Dolan L'Etape v Giant Advanced Defy 1

steg666

Good evening troops!

I'm looking for pointers on my first proper road bike since I bought my tester B'Twin 500SE.

I've narrowed it down to these two but I'm struggling to separate them. I'm going to be using it for more endurance and comfort than all out speed.

http://www.dolan-bikes.com/road/road-bi ... -6802.html

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-gb/bi ... 965/90512/

Here's the differences I can see, feel free to disagree or add points I might have missed, any help is greatfully received.

Has anyone got experience of owning a Dolan? I don't need to consider it a distance sale as I only live ten miles from their showroom/factory.

Dolan £1500, Giant £1600
Dolan has better wheels, Mavic Ksyrium vs Giants own brand, are those Giant wheel good though?
Both full Ultegra
Giant has disc brakes, but do I really need them? I still can't get used to seeing them on a road bike. Is rim wear really a consideration?
I prefer the look of the Giant now but I don't think the Dolan will date.
Dolan I can have within 3 days, Giant could be 6 weeks.

mamba80

i ve bought 3 Dolans, 2x track and an Ares SL, they sell great bikes and a v nice company to deal with, nothing is too much for them.

I dont like disc s on road bikes, so i know where my money would go.

dj58

If you are not convinced about disc brakes on a road bike, the Dolan looks to have a good spec for the money. As you live locally to Dolan you can go and view the bike, be sized correctly and order, 3 weeks. What is it about the Defy that you prefer the look of, apart from the disc brakes, Is it just the colour scheme? Can you go and look at one, or does it have to be ordered in, 6 week wait?

The rate that wheel rims wear will depend on factors like the type of brake pad used, weather/road conditions and cleaning regime. One advantage of a disc braked wheel is that only the disc rotor would need replacing when worn to the minimum width dimension, as opposed to the complete rim for a rim braked wheel.

steg666

DJ58 wrote:

If you are not convinced about disc brakes on a road bike, the Dolan looks to have a good spec for the money. As you live locally to Dolan you can go and view the bike, be sized correctly and order, 3 weeks. What is it about the Defy that you prefer the look of, apart from the disc brakes, Is it just the colour scheme? Can you go and look at one, or does it have to be ordered in, 6 week wait?

The rate that wheel rims wear will depend on factors like the type of brake pad used, weather/road conditions and cleaning regime. One advantage of a disc braked wheel is that only the disc rotor would need replacing when worn to the minimum width dimension, as opposed to the complete rim for a rim braked wheel.

Thanks for the replies guys.

I've seen a Giant in the flesh, it just looks more modern but could well date. Even though the Dolans don't look as 'flash" I think it'll stay looking ok for years to come.

I took pictures of all the bikes and showed them to the wife (who has zero interest in bikes) to my surprise she preferred the look of the Dolan too. Each day I change my mind from one to the other. Crikey, I've even bought houses and cars with less faffing than ordering this new bike hahha :shock: .

dstev55

The Dolan looks smart.

I'm personally not interested in disc brakes on my road bike at the moment. If I did want disc brakes though I'd definitely be questioning why they are not hydraulic on a bike that costs £1600. Never ridden a road bike with discs but I doubt they would be any better than the Ultegra brakes unless the roads are really wet.

mostly

I found myself in a similar situation around xmas, the lack of hydro brakes put me off the defy (ended up with ultegra tcr) the ultegra brakes are excellent. I'm out in all weathers and maybe once I've thought I could have done with discs. Friend of mine has the dolan and its a great bike.

saftlad

If you decide on a Dolan, I'm selling mine for £900. Has only done ~500 miles, sized X-large, and has 2 sets of Mavic wheels - 1pair virtually unused

dj58

I noticed with the Dolan that you have a choice of three colour schemes, though just the one for the Defy, if that matters. Agree with what others have said about Ultegra caliper brakes, I have the older 6700 and SwissStop Blue BXP pads and find them very good, the 6800 calipers/pads are a further improvement over the previous model.

