Midlife crisis: Bowman Palace R

Coooooool

3t ergosum of my parts bin. Really light and simple alloy bars, fitted well the build

but the [SRAM, red.] FD works better

Said no one ever

Impressive saddle to bar drop for midlife crisis bike. 👌👌👌

Looks hawt!

Somehow I managed to setup the thing much better than my Shimano has ever been!

Bar drop is about the same than my other bikes, can't stand headwinds with my puny legs

RIP Arkose man!

Poor Arkose is now my turbo bike, looks sad. Can't sell it, unsafe to ride, so might build it again as SSCX

Huh - you must really have been setting up your Shim FD odd. FD is the weakest point in a SRAM groupset IMO

Bike looks amazing! I need a Bowman in my life :-)

Finally, after much dodgy weather I got round to ride this. Really satisfied with the result so far, best bike I've ever tried, what a weapon.

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Could have done better with the cabling. Also regret not getting Celeste outers

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If everything goes right those spacers will go. Could ride comfortably on the drops. Maybe is time for a bike fit

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Welds are nicely flattened/filled. All but this one, needed better sanding, lazy Taiwanese is lazy

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Bike looks great! But that particular weld looks agricultural and atrocious. Probably strong but atrocious.

Final weight is a mystery. Should be under 7 all in, but real life weights are always disappointing. Not much room to save anyways, other than chopping the steerer and changing some bolts

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Worst weld in the frame by a long shot, totally unnecessary. It's a race bike not an structure.

Ask Bowman about it

Nahhhh grasping at straws here, I really love the thing. Just highlighting some rough spots for any other buyers.

It looks like it’s done a little weld-poo

I'm an industrial welder. For a filler like that you have to put weld excess so you sand it and looks flat with no undercuts. Of course that's a lot of work so you may be tempted to fill less, sand less. And that's exactly what it is, shoddy workmanship.

Surely should have been picked up in QC then. They're really nice guys. Why don't you take it in and show them. They're in Hither Green now.

what a weapon.

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Do you think you've bought the right size frame?

No, I've got one size smaller on purpose. Comfier and stiffer this way

Looks fantastic imo, if a little long-necked

Celeste cables would look... ornate. Much better with the black IMO.

I think white cables if not black, but black looks fine.