Dolan L'Etape review

This review first appeared in Issue 44 of BikesEtc magazine

Dolan’s aim is to build a bike that costs south of a grand, and which is lightweight, responsive and comfortable.

They say the L’Etape is ‘the ideal weapon of choice in a variety of disciplines, from general riding to road racing.’

This is the cheapest build available from the direct sales company, but if you’ve more money to spend you can spec up the wheels and other components to match your budget.

Frameset

Dolan’s L’Etape frame shies away from the boxy tubing of other affordable carbon road bikes by using swooping lines throughout.

The shape of the sloping oval-section top tube is emulated in the oversized down tube which arcs towards the base of straighter, beefed up chainstays; these have the job of keeping flex to an absolute minimum along the drivetrain.

Curved seatstays are angled to minimise vibrations by acting like dampers. The cabling is all internally routed, and is compatible with both electronic and mechanical set-ups.

The sloping geometry of the bike gives us a compact rear triangle, which is evident even at a glance, and which should also ensure a minimum of losses at the rear end, boosting power delivery.

A measured head angle of 72.3° puts the bike on the cusp of racy in its steering geometry, while a head tube that measures 145mm in length does lend a direct feeling to proceedings.

30mm of spacers are available in order to tweak your height at the front end.

Groupset

A Shimano 105 50/34 chainset works with 105 front and rear mechs to shift through an 11-28 cassette.

The brake callipers as well as the shifters are 105 equipment, too, which lends a pleasing cohesion to the build, and is excellent value at this price.

Finishing kit

The Dolan’s contact points are equipped with alloy components throughout.

Hands grip a 400mm diameter Deda RHM01 handlebar, which in turn is clamped to a Zero 1 alloy stem, of 100mm – it’s an ergonomically pleasing set-up which is a perfect match for the frame size.

The Selle Italia X1 Flow saddle sits atop an alloy Alpina seatpost. As we’ve said, Dolan’s online bike builder website allows you spec up the finishing kit should you want to.

Wheels

Shimano’s RS010 wheelset is often found on bikes where the manufacturer is trying to keep the cost of the build below a certain price point.

To break under the magic £1,000 mark, Dolan has specified these relatively sluggish hoops that contribute just shy of a quarter of the entire weight of the build.

But, as ever, wheels are the first thing you’d upgrade further down the line, and a number of Mavic upgrade options are available when you’re speccing your bike on Dolan’s website (Cosmic Elite S wheels being the obvious choice, but at a premium of £240).

Conti Ultra Sport tyres in 25c diameter are budget fare, but puncture-resistant and long-lasting.

On the road

Our previous experience of Dolan’s L’Etape was as a Shimano Di2 build (which cost an incredibly palatable £1,800).

This mechanical groupset build seems to be a perfectly priced and sensitively equipped carbon road bike that we already know has enough in its frame to supply us with hours of enjoyment in the saddle.

The willingness to please that we’ve found with previous Dolans is in evidence from the first miles of our test loop.

It really is a smile-inducing bike to ride, and especially to ride quickly. What’s most noticeable is that the budget wheels are the obvious weak point in the package, however.

While perfectly adequate for most applications, and with the benefit of undoubted durability, they really don’t allow you to get the very best from the bike when the gradient rises.

However, once they’re up to speed on flatter or rolling country roads, you’ll be able to hang on to speed well enough.

The Shimano 105 groupset is as reliable as ever, allowing us to fire quick gearshifts into the cassette in order to keep momentum when hammering it on the drops, and not grumbling too much when a cack-handed upshift under load is required to make the most of our uphill pace.

The brakes allow fine metering of stopping power and hauling up the bike in short order for downhill sweepers on questionable road surfaces.

What we took from our time on the L’Etape was that it’s a supremely comfortable ride, as well as happy to respond to big power inputs.

It encourages hard riding, but wearing these wheels does struggle to fulfil its promise totally.

