbon disc specific fork including the tapered steerer which is great quality at this price.
Lastly, if you're really just planning on getting muddy on the cross-racing circuit you'll be glad of the front-slotted cut at the top of the seat-tube making it harder for water and mud to work its way into your frame at the seat-collar, and the flattened top tube near the seat tube junction meaning you can shoulder the bike comfortably for hike-a-bike sections too. In short this is a thoroughly well thought out frame.

Few manufacturers make a dedicated CX groupset so Boardman have had to come up with their own. They've opted for reliable Shimano Sora componentry in the main including shifters and rear mech and have thoughtfully used the long-cage version of this mech allowing a larger cassette to be fitted in the future should a wider spread of lower gears be required as in long distance or hillier touring applications. Braking duties are looked after by Avid's reliable BB5 road calipers - the benefits of which are greater power and control, particularly in bad (muddy, rainy) conditions or when fully loaded with panniers and gear. The chainset is an FSA Vero compact offering which means lower gear ratios are available than on a standard double for ease of climbing and you get a sealed bearing cartridge bottom bracket unit too for longevity.

The wheels supplied are Formula disc hubs built onto Alex DP17 aluminium rims with stainless steel spokes. The wheels feature a regular spoke lacing pattern and a full compliment of spokes meaning they should cope well with both the rigours of off road riding as well as the extra torsional grief that the disc brakes apply. The great thing about CX wheels is that if you're planning on doing tarmac based work where the wider treaded tyres might slow you down un-necessarily you only need to swap the tyres for narrower, lighter, quicker ones for some nearly free extra speed.

The Boardman CX Comp is rounded off with good quality finishing kit including tyres from Ritchey and Boardman branded stem, bar, saddle and seatpost to keep costs low.

Whether you're dipping a toe in the world of cyclocross, looking for a reliable rugged tourer or just commuting to work the CX Comp is a great value well thought out package - the Swiss army knife of bikes. At Wiggle our dedicated team of qualified mechanics build, test and fine tune each CX Comp bike before it is carefully packaged for despatch to ensure yours arrives in perfect working order. To find out which size you need check our size guide below.