Dolan or Bianchi

DA_BURB

I am about to buy a bike thru cyclescheme (the cycle to work scheme) and was thinking about a Bianchi c2c. LBS (Fred Williams, Wolverhampton) has suggested a Dolan frame which they will build using components from Dolan, allowing a certain amount of tailoring to my body and a little bit cheaper but with Ultegra gear instead of 105 - any views on:

the bike;
the shop?

Thanks

Down the Road

Frame - cheap Taiwanese

All bikes at my LBS are custom built to your specs and does cyclescheme as well

graham_g

Cheap Taiwanese does not equal bad frame, at all. There's enough debate on this kind of thing so I'll stop there.

Fred Williams have a good reputation I think, at least I've heard good things from a few people over that way. The fact that they're suggesting a different frame and spec to get you a better bike is more than 90% of bike shops would do for you.

Down the Road is obviously fortunate enough to live next door to Mercian cycles or something!

Down the Road

No ALL quality bike shops do the same I am sure.

Better spec would be a better frame then wheels a better groupset is your LAST upgrade

redddraggon

Down the Road wrote:

Frame - cheap Taiwanese

Well as they are the world experts, and their costs are lower it's not a bad thing.

You obviously don't know know as much as you think you do.

Down the Road

No matter where it comes from cheap is cheap. If low cost was the option they would ALL come out of Vietnam or Africa In Composite frames it is the Process and the materials that make a good frame. That is why they are expensive ie at least £700 for a frame.

Anything less is of inferior materials more suited to tennis racquets than performance bikes

redddraggon

Down the Road wrote:

No matter where it comes from cheap is cheap. If low cost was the option they would ALL come out of Vietnam or Africa In Composite frames it is the Process and the materials that make a good frame. That is why they are expensive ie at least £700 for a frame.

Cheap does not equal poor quality, expensive does not equal quality. Branding takes far too high a role in the price of a product for the price-quality relationship to have any real correlation.

Down the Road wrote:

Anything less is of inferior materials more suited to tennis racquets than performance bikes

You're a Materials Scientist as well now are you?

SDP

williams is a good shop..take their advice

personally i would go with the terry dolan..

a good fit is better than any upgrade...

i find all the BS about upgrades a bit pants...

get a frame of EQUAL quality to wheels & to groupset...

no point in sticking a pair of LEW wheels in a dawes 200 say...

like sticking a ferarri engine in a nova...

Down the Road

redddraggon wrote:

Down the Road wrote:

No matter where it comes from cheap is cheap. If low cost was the option they would ALL come out of Vietnam or Africa In Composite frames it is the Process and the materials that make a good frame. That is why they are expensive ie at least £700 for a frame.

Cheap does not equal poor quality, expensive does not equal quality. Branding takes far too high a role in the price of a product for the price-quality relationship to have any real correlation.

Down the Road wrote:

Anything less is of inferior materials more suited to tennis racquets than performance bikes

You're a Materials Scientist as well now are you?

No Mech Engineer with a specialty in Composite materials. So yes i might know what I am talking about

redddraggon

Down the Road wrote:

No Mech Engineer with a specialty in Composite materials. So yes i might know what I am talking about

Yes you might, but you don't seem to be showing it.

SDP

redddraggon wrote:

Down the Road wrote:

No Mech Engineer with a specialty in Composite materials. So yes i might know what I am talking about

Yes you might, but you don't seem to be showing it.

nice .....

aracer

Down the Road wrote:

That is why they are expensive ie at least £700 for a frame.

Being an engineer, that is presumably a carefully calculated figure bearing in mind the cost of good quality materials, the cost of production, the cost of import and the minimal overheads associated with the less expensive, minimal marketing routes to buy a carbon frame? Or is it just a number you plucked out of the air to exclude some of those you consider to be poor quality?

Presumably as the Condor Baracchi is more than your price threshold it will be decent quality unlike those cheap and nasty Dolan and RIbble Deda frames?

Monty Dog

I've seen too many broken Bianchis to have any confidence in their products. Price has no bearing on quality or cost - it's about how much someone is prepared to pay for it and the intangible value they put on things like brand - back to argument about spending a premium on a Condor over a Dolan, P-X or Ribble when in a lot of cases, it's exactly the same frame.

meagain

"Cheap does not equal poor quality, expensive does not equal quality. Branding takes far too high a role in the price of a product for the price-quality relationship to have any real correlation."

