Orro Venturi STC Ultegra vs Dolan Ares 105

zanojosh

I’m looking for a new road bike and considering an Orro Venturi STC Ultegra (£2,699) or a Dolan Ares 105 (£2,549). Both seem like great value for money. Obviously, the Orro has an Ultegra group set, but in terms of frame quality, wheels, and finishing kit, I’d love to hear anyone’s thoughts or experiences of either.

Orro
https://www.orrobikes.com/shop/2021-venturi-ultegra

Dolan
https://www.dolan-bikes.com/dolan-ares-disc-carbon-road-bike-shimano-105-r7020-hdr/

daniel_b

Both lovely looking bikes.

A brief look at geometry, to my eye, they seem to be very similar.

Dropped stays on both, Dolan looks to be a touch more customisable build wise?

Does it list weights anywhere?

Other than weight, as you point out the Orro has the higher tier groupset.

If that isn't enough to sway you, personally I would choose the one I liked the look of most, and would make me want to ride it.

If you're not planning aftermarket wheels, does one give you better, or closer to, quality wheels you would choose if you were speccing everything yourself?

super_davo

I've been looking at an Orro Venturi as a new summer bike and had a test ride on someone who was selling second hand. Lovely bike, in the black you can see the carbon weave in a very subtle way and it really does look special.

The second hand one wasn't for me... the guy selling it clearly bought a bike that was too much of a race fit for him then spent a lot of cash making it more upright and endurance - l wanted exactly the opposite. But I was impressed in general and will be going back for a new one with next years cycle to work voucher in Ultegra 8200 Di2 flavour.

What sells it for me is for an aero disk bike the frame is very light indeed and by switching the wheels out to Winspace Hypers I can potentially get a 7.5 kg bike (as light as the rim braked bike it will replace).

Things to think about:
1. You can get the Orro in plenty of bike shops so go and have a look at try one out for size. Some of them may do things like swap stems or cranks to fit. Orro do publish the frame sizes but not stem, bar width, cranks so really worth looking & trying out
2. You can't do the same on the Dolan but you can switch out every component on the bike builder to suit. So if you know exact measurements you want and the Orro isn't them and the bike shop won't swap, the Dolan definitely has a big tick in its favour.

zanojosh

I’m certainly going to see an Orro in a local bike shop and Dolan allow appointments at their showroom, so hopefully I’ll get to see an Ares too.

To be honest, initially I like the look of the Ares in white, but for the money, does it make sense to go for the Ultegra-based Orro? Is there a noticeable difference in Ultegra over 105?

Also, at this stage I’m not planning on upgrading the wheels, but I’m not sure of the difference between Fulcrum 400s and Vision Team 35s. I suspect there are very similar in terms of quality and performance, and sit at a similar price point in their respective ranges?

I guess at the end of the day it comes down to head or heart. Do I go for the best spec or the best looking?

super_davo

There really isn't very much difference between latest generations of 105 and mechanical Ultegra; largely because 105 is really very good indeed.

It really boils down to about 200 grams difference (you won't notice functional differences like servo wave brakes). The difference in weight between the frames will be larger (in the Orro's favour).

Neither wheels on the models you're looking at are that great. I would say the Fulcrums are marginally better and certainly have a better resale value. But with either bike, whether you are planning to at the outset, you will want to change to a deeper set of carbon wheels before too long as it just looks wrong having an aero frame with shallowish alloy wheels.

pippi_langsamer-2

Also worth noting, the library image for the Dolan shows the "fancy", one-piece Alpina bar, which would cost an additional £250. You still get the concealed Deda Superzero option as standard, but it's not the carbon Alpina as shown.

I've got the 105 stuff on my winter Synapse carbon, and it's great! Aside weight however, I do find the 105 stuff just seems to rattle a little more in the brake/ shifter units over rough tarmac. Had it on a previous 105 bike, and seems same on this. Just seems the build isn't quite as "tight", as Ultegra or Dura-Ace. No rattles from the Dura-Ace Di2 on best bike, not Ultegra Di2.

MattFalle

pippi_langsamer-2 said:

Also worth noting, the library image for the Dolan shows the "fancy", one-piece Alpina bar, which would cost an additional £250. You still get the concealed Deda Superzero option as standard, but it's not the carbon Alpina as shown.

I've got the 105 stuff on my winter Synapse carbon, and it's great! Aside weight however, I do find the 105 stuff just seems to rattle a little more in the brake/ shifter units over rough tarmac. Had it on a previous 105 bike, and seems same on this. Just seems the build isn't quite as "tight", as Ultegra or Dura-Ace. No rattles from the Dura-Ace Di2 on best bike, not Ultegra Di2.

i'd mug off the Deda bar and get Prime carbon aero jobby anyhow - lighter, nicer looking, more comfy.....

