Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc

The Boardman SLR 9.6 Disc Carbon is a good all-rounder road bike, capable of racing but just as at home on the club run, tackling a sportive route, or just getting out for a quick spin around the lanes. It's comfortable, purposeful, and quick – plus it's priced very competitively.

If your budget doesn't stretch to the SLR 9.6 Disc Carbon (or goes a whole lot further), check out our guide to the best road bikes, with prices ranging from £300 to more than £13,000.

The ride

The SLR rides exactly how I was expecting it to after I'd cast my eye over the geometry table. The front end feels a little higher than a true race bike, so when in the hoods or even the drops for that matter, I didn't feel too stretched out or that low.

It still felt aero enough, mind, and on flat sections of road into a headwind I could tuck in well enough to reduce drag.

The geometry gives a stable and balanced feel. Even at speed it feels easy to ride, with the front end feeling direct through the bends, with the rear happy to follow.

Rough sections of road don't make it feel unsettled, and it just feels planted whether you are cruising along or giving it the beans.

There is plenty of stiffness around the bottom bracket area for sprinting or when climbing hard, and the chunky chainstays keep flex to the rear wheel to an absolute minimum.

Boardman has also focused on comfort, with slender seatstays minimising any harshness from the rear end.

It's the same at the front, too: the fork legs are quite slender compared with many other performance road bikes. This gives a supple ride through the handlebar when riding along, but for more spirited efforts there is a small amount flex around the thru-axle mounting, showing itself as a tiny bit of rotor rub when really going for it.

Overall, though, the SLR feels quick without necessarily coming across as 'urgent'. It delivers its speed in quite a relaxed manner, as in it never quite feels as quick as your computer screen is showing.

It's still a capable racer, though, and because of that lowish weight and the frame stiffness, it certainly responds well to being ridden hard.

Frame and fork

The SLR 9.6 has been around in this guise for quite a few years now, albeit with a couple of little tweaks, like losing the cable-guide entry holes on either side of the down tube to suit the latest wireless shifters from the Ultegra Di2 groupset, which gives a cleaner look to the bike as a whole.

It's still constructed out of Boardman's top-level C10 carbon fibre, a blend of Toray's T800 and T1000 that creates a lighter frame than the grades used for frames lower down the range, without compromising stiffness.

That means an overall weight of 7.95kg (17.5lb) for this medium size, which is respectable when you consider the inclusion of an electronic groupset and deep-section carbon wheels.

Its design has a bit of an aero feel about it, but it's not as sleek as some, with a lot of squared-off tube sections. But things like the hidden seat clamp assembly and the large junction between the head tube, down tube and top tube certainly give a smooth profile.

The hydraulic hosing for the brakes is directed down through the frame and fork, and you even get hidden mudguard mounting points, too, for some added versatility.

Without the guards you get tyre clearance of 30mm.

For the bottom bracket the SLR uses PF30, and while we've seen many brands moving away from this and going back to variations of threaded BBs, the press-fit cups here showed no issues with creaking even after some very wet rides throughout January and February.

Geometry-wise, the SLR sits somewhere between an endurance bike and a race bike.

Five sizes are available, with this medium sitting in the middle. It has a top tube length of 555mm, a seat tube length of 500mm, and a head tube measuring 160mm.

Stack and reach are 563mm and 388mm respectively, which gives a ratio of 1.45; that's racier than some, but the overall position doesn't seem too extreme.

Other dimensions are a wheelbase of 1,002mm, with chainstays of 415mm. The fork length is 373mm, with a rake of 48mm.

As for the angles, we're looking at 72.5 degrees for the head and 73.5 degrees for the seat tube.

Groupset

The SLR 9.6 is built around a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset, the latest R8170 version that we reviewed here.

It's arguably the best balance of performance and value in Shimano's electronic groupset line-up, with Liam reckoning that with fast shifting and brilliant brakes it's level with Dura-Ace in terms of performance, but a good chunk of cash cheaper.

The SLR comes with a 50/34-tooth chainset and an 11-30 12-speed cassette, giving a spread of gears well suited to its all-round nature.

The compact chainrings mean plenty of low enough gears for climbing hilly terrain, while the 50x11 highest ratio will still give you plenty of resistance to push against for the steepest of downhills.

As far as the braking goes, the SLR is fitted with a 160mm rotor at the front and 140mm at the rear. Ultgera's braking power is very impressive, so this setup works perfectly for a bike of this weight and design.

Finishing kit

The rest of the kit is all Boardman-branded stuff. Nothing overly flash, but it all does a good job.

The alloy stem is 100mm in length on this medium bike, and it's paired with an aluminium handlebar. This has a compact shape, although the radius of the drops isn't quite as tight as the majority of handlebars, so the bottom part of the drop doesn't sit parallel with the road the way I prefer.

The handlebar diameter is quite narrow, too, which isn't great for comfort on long rides, especially if, like me, you tend not to wear padded gloves.

The saddle is lengthy compared with the short-nosed offerings that seem to be in vogue at the moment. It does mean you get plenty room to slide fore and aft for climbing and comfort, though.

Wheels and tyres

For the wheels, the SLR gets a rather posh set of Alexrims ALX 845D Carbons, which have a 45mm-deep rim – a proper bonus for those who want speed over light weight.

The rims are tubeless compatible if you want to go down that route, and the overall performance is impressive. I found them to be stiff enough for very hard efforts and they give an aero benefit when you are travelling at more than 20mph.

The tyres are 28mm Vittoria Corsa Graphene 2.0s which, as the name suggests, come with graphene integrated into the compound to improve durability along with providing good rolling resistance and grip.

They are a good set of tyres for a standard spec list, and I found their performance impressive on the cold roads of winter. They were robust enough to cope with all of the rain and the associated flints, grit and hedge cuttings found on the back lanes.

Value

The SLR 9.6 is priced at £3,950 (currently discounted to £3,550) which, considering the Ultegra Di2 groupset and deep-section wheels, is competitive.

The Merida Scultura 9000 uses Merida's lightest carbon fibre grade and it comes with the same Ultegra Di2 groupset. The wheels are deep section too – a set of bling Reynolds Aero 46DBs fitted with Continental GP5000 tyres. It costs £5,950.

I recently tested the Scultura Limited and was impressed overall. It comes with the slightly heavier CF3 grade frame than the Scultura 9000, and a Shimano 105 mechanical groupset, for £3,000. You do get some deep-section wheels – 45mm deep in this case.

A few months back I reviewed the Tifosi Auriga Disc in a Campagnolo Chorus build for £3,499. It's an aero-ish bike and feels a bit more edgy than the Boardman, but performance is similar.

A similarly built Auriga with an Ultegra Di2 groupset is £3,799, although you are only getting a set of Vision Team 30 wheels, which are heavy and don't offer a huge amount in terms of aerodynamics. Also, the frame is made from a mix of T700 and T800 carbon fibre, so it sits in line with Boardman's lower level framesets.

Conclusion

Overall, the Boardman is a good bike. I wouldn't say it excels anywhere in particular, but if you are after a fast road bike that is easy to ride and very easy to live with, this is definitely one to consider. It's fast enough to race on should you want to, but I'd say it's aimed more at the fast club rider or those who like to ride solo with a mix of speed and comfort.

Verdict

Not the most exciting ride, but great for travelling fast in comfort