Bowman Palace frameset Vs Canyon Ultimate AL SLX frameset

If in doubt try the Competitive Cyclist fit calculator, was pretty close to perfect for me:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/Store/catalog/fitCalculatorBike.jsp

The Canyon is a fabulous bike. Absolutely love mine.

I've no doubt so are the Bowman Palace and the Kinesis Athlein.

Get the one you want, that will make you happier and you'll ride it more.

I own a 2014 Ultimate Al 8.0 and have been absolutely chuffed to bits with it. Its low weight (7.4kg size M with Athena Groupset) being a highlight. It'll happily eat the miles as well as go like a bat out of hell when you put the hammer down. Trust the canyon sizing calculator, it was spot on for me.
re. tyre size its 25mm max with no clearance for mudguards though so if you fancy anything larger the Bowman might be the way to go.

Aluminium frames will never mute the bumps in a way that carbon can.

My Aithein is marginally comfier than my TCR but I wouldn't say it was harsh. Its a race frame, so its meant to be stiff and responsive. Comfort comes second. I dare say the Bowman has similar priorities despite the glowing review on here. But you can fit 28mm tyres on the Bowman - and that will make a bigger difference than minute differences in frame design.

And where are these aluminium frames with "pencil thin" stays that the Cycling Weekly review speaks of? None of my alu bikes have pencil thin stays, and in fact they're all chunkier than the Aithein's. I've only seen carbon bikes where the stays are significantly smaller.

That Canyon seatpost is darn expensive on its own!!

I recommend double checking the geometry on the Canyon website before ordering. I didn't and ended up with a frame that's too small. If you are going to buy a size M mechanical frame, I have an unused Canyon AL SLX ME 2014 frame available for a discounted price.

I've been having the same debate with myself, and you can chuck in the Rose Xeon frameset there too. However, I'm going to go with the Bowman, simply because I'm too close to the Aethin's weight limit for comfort (I occasionally commute on my good bike - my backpack weighs 5kg with clothes & laptop, pushing me over the edge), and the Rose & Canyon are quite boring looking.

The Bowman's a beauty, and built up with the Campag setup I have now and some new wheels, will be a flying machine.

Pah, buy British and stand out from the crowd is what I'd say.

Kinesis Aethin had very good reviews.

Haven't tried either, but I would have said the Canyon - however, when you read the Bowman review on here, it does say that its happy enough putting in some miles as well as racing.

Do you like 28mm tyres? The Bowman will take those if you value that; not sure about the Canyon.

Which one do you prefer the look of? Cos I'm doubting you'll get a back to back test on both and they'll both be very fine frames!