Dolan Multicross or Preffisio...anybody here own one?

simonn

Hello,

Thanks to my company getting involved in the Cycle2Work scheme,I can set my sights a little higher.
What I am looking for is a bike that will accept proper old-school mudguards and is strong enough to take a rack for light touring,but isn't the weight of a battleship.

Through the scheme I can choose Dolan bikes,and like the look of both the Multicross
http://www.dolan-bikes.co.uk/multicross.html
and Preffisio
http://www.dolan-bikes.co.uk/preffisio.html

The price for either with 105 is around the £800 mark,give or take.

I'd love to hear any comments form owners of the above,or anyone with similar bikes.

Cheers,

Simon.

jw4g

Hey Simon - I just got a Multicross; I had the same requirements as you in terms of mudguard/rack mounts.

Looked at the Prefisso, but the m/g clearance is pretty tight. That is the case with all bikes that don't have long-drop caliper brakes BTW. You can fit 23mm tyres with mudguards on the Prefisso but anything bigger is a squeeze (that's the bike shop's opinion BTW!)

So I went for the Multicross. I also looked at a couple of other cyclocross bikes but the Multicross was good value, it looks unusual, and I was able to get it built up to my spec. I have 25mm Ultra Gatorskins and there is plenty of clearance for guards. The frame weight is 1600 gm or so, which gives a reasonably light bike.
The ride is quite comfortable, and the bike feels fast. Then again I'm used to a 10-year old Rockhopper, so that's not hard to beat!
The only downsides are:
The cantilever brakes came without a barrel adjuster and so are a bit of a pig to set up. You need to get the toe-in of the pads set right otherwise the front brake judders. Once set up they work OK. This problem is typical of all cyclocross cantilever brakes BTW, not just a Dolan issue. You could try mini-V brakes instead although you would need to check the clearance is adequate for your tyres/mudguards.


£800 for a Multicross with 105 sounds like a bargain.

Other bikes I looked at were:
Scott CX Comp. Very nice but no rack bosses on the frame.
Spec Tricross. Nice, mudguard and rack bosses but a bit heavy perhaps.
Trek 1.5. Standard-drop calipers but looks like you could get guards in;rack mounts.
Ridley Crossbow - rack/mudguard bosses.
Planet X Uncle John. Rack/mudguard bosses but apparently no chainstay bridge so fitting guards is reportedly tricky; I can't imagine it's that hard though. Some say the geometry is a bit strange.

Another possibility I saw is the Genesis Aether 20 - this has long-drop caliper brakes so no problem with mudguards.

simonn

Hi jw4g,

Great to hear that there is one other Multicross owner in the UK,hah-hah!

I'll be picking mine up on Monday-looking forward to getting my hands on it.

In the end I went for 105 with Aksiums which brought the price to around £950...enough left over for a rack.

Thanks for the reply.

Cheers,

Simon.

jw4g

Hi Simonn -
How you getting on with the bike? Hope you're enjoying it. I've got a cheaper build than you with mainly Tiagra, and Mach1 Omega wheels. I'll get better wheels when they wear out as they're a bit heavy.

What brakes did you get?

I discovered how cr@p my brakes (Shimano BR550 cantis) are in the wet the other day...I am seriously thinking about changing them - they still squeal and in the wet they are dangerous .

Cheers
-jw4g