An autumn ride through Puddletown Forest on my Boardman ADV 8.9

Part of my ride on my 2025 Boardman ADV 8.9 went through Puddletown Forest on a sunny autumn day. If you are looking for high action gravel riding, then I'm sorry but this is just a gentle potter.

[@benmarchant4242]

What do you think of the 2025 model? Surprisingly few reviews of it, but looks great

[@ebikedorset]

Thanks for commenting Ben. I had been riding a Crossfire e-bike since 2020 and I've covered over 9000 miles on it so far (I've still got it). My cycling daughter and a couple of cycling friends kept telling my to get a road bike but I'm 72 and it seemed that a gravel bike would be a bit easier for me to ride. The geometry is more forgiving. Also, some of my favourite routes use gravel tracks to avoid the traffic on main roads so a road bike wouldn't be able to do that.
I chose the Boardman ADV 8.9 because it was well equipped for the price. In particular, it had a much lower gear for hill climbing than similar bikes and had hydraulic disc brakes. The supplied pedals with the cages were awful so I immediately changed those for resin MTB pedals. I didn't want a clipless system as I would probably fall over when I stopped. The saddle was OK but not particularly comfortable so I fitted a memory foam Rockbros one. Apart from that, everything else was great. The GRX group set changes through the gears smoothly, the brakes are efficient and progressive and the handling on and off road inspires confidence. It seems quite fast on smooth tarmac and the tyres grip well off road.
I like to push myself a bit on rides but compared to most other cyclists I'm actually taking it rather gently. I'm sure the Boardman could be thrown around quite violently on rough gravel tracks and take it all in its stride.
I wrote a long review using a Feefo link provided by Halfords which was published but it doesn't appear on their web site. My bike was the first one my local branch had seen so they were quite excited. I love it although hills are a lot harder than on my e-bike!