MattFalle

Curve ball - neither of the above but one of those Ribble aero jobs?

super_davo

MattFalle said:

Curve ball - neither of the above but one of those Ribble aero jobs?

If you want a bike in 2023. Personally I love the look of them, but the waiting times are obscene.

MattFalle

Ah, I never realised that. That's ridic.

Yeah, mug that one off.

womack

MattFalle said:

Ah, I never realised that. That's ridic.

Yeah, mug that one off.

I am very surprised you missed an opportunity to slag off Ultegra there MF.

MattFalle

Well, Ultegra is just not very good is it, no matter what the average clubbie says.

There's slagging off and constructive criticism....

tbh, both of those framesets are very nice but I'm not overly enamoured with either groupset - Ultegra is websters pap as we all know and at least with 105 when he smashes it up he won't actually shed any tears and can swap it all out for Force and Chorus and have a lovely frameset with a non pap groupset.

Ben6899

Dolan

zanojosh

Another option I’ve found is the new Wilier Garda. The Ultegra version with Shimano RS171 wheels. It’s around the same print point as the Orro and Dolan. What do you think to this in comparison to the others?

https://wilier.com/en/my2022/int/endurance-bikes/road-bikes/garda

PS. Apologies for the newbie questions. I’m getting back into road cycling after a 15 year lay off, and a lot has changed!

super_davo

It very much depends on what you want from a bike.

The Orro and Dolan are aero race bikes, the Willier is more of an endurance model.

In practical terms that means you'll be more upright on the Willier than the other two, it will feel a bit less sharp, but you'll probably find it more comfortable on longer rides.

What I would say is that all three are very much modern bikes with fully hidden cables, hydraullics etc. That's great if you know what you're doing & how you like your bikes to fit and get it set up like that from the the off. And a pain in the backside if you don't and need to change. If you're returning from 15 years off, even if you get a bike fit, your flexibility / goals are likely to change after a few months which is likely to mean tweaking. The guy I almost bought an Orro Venturi from was a classic example of that. He bought a full on race bike and then needed to stick an 80cm stem on with 3 inches of spacers under the stem to make it upright. He spent a fortune doing that because on these bikes you can't just get a £20 Deda Zero 1 stem - you need an ACR one for the cable routing - and he needed to get a bike shop to do it because the integrated stuff is not easy to work on. So maybe just pick up a hack bike for the winter and splash out in the spring?

cookeeemonster

I’ve got the Orro Venturi STC Ultegra DI2 in red and it really is a lovely bike…the fastest out of all the bikes I’ve owned but also pretty much as comfortable for the rides I do.

If you buy direct from Orro you can customise some components up to a point (I simply got narrower handlebars than standard).

The wheels are ok but I quickly swopped them out for my Reynolds 62mm that I had on another bike…it’s an aero bike after all!

If you’re wondering about an aero vs endurance bike then I’d advise getting a test ride on both. There’s no point getting a fancy bike for winter so you’ve got plenty of time to do that (plus there may still be a bit of a wait anyway)

Enjoy your new bike whatever you get!

zanojosh

Thanks for the comments. There's some really useful info there.

I guess I'm after the best bang for my buck between the £2500-£3000 price range, but there are so many nice shiny bikes out there! I've found a couple of other contenders in the Merida Scultura Limited (https://www.merida-bikes.com/en-gb/bike/3099/scultura-limited) and the Focus Izalco Max 8.8 (https://www.thebicyclelounge.co.uk/2021-focus-izalco-max-8-8-disc-road-bike/).

These aren't as aero as the Orro and Dolan, and therefore might be better suited to me these days.

Bikeauthority.cc

Seems like you need to decide what type of bike you need. Aero bikes look great but the fit/riding style isn't for everyone.

In terms of the opening question, the Dolan is an open mould frame while the Orro is at least designed in house. Open mould isn't necessarily a bad thing, this one has a good rep, but it certainly makes the Dolan appear expensive Vs what you could do yourself. As a rough guess you could likely build a similar bike for under 2k.

In terms of the latest links I'd be looking at the Merida as a good option but in your price range there are lots of options (although may be not availability).

There are ultimately a lot of decision points to get you the best bike but equally you can over think it.

zanojosh

I’m leaning towards a not-as-aero style now, as I’m not the racing snake I used to be 😂.

I’ve enquired about the Merida and it’s unlikely to be available in the UK until end 2022, possible start 2023! I don’t think I can wait that long.

What’s Focus like as a brand? Do they fare well?

MattFalle

Focus? utterly flippin' massive and as good as the rest of them.

Bikeauthority.cc

Decent brand that you don't see as much these days as you used to ( I believe this is a distribution issue more than anything else). The izalco max is a well respected bike but a bit of a heavy weight, although this can be managed with some upgrades.

I'd make sure it fits you as looking at the geo the reach numbers are pretty long.