When it comes to putting a smile on your face, the Dolan has that covered. Thanks to its relatively quick-steering geometry, it feels a touch nervous, especially if you’ve played around with spacer positions on the stem, and found yourself nice and low for full-on ‘belting it’ riding mode.

But once you do pick up speed, any twitchiness disappears, to be superseded by a steering response that’s just as good as any £2,000 carbon bike, not to mention one at this price.

The worst of the road vibes from the rear end are suitably damped by running the Conti tyres at a slightly lower pressure, but some jarring from both ends remains, likely as a result of the aero-profile carbon fork and particularly unforgiving alloy seatpost.

Continental’s 25c Ultra Sports aren’t the first tyres we’d choose, but despite a few spin-ups under power on greasy uphill lanes, they performed perfectly adequately.

The whole package holds together really nicely as something on which you can corner with confidence – the star of the show is definitely the frame, which we can guarantee is worth hanging on to for years to come, and upgrading as you go.

Of course, one other option would be to buy the frameset directly from Dolan (£499.99) and spec it yourself, but you’d be very hard-pressed to appoint it as well as this build with a sub-£1,000 budget. 

RATINGS

Frame: Swooping lines give it an elegant, speedy look. 8/10 
Components: Well chosen throughout for value and performance. 8/10 
Wheels: One area that would benefit from an upgrade. 7/10 
The ride: A well balanced package, racy yet comfortable. 8/10 

Verdict: A sub-£1K do-it-all road weapon that handles like it costs twice as much.  

Geometry

Spec

Dolan L'Etape review (2017)

Marc Abbott

19 June 2017

In developing the L'Etape, Dolan set out to create a bike that’s lightweight, responsive and comfortable, and (in its own words), ‘the ideal weapon of choice in a variety of disciplines, from general riding to road racing.’

The trickle-down of electronic groupset tech from Dura-Ace to Ultegra has allowed Dolan to piece this bike together for a very palatable £1,815, and even cheaper options are available if you specify different finishing kit and wheels when you order.

Frameset

Dolan’s L’Etape frame is a masterclass in swooping lines. The shape of the sloping ovalised top tube is mimicked below in the oversized down tube, and also in the shape of the curved seatstays, which act like dampers to minimise vibrations.

The straighter, beefed-up chainstays are more purposeful, with the intention of keeping flex to an absolute minimum along the drive chain.

It’s at their tips where we encountered the only niggle in the build, in that the Di2 cable has just a little too much slack in it.

You could cable-tie it to avoid snagging it in transit or when negotiating the bike in a packed garage, as electronics groupset cables are less forgiving than traditional steel cabling when they take a knock or pull.

Speaking of cabling, it’s all internally routed. This frameset is compatible with both electronic and mechanical set-ups, but a neat rubber bung plugs the hole on the right of the down tube that would otherwise accept a mechanical derailleur cable.

The sloping geometry of the bike results in a compact rear triangle, which should improve the power delivery.

A measured head angle of 72° puts the bike firmly in the ‘quicker-steering endurance bike’ category, while a short head tube of just 125mm gets you low over the front for more committed riding.

Groupset

A set of Shimano Ultegra Di2 shifters work on a 50/34 Ultegra chainset and 11-28 cassette, and both front and rear mechs are electronically operated and self-trimming.

This means (theoretically) there’s no maintenance required to get perfect shifts every time. Ultegra brakes grace both front and rear.

Finishing kit

A combination of all-alloy kit is used at the L’Etape’s contact points.

A 400mm diameter Deda Zero 100 handlebar is clamped to a Zero 100 alloy stem, of 110mm – an instantly comfortable and well proportioned set-up for our size 44 bike (the 44 referring to the length of the seat tube in cm, not the top tube!).

Selle Italia’s comfortably padded Flite Team Edition saddle tops the alloy Alpina seatpost (the only decidedly basic piece on board).

Wheels

Mavic’s Aksium wheelset is right at the bottom of the French firm’s range of endurance hoops. They’re solid performers but do weigh 1,880g, and that's before you’ve even fitted tyres and tubes.

The fitted Continental’s Gatