Boardman bike from Amart?

[ftssjk]

Hi guys
So I've been looking for a bike for my missus so she can motivate me to ride my bike more.
I was thinking of something relatively entry level and then if she enjoys it she can upgrade further.

I was looking at Shimano Sora groupies or Tiagra, and looked at cell, 99 bikes, and a few LBS, but the best price i could find so far was the Boardman Road comp bike from Amart.

I rang up the store and they said there were only 2 of the bikes in the size i need in stock in Australia and both were out of state, so I've since ordered the bike online.
Here's the bike if anyone is interested..
http://www.amartsports.com.au/Product/B ... e/34945101

So here are my questions which hopefully someone knows the answer to!

1. Is there alot of assembly required when it comes in a flat box?
2. I've googled a bit on boardman bikes and it seems that in the past they had some issues with bearing grease.. is this something i should be concerned about? surely it would have been fixed by now if it were QC issues at the factory, and most of the complaints were from the UK and some chain which were sellling them Hatfords or something..
3. How do I check if there is anything wrong with the BB?

I've got the book on bike maintenance by Zinn which i got based on recommendations a few years ago from here.

Also any recommendations for a female saddle?
She'll probably be more upright than in the drop bars, and I'm thinking of getting the safety brakes installed

[AUbicycles]

Looks ok - with regard to the bottom bracket issue, if it specifically affects this model it can still be hard to say. When assembly is a bit sloppy, they may be overcompensating by putting in too much grease - this is generally not a big issue and in practice means that it may not be running as efficiently as it could - but this is also not a high performance bike.

Check the BB, but unless you can do it yourself it would mean taking it to a bike shop and getting them to check. But this is costly - and if you don't have issues, it is not worth looking for them.

However you should follow up on the returns policy and costs - if you have issues, how will they be resolved?

On building, generally it is straight forward but unfortunately they often state that you must use a torque wrench (which I recommend) but don't supply one. You can get simple pre-set ones (e.g. 5Nm) for $5 - $15 and some online retailers actually supply these. I doubt Amart will.

Brakes are typically a part that need to be setup again so that they are working well - Your Zinn books will be good for these as well as youtube videos (key work "toe in").

Main things to look out for are that the brakes set up, that every bolt is tightened correctly and that the wheels are running straight (true). Don't bother with the other brakes - just ensure these are setup and there is a natural grip around the hoods to grasp the brakes.

[ftssjk]

Thank you for your insight!!