Dolan L'etape - Any advice

paulb369uk

Good morning all, I currently have a Defy 2 and am looking at upgrading to my first carbon bike, I have seen the above bike on the Dolan site for £1400 (after the additional 10% for cycle2work) from what I can see it has full Ultegra and a set of Mavic Askiums which seems like a lot of bang for your buck. My only worry is the 2yr warranty on the frame, should I be concerned ???

Thanks in advance

Paul

handful

I'm looking at getting one of these myself but with SRAM Rival. I've searched through loads of reviews and comments and have yet to find anything negative really. Certainly nothing about the longevity of the frames. I think they are a slightly more aggressive geometry than some of the competition (Planet X, Ribble) but if it fits it looks like a genuine bargain to be honest and hence my interest!

SCR Pedro

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but I think L'etape is the newer version of the Hercules, perhaps even the same frame with a new name. In any case, the reviews are generally very good. I was considering one of the framesets, but the geometry put me off. The effective top tube length was a little long for my liking.

They look really good VFM, though.

handful

I believe your right about the frame being the old Hercules. I agree about the top tube length, will need to try it before buying to see how it feels.

Rojales

Hi, I have a Hercules, its no the the same as L'etape , the steerer is aly not carbon and the rear stays are smaller without internal cabling. But still a good frame for the money.

dyrlac

I've had the l'Étape with full ultegra for about 500km (sadly bought only a couple of weeks before they cut the price). Like it loads but pretty racey--needed a fair amount of getting used to it over my caadx--so take a close look at the geometry (as noted above), you need to like being relatively stretched out. Very very quick to accelerate--probably the most noticeable change from a heavier bike--and I love long drawn out climbs on it. More mundanely, the curved top tube results in metres of exposed seat post, which (IMO) looks ace and, importantly for those of us with stumpy legs, gives good stand over clearance at traffic lights, but probably limits seat tube bottle cage options.

paulb369uk

Thanks for all your advice guys, in Liverpool in a few weeks so may well pop in to see one in the flesh :-)