trek_dan

The geometry of the Dolan is very odd (I had the Hercules SL which is same frame), I definitely wouldn't buy it without trying first.

steg666

Thank you everyone, sorry for the delay in replying. I'd unfortunately been at a funeral for most of today. I really appreciate your thought and I'm glad to see support for the Dolan. This was my initial choice it was just a valued friend did suggest the Giant so thought in should consider it. I was also a touch unnerved by the salesman in the Giant shop questioning the quality of the Carbon used in the Dolan frame. Hopefully that was just a cheap trick.

trek_dan wrote:

The geometry of the Dolan is very odd (I had the Hercules SL which is same frame), I definitely wouldn't buy it without trying first.

I will give it a good go thanks. I going to head over there tomorrow. Fingers crossed they've got an XL for me to try out.

part time waster

I have had 2 Dolan bikes and they are great value. Loads of lads and lady`s ride them on our local chaingang if you live within 10 miles of Terry`s shop you will see plenty. Just stop at Rufford café on a sunday its like a persona; Dolan showroom.
And no I don`t work in the cycle industry.

steg666

Thanks. I saw one today at the top bottom of Billinge Hill so came to a quick stop to ask the owners thoughts. They had a few problems with it shifting but to be fair they said it was sorted quickly by Dolan.

There's a last minute contender - http://www.thebicyclelounge.co.uk/focus ... 2015-bike/

Anyone got experience of Focus Cayo's? I noticed the brakes aren't full Integra but I popped into this shop earlier and their service was top drawer. I was really impressed with them.

nuclearred955

I have a Dolan L'Etape, which I bought late last year as a step up from a B'Twin Triban 3, which I had for 3 years. As I understand it, the B'Twin 500SE is the same frameset as my older Triban.

This is relevant, because when you compare the dimensions & geometry of the Dolan & B'Twin frames, they are surprisingly similar - I based my decision to buy the Dolan on the fact that I could set it up to be almost identical to the B'Twin, which I find fits me well. I live in Scotland so didn't have the opportunity to see it/ride it in the flesh before buying.

I'm massively impressed with the Dolan for what it costs - mine even came with 2016 Ksyrium Elites, rather than the older versions illustrated on the Dolan site. Mine did need a couple of tweaks (headset & front brake alignment) and I'm not a huge fan of the paintjob (too much white!) but generally I love it and can't wait to put miles on it once the weather improves.

dj58

steg666 wrote:

There's a last minute contender - http://www.thebicyclelounge.co.uk/focus ... 2015-bike/

Anyone got experience of Focus Cayo's? I noticed the brakes aren't full Integra but I popped into this shop earlier and their service was top drawer. I was really impressed with them.

You might be better starting a new post if you want feedback on the Focus Cayo, there are Focus owners on this forum, however they may not have read this post.

dstev55

steg666 wrote:

Thanks. I saw one today at the top bottom of Billinge Hill so came to a quick stop to ask the owners thoughts. They had a few problems with it shifting but to be fair they said it was sorted quickly by Dolan.

There's a last minute contender - http://www.thebicyclelounge.co.uk/focus ... 2015-bike/

Anyone got experience of Focus Cayo's? I noticed the brakes aren't full Integra but I popped into this shop earlier and their service was top drawer. I was really impressed with them.

I've got a 2015 Focus Cayo. Very impressed with it although I think the 2016 frame is different if I'm not mistaken?

The best use of words to describe it in my opinion is "a great all-rounder". It's fairly light (my Dura Ace build weighed 6.8kg before add ons), fairly comfortable and fairly stiff. It's not the last word in stiffness but then again it has an element of compliance you probably wouldn't get if it was stiffer. In my opinion it really is a very good blend of what most people want from a performance orientated Road bike.

Just be aware although most places refer to it as a sportive type geometry bike, it is actually fairly aggressive, certainly much more than a Giant Defy.