Another Bowman Palace R
fac83ajc
Posts: 19
Hello folks, my Bowman Palace R frameset in Matt / Gloss black arrived today. So you can probably guess how I spent the rest of the day. Fun build, except the front derailleur set up. Some sort of witchcraft required to do that quickly I swear to god!
Went for a ten minute trundle just to make sure the set up was somewhere near right and to be sure it actually changes gear. I'll have it out properly tomorrow and the weekend, hopefully.
Frame: Bowman Palace R
Forks: Bowman
Bars: FSA Slk Carbon
Stem: FSA Slk Alu/Carbon
Headset: Bowman/Token
Bar Tape: Cinelli
Derailleurs: Ultegra 6800
Brakes: Ultegra 6800
Shifters: Ultegra 6800
Cables: Shimano
Seat: Fizik R5
Seat Post: FSA K-Force Carbon
Seat Post Clamp: Bowman
Cranks: Ultegra 6800
Chainring(s): 50 / 34
Chain: Shimano Ultegra
Cassette: Ultegra or Dura Ace depending on wheels, 11 - 28
Pedals: Ultegra
Bottom Bracket: Ultegra
Front Wheel: Dura Ace C50 or C24
Tire: Conti GP 4000s ii
Back Wheel: Dura Ace C50 or C24
Tire: Conti GP 4000s ii
Accessories: K-Edge Garmin mount, Elite Carbon cages (yet to fit these)
Weight: On C24's 7.1kg, on C50's 7.5kg. Including pedals and all accessories.
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Comments
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Was it worth the wait, believe it or not I had another frame delivered yesterday morning, I have contacted Neil at bowman about returning it.
You will have to let me know your thoughts on the frame after your next ride, I did 46 miles on mine yesterday and it still felt comfortable, are you running 25 mm tyres fac83ajc0 -
Lincolndave wrote:Was it worth the wait, believe it or not I had another frame delivered yesterday morning, I have contacted Neil at bowman about returning it.
You will have to let me know your thoughts on the frame after your next ride, I did 46 miles on mine yesterday and it still felt comfortable, are you running 25 mm tyres fac83ajc
Looks, quality and weight wise it seems to have been worth the wait but I can only tell you for sure when I get out on it proper. I think having an Alu bike at 7.1kg ready to roll without anything too exotic on there is pretty decent. Set of Chinese carbon tubulars on there it would be under UCI weight limit territory. Not that I actually bought this to do a lightweight build, just happily turned out that way.
I have done over 300 miles in a day on an aero bike, so basically, as long as the position isn't mental I generally find bikes comfortable enough. Saying that I have had an Alu bike in the past which felt very harsh compared to carbon, but it was cheap with an Alu seat post etc. Very much hoping this isn't anything like the same. I'll be more looking to see how smooth and stiff it is compared to my carbon bikes. And of course to see if the handling is as good as all the reviews say it is.
I am running 25mm tyres on the c50's and a 25/23mm weird combo on the c24's. Basically I got the c24's second hand off a club mate and the front tyre was like new, so I wasn't changing it for the extra 2mm. Rear is a 25mm though.
Oh man I would have kept the other frame as well! Nah fair play to you, sounds like they got a good bit mixed up on the shipping of them. Mines did arrive on the day they said it would though, so not too bad.0 -
Looks very nice indeed. Black on black does look very good and it's nicely specced too. I would have got one too of it wasn't for the long wait but have ordered a caad12 instead.0
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whereisthurso wrote:Looks very nice indeed. Black on black does look very good and it's nicely specced too. I would have got one too of it wasn't for the long wait but have ordered a caad12 instead.
Thanks. I guess when you want the bike soon it's not really an option to be waiting a couple of months. This is slightly n+1 for me so I wasn't too worried about the timescale. It also gave me time to source all the kit that is on there for decent prices.
Having now done 80 miles on it, I would happily recommend to anyone interested. It sounds cheesy but the reviews of this thing are spot on. From years of motorbikes I am happy to throw a bike into corners, but this makes it easier and more confidence inspiring than any cycle bike before. If you started to talk to me a couple of years ago about how a cycle bike 'handled' I would wonder why you were bothering, but now I get it.
It's pretty comfortable too, not harsh that's for sure. While the front end feels very stiff, as does power transfer. So it's pretty direct and 'feels' fast.
Slight downsides: I have had a bit of issue getting the back wheel in past the chainstay bridge but nothing major, I wouldn't want to have to do a very fast wheel change. And I am probably going to need to drop it into the LBS to get enough tension in the front derailleur cable (any tips?). It's still rubbing slightly in the very highest gears, which bugs me, however this is just me being useless more than likely.
As you can probably tell, all in all I am pretty happy with it.0 -
"fac83ajc wrote:And I am probably going to need to drop it into the LBS to get enough tension in the front derailleur cable (any tips?). It's still rubbing slightly in the very highest gears, which bugs me, however this is just me being useless more than likely.
As you can probably tell, all in all I am pretty happy with it.
I had the same problem with the fd, in the end I had a mate come round, whilst I applied as much tension to the fd cable ( pulling on it front derailleur cable with a pair of pliers) he tightened the screw on the fd, no problems since.0 -
Lincolndave wrote:I had the same problem with the fd, in the end I had a mate come round, whilst I applied as much tension to the fd cable ( pulling on it front derailleur cable with a pair of pliers) he tightened the screw on the fd, no problems since.
Yep sounds about right, I came to the conclusion it was gonna be either:
1. A two person job
2. In need of an in line adjuster
3. Try something, possibly stupid
After it annoying me too much to live with and needing it fixed before the next ride, I tried option 3. So, I cable tied the derailleur to the frame, keeping it in the full open position. Then did the old pliers thing pulling as hard as I could while tightening up the cable bolt. It worked! After the 17th attempt...
I now have a perfectly functioning front derailleur, unfortunately with all my messing around I also have a slightly frayed cable end :oops: I'll live with it for a few weeks til I crack and buy a new cable AND in-line barrel adjuster, or just give it to my LBS.
Fun times
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fac83ajc wrote:Lincolndave wrote:I had the same problem with the fd, in the end I had a mate come round, whilst I applied as much tension to the fd cable ( pulling on it front derailleur cable with a pair of pliers) he tightened the screw on the fd, no problems since.
Yep sounds about right, I came to the conclusion it was gonna be either:
1. A two person job
2. In need of an in line adjuster
3. Try something, possibly stupid
After it annoying me too much to live with and needing it fixed before the next ride, I tried option 3. So, I cable tied the derailleur to the frame, keeping it in the full open position. Then did the old pliers thing pulling as hard as I could while tightening up the cable bolt. It worked! After the 17th attempt...
I now have a perfectly functioning front derailleur, unfortunately with all my messing around I also have a slightly frayed cable end :oops: I'll live with it for a few weeks til I crack and buy a new cable AND in-line barrel adjuster, or just give it to my LBS.
Fun times
Sounds like a job for -
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Nice bike, 7.1kg is good going. How does it ride? Getting rid of my Aithein shortly as I've finally come to the conclusion that it's crap.fac83ajc wrote:Lincolndave wrote:I had the same problem with the fd, in the end I had a mate come round, whilst I applied as much tension to the fd cable ( pulling on it front derailleur cable with a pair of pliers) he tightened the screw on the fd, no problems since.
Yep sounds about right, I came to the conclusion it was gonna be either:
1. A two person job
2. In need of an in line adjuster
3. Try something, possibly stupid
After it annoying me too much to live with and needing it fixed before the next ride, I tried option 3. So, I cable tied the derailleur to the frame, keeping it in the full open position. Then did the old pliers thing pulling as hard as I could while tightening up the cable bolt. It worked! After the 17th attempt...
I now have a perfectly functioning front derailleur, unfortunately with all my messing around I also have a slightly frayed cable end :oops: I'll live with it for a few weeks til I crack and buy a new cable AND in-line barrel adjuster, or just give it to my LBS.
Fun times
1) Set front mech limits
2) Put the chain in the big ring, allowing it to hold the front mech mostly in place there.
3) Let all tension off at the shifter
4) Tighten the cable
5) See whether it's too tight or too loose.
6) Repeat 2-5, usually once is sufficient, twice at a push.0 -
Hi,
Sorry to hijack this link, but angry bird what was wrong with the Kinesis?
Love the Bowman by the way ☺0 -
Nodey wrote:Hi,
Sorry to hijack this link, but angry bird what was wrong with the Kinesis?
Love the Bowman by the way ☺
Way too harsh. Just not as comfortable as the CAAD was and I'm not convinced there's significantly more lateral stiffness there to make it really beneficial.
If your'e just after a crit bike or something for evening blasts or chasing strava segments it's great. Picked up a third place the first (and only) time I took it on a circuit, but that was silky smooth and only an hour of racing... road races where the surface is typically crap roads, or just long rides, it's just not a nice experience riding it.0 -
Cheers folks
Yeah the right tool for the job is always a winner. I did consider slackening the shifter while having the derailleur tied in the open position but thought I would just end up with it then too tight, but it makes sense. Using the chain to hold it up there I didn't think of, thanks Angry Bird. May come in useful soon as I am changing the crankset to a Rotor one with Q-rings so the derailleur will need moved up.
As for the bike and ride, I really can't fault it. It doesn't feel any less comfortable than my more high end carbon bike, feels just as stiff and there is no harshness at all really. It has pretty decent finishing kit on there which will also help, the 27.2mm FSA K-Force seatpost being the main bit.
I had it out on a 60 mile sportive on Sunday with 5000 ft of climbing and it was flawless. Climbed well, descended even better, the handling and geometry really is good. Not really anything negative I can say about it. This was a leap of faith for me as I have always preferred carbon, but I would now say to anyone to buy good high end Alu before lower end carbon. It effectively replaced a Boardman Team Carbon and it's better in pretty much every way, including weight!
Thanks0 -
Glad you're enjoying it. I've just bought a CAAD 12 frame to replace the Aithein. Very excited for it, Aluminium shouldn't be overlooked at this price point!0
