[Yavuz]

Hi all. I recently bought a fully built Bowman Weald from Bowman Cycles. Initially the bike came with paint damage on the frame and wrong size chainrings/cranks. Then I received a brand new bike (hopefully!) with correct size cranks but the bike felt too heavy. I weighed the Noble branded wheels which came with the bike and I realized that the wheels were much heavier than advertised on Bowman’s website. After a few attempts to get an answer on this from Bowman without any success, I reached out to Noble Wheels and they told me they stopped supplying wheels to Bowman a year ago.  Anyway I am extremely disappointed to find out that the wheels which came with my bike (which carry Noble Wheels stickers on the rims and the hubs) are not genuine Noble Wheels. They have not been built by Noble Wheels (this is confirmed by Noble Wheels) and the wheels are also not consistent with the specs listed on their website. I am very disappointed that Bowman Cycles fraudulently claimed the wheels on my bike are Noble wheels. And they are now not answering any emails or phone calls. Does anyone know if they are still in business? And what has been your experience with Bowman bikes – in terms of frame quality and durability?  

Topic

[strype]

Hi, I now realise (thanks to

Hi, I now realise (thanks to this threat) that I have had a similar experience. I ordered thinking I was getting Noble wheels (as it was advertised on their website), and I didn’t appreciate until now that what I’ve received aren’t Noble wheels. I have asked Bowman about this but not heard back.  I wonder if anyone else out there has had this experience? 

[Anonymous]

I bought a Weald frameset in
I bought a Weald frameset in the summer. Very happy with it. I emailed them with a query regarding building the bike and they answered straight away. Something must have obviously changed more recently, which is a shame as they seemed to be a good company.

[Rapha Nadal]

I’d really, really, really

I’d really, really, really like to buy a Weald as it’s the EXACT winter bike I’ve been seeking and the price is bloody excellent.

However, this seems to be an impossibility.  Phones go unanswered, emails trails go dead, and quote requests for C2W via their website go unanswered (I’ve submitted more than one).

If a company cannot get even the most basic of communication right then there’s no confidence from me that they’ll do anything else right.  Like others; I’ll be going elsewhere.

[AfterPeak]

I brought a Palace R frameset
I brought a Palace R frameset a couple of years back and it still looks like new. Rock solid (too solid if anything) and I ride all year around on it. They were very good on the phone and it arrived quickly from memory. But companies change so can’t say if they are still as good as they were. One thing I did get told was that my headset bearing was undersized by my LBS when I could not get rid of a knock I kept hearing no matter what I did. Weirdly that headset bearing was with a token headset kit that came with the bike (in its own box).

[kil0ran]

They did go quiet for a bit a

They did go quiet for a bit a couple of years ago, between the first successful batch of bikes (Palace/Layhams/Footscray) before relaunching the website. They are very small, margins must be tight, which means that they’re not really insulated from supply chain issues. Hope they’re still going. 

[Anonymous]

I emailed Bowman about Weald

I emailed Bowman about Weald frame restock dates and they said end of Sep/start of October. That was mid sep.

I have the first gen Pilgrims disc (QR dropouts, daft 3D printed brake bridge, pressfit BB) and was assured by Neil that the BB wouldn’t be an issue. It’s creaked from day one until I fitted a Wheels Manufacturing screw-together BB. The brake bridge is crap but I can live with it as it’s only for the mudguards and doesn’t move once fitted (needs tape on the frame or else it rubs the paint off). The QR dropouts are as a result of different standards at the time so they erred on QR.

The frame itself is well made but the best thing is the geometry. Confident in any situation and with a slack head angle it flies. It also matches my Colnago pretty much mm for mm.

I’d buy a Weald tomorrow if they had any in stock as I think the core product is superb. It sounds like they’ve been bitten by the shortage and taken the wrong option by claiming the wheels are genuine Noble ones.

By the sounds of it I’ll have to start looking for other options to replace the Pilgrims with. 

[Yavuz]

Thanks a lot very useful 

Thanks a lot very useful 

[open_roads]

I read something somewhere

I read something somewhere else in the last month or so that asked if they were still trading – same issues, don’t answer the phone or reply to email.

The ltd company for Bowman is called B B Velo (see companies house) and appears to still be a going concern albeit with a share issue a few months back.

 

edit: here goes:

https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bowman-bikes/

 

 

 

[Yavuz]

Well done. What did you buy

Well done. What did you buy in the end? 

[PpPete]

They were still claiming to

They were still claiming to be kitting their bikes out with Noble wheels when I spoke to them in the summer, and test-rode a Weald, although I was planning to buy frameset only.  Unfortunately they couldn’t offer the model & size /colour wanted until year end so I went elsewhere. 

[Yavuz]

Thanks for the feedback. very

Thanks for the feedback. very useful. And re the wheels unfortunately the wheel builder says these are not wheels built by them – rims are different rims, overall wheelset has a substantially higher weight compared to the claimed weight, stickers on hubs facing the wrong direction and stickers on rims not the original stickers used by the original wheel builder. I am always a supporter of small enthusiastic companies trying to do something good (that’s why I bought the bike) but only if they are honest and if they do not breach brand/intellectual property rights.   

[kil0ran]

I had a Layhams for a while

I had a Layhams for a while which I loved. I bought the frame secondhand and it had small paint defects on the fork crown. Not quite the premium experience sold by the website at the time. Whilst I couldn’t fault the bike or the build quality – very neat welds and it rode beautifully they’re a very small team and in my experience small enthusiastic teams aren’t necessarily brilliant at the customer service side of things. I know they recruited people to help with customer service during the pandemic. It is possible for small teams to get this right (Pipedream & Fairlight both spring to mind) but in my experience Bowman didn’t quite reach those high standards.

Clearly if true though the wheels thing is a breach of consumer protection law. Is it perhaps possible it’s a question of using up old stock given how hard it is to get hold of parts at the moment?

Hopefully you purchased it on a credit card, if so you have additional protection and can request the credit card company to intervene.

[Yavuz]

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks for the suggestion. Yes I am filing a formal complaint today. But Bowman cycles does not answer calls or emails for some time. I am afraid they went out of business. 

[check12]

I’d ring them and tell them

I’d ring them and tell them you want the wheels collecting and a refund for the value of the wheels the same price as to buy them from Nobel or you’ll be raising a case with trading standards and noble are interested too.

[Author]

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