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Bowman Palace:R

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Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Bowman Palace:R

Old 01-26-20, 02:01 PM
  #1  
mrblue
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Bowman Palace:R

I wanted to share my thoughts on the Bowman Palace:R.

I had been eyeing them for some time (not that I needed an aluminum frame or another bike, for that matter). Then one day I noticed Bowman was having a winter sale so I figured, why not? I built it up using a Shimano 105 R7000 groupset and a set of Fulcrum Racing 3 C17 wheels. So far I've only had time to take it for one ride but the bike proved to be very light, stiff and lively. I was really impressed at how well it cornered. My initial thoughts are:
  • The clearance for a rear tire is very, very tight (this is not an understatement nor is it hyperbole).
    • I initially tried using a Continental GP4000sII.
      • No good. Lots of rubbing on the brake bridge. The tire ballooned out to 27.7mm on the 17mm (internal) width rims
    • Ended up using a set of Continental GP5000 25c tires and now have a good 2mm of clearance under the brake bridge
  • Front Derailleur Hanger
    • I think this was misaligned slightly went it was attached to the seat tube.
      • Whenever I tightened the bolt for the FD it would align the rear of the cage outward
        • I remedied this by pushing/holding the FD in place while tightening the bolt--so far no issues.
  • It reminds me a lot of the Cannondale CAAD 10 (or 12).
  • Bowman customer service was great!
    • I had about a million questions prior to ordering the frame and they were very patient and responded with 24 hours to each of emails.
    • Very helpful with ordering spare parts (to have on hand), i.e. extra derailleur hanger and headset bearings.
  • Contrary to what Bowman customer service told me, the drive side of the bottom bracket shell could have been faced just a hair.
    • Although, it doesn't seem like a do or die situation. So far no issues.
  • 105 R7000 Groupset
    • Shifts every bit well as my Ultegra R8000
    • Shift levers require a slightly heavier touch than Ultegra R8000
    • Finish is not as nice as Ultegra R8000

I would love to hear other's thoughts and/or experiences with the Bowman Palace:R.




Last edited by mrblue; 01-26-20 at 06:01 PM.
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Old 01-26-20, 04:28 PM
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alcjphil
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First reaction: I really like the colour scheme. In this day of matte black bikes, I like a bike that stands out. However the lack of tire clearance at the rear brake bridge is a worry in this day of people opting for wider tires
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Old 01-26-20, 06:03 PM
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mrblue
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Originally Posted by alcjphil
First reaction: I really like the colour scheme. In this day of matte black bikes, I like a bike that stands out. However the lack of tire clearance at the rear brake bridge is a worry in this day of people opting for wider tires
Bowman did just come out with a disc brake version so perhaps that will alleviate the issue of tight clearance for the rear wheel. However, they did say they have no intention of discontinuing the rim brake version now that the disc brake version is available. Hopefully, they'll address this issue in the future.
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Old 01-26-20, 06:13 PM
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It is easily possible for bike companies to build even rim brake models that can accommodate wider tires. My 2007 Look 595 currently has 700 x 25 tires with tons of extra room, probably enough for 700x 28. The position of the rear brake bridge determines tire clearance along with the width between seat stays and chainstay clearance. Direct mount calliper brakes can also improve tire clearance. They could easily design their frame to handle much wider tires if they chose to do so. A disc brake version with similar clearances will not be much of an improvement

Last edited by alcjphil; 01-26-20 at 06:33 PM.
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Old 01-26-20, 06:59 PM
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My R2 has clearance for fairly fat 25s on wide rims, and could probably fit 28s.
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Old 01-26-20, 07:01 PM
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My Palace R is 3 years old. I built it up with SRAM Force mechanical 11 speed and HED Belgium wheels. I’ve had no problem with 25 mm tires rubbing. In my opinion, it is a superb frame that rides and handles as well, or better, than any of my 9 road bikes with the exception of my Alchemy Helios. The Helios is sex on two wheels, in my humble opinion. I consider the Bowman the best bang for the buck frame I have ridden. If I could only have one bike, it would be the Palace R for its combination of riding characteristics and relatively low cost. I bought my frame for $720.00, including shipping.
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Old 01-26-20, 07:11 PM
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Go to 5:48 for a short review. Seems like a very nice ride.

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Old 01-26-20, 09:29 PM
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Oooh you got the new metallic blue/orange colorway! that looks nice. No complaints about my Palace:r, really love the tight handling. Same experience with tire clearance, and might be the only thing to keep me from buying another (at least for the rim brake model) GP4000 700x25 were really like 28s on here-no clearance at all, so I've been riding Vittoria 700x25 instead which run truer to size. I originally pre-ordered a black/jade finish but there was a mixup with factory so I took lime instead of waiting, which worked out, and I still get compliments on.

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Old 01-28-20, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by MagicHour
...so I took lime instead of waiting, which worked out, and I still get compliments on.
I remember seeing the lime colorway when Bowman first introduced it. I really like it! However, what I really love about the frame is the external cable routing. My other bikes have internal routing and every time I need to change a cable it turns into a longer process than it needs to be.
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Old 01-28-20, 01:39 PM
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Yes that and the threaded 68mm BB were also selling points. Those technologies haven't let me down in the ~30 years I've been riding, why change them
Originally Posted by mrblue
I remember seeing the lime colorway when Bowman first introduced it. I really like it! However, what I really love about the frame is the external cable routing. My other bikes have internal routing and every time I need to change a cable it turns into a longer process than it needs to be.
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Old 01-28-20, 02:50 PM
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Because if they can convince you you need to change them, they can sell you another bike!
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Old 02-21-20, 11:27 AM
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Originally Posted by MagicHour
... so I've been riding Vittoria 700x25 instead which run truer to size.
Out of curiosity, which Vittoria tires did you end up using? How do you like them compared to the Continentals?
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Old 02-21-20, 12:53 PM
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Well I never got to actually ride the Continentals - too little clearance IMO, and unfortunately I haven't ridden any of the modern Continentals for comparison since about '93, but I will give them a shot again ONE OF THESE DAYS lol. What I have on my Palace atm are Vittoria Rubino Pro III 700x25 - nothing spectacular about these tires, but for me they just work, great value, handle well and predictable, are relatively light, true to size and I've had great luck with very few punctures. They're an older now discontinued model, but I stockpiled several whenever I've found them on sale, they're cheap like $20-25. When this current set wears out I have a set of the newer Rubino Pro Graphene 2.0 to try next.

Originally Posted by mrblue
Out of curiosity, which Vittoria tires did you end up using? How do you like them compared to the Continentals?

Last edited by MagicHour; 02-21-20 at 12:57 PM.
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Old 02-21-20, 07:48 PM
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Originally Posted by MagicHour
Well I never got to actually ride the Continentals - too little clearance IMO, and unfortunately I haven't ridden any of the modern Continentals for comparison since about '93, but I will give them a shot again ONE OF THESE DAYS lol. What I have on my Palace atm are Vittoria Rubino Pro III 700x25 - nothing spectacular about these tires, but for me they just work, great value, handle well and predictable, are relatively light, true to size and I've had great luck with very few punctures. They're an older now discontinued model, but I stockpiled several whenever I've found them on sale, they're cheap like $20-25. When this current set wears out I have a set of the newer Rubino Pro Graphene 2.0 to try next.
Thanks for the info. I've been thinking about trying something different as I've been using Continentals for quite a while on all my bikes. I found the Conti GP5000's fit giving me a couple millimeters of clearance under the brake bridge. How much clearance to the Vittoria's give you? I wonder if they might give me a bit better clearance than the GP5000's.
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Old 02-21-20, 09:56 PM
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Looks like around ~4mm or so under the rear brake bridge. Wheels are Fulcrum Quattro LG (24.2 mm outer width/17C inner) w Vittoria Rubino Pro III 700x25.

Originally Posted by mrblue
Thanks for the info. I've been thinking about trying something different as I've been using Continentals for quite a while on all my bikes. I found the Conti GP5000's fit giving me a couple millimeters of clearance under the brake bridge. How much clearance to the Vittoria's give you? I wonder if they might give me a bit better clearance than the GP5000's.
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