Abso-bloody-lutely. Spot on in fact!

bombdogs

Oi, stop ripping into Dolans. I know Terry personally and he makes great bikes.
Everything is shipped in from Italy and he was trained up by one of the best frame builders that ever lived - Harry Quinn, so there is no question about the quality of his work or his bikes. End of story!!!
He's a great bloke and literally everyone in the North West rides his bikes because of that fact and his workmanship.
Normally, he'll even kit you up for a bit less if you ask him and he'll offer unrivalled advice about fit, etc. Plus, if there is ever anything wrong with you bike, say if you have a fall or something, he will more than often fix it for free because he likes to give his customers good service and keep them coming back.
One of the lads I go out with had areally bad fall and Terry picked his bike up, sorted it all out for him and dropped it off so it was ready when he came home from hospital. You dont get that type of service from anyone else!!!
Bombdogs

meagain

"literally everyone in the North West rides his bikes"

I'd question veracity of "literally", "everyone" and "the North West" I think. But he is clearly a god amongst men!

cannonfodder

I've only heard good things about Dolan from people who have bought their bikes - and you can get custom geometry on some of the range.

Also Condor only sell one bike out of a range of 20 or so that you can buy elsewhere. The rest are all hand built in Italy to Condor's designs

Doobz

I reckon Dolan does some really nice bikes and would deffo choose Dolan Over Bianchi. Both my folks have Dolan frames and they are a dream to ride.

If you get measured up properly and have your dimensions sent to him, he would try and match a bike up on a per person basis. My folks went for a fitting with Dave Lloyd and Dave sent the dimensions to Terry and then they got to choose their components etc etc. Great service and great communications also..

azzerb

Cheap Taiwanese frames? Why don't you check up on Dolan, I'd hedge my bets more of Bianchi (I've not checked) is made out of the EU compared to Dolan. The majority of the tubes are made by Deadacii in Italy and assembled in the UK i believe.

The support from Dolan is absolutely fantastic. My frame shoulda been 850, but picked it up in the sale for cheaper, and the guys threw in the fork, headset and post in with it, even though it was already reduced.

I rang them up a couple of times asking questions after and before buying the frame and they are fantastic, and keep talking and talking. I'm not too keen on my LBS as seemed to get a superior attitude from them when i took my first bike in for repairs, so it was good to get technical advice from Dolan who seemed quite happy to talk.

a_n_t

dont know the fella, but I'm likin' his style!

DA_BURB

thanks for the advice from all. May be leaning towards the Dolan (except it only came in white/black) but surely we can't let appearances decide what bike to buy?! :?

Gary D

Anywaaay..........

Back to the original questions girls

With regards to the shop - can't recommend it highly enough. Very helpful and accommodating, good advice and not at all pushy. Also have an incredibly wide choice of road bikes at all budgets - unlike most shops which heavily favour the faster selling Mountain Bikes.

With regards to the bike - I would definitely go for the Bianchi - mainly because I just did - and bought a 928 C2C from Fred Williams

I was pointed towards the Dolan as an alternative but was told it was slightly more stiffer and race orientated than the Bianchi. Comfort was more of a priority for me. Only test rode the Bianchi there, but I was immediately impressed.

I have only had mine since the weekend before last, so too early to give a meaningful opinion, but initial impression is really good and that it will do exactly what I want of it.

With regards to your comment:

DA_BURB wrote:

thanks for the advice from all. May be leaning towards the Dolan (except it only came in white/black) but surely we can't let appearances decide what bike to buy?! :?

Why not? I guess if you got an honest answer from people about what influenced their choice of bike - looks would actually be very high on the list :oops:

I think with the Bianchi 928 C2C, it is very much the "Marmite" bike - you either love 'em or hate them.

PS I can't understand this attitude towards composite frames made in the Far East?
That part of the World has become the centre of excellence for composite manufacture. A lot of the next generation of Aircraft we will all be flying in over the world will have the major structures made in the Far East - not in America or Europe.

Hope this helps.
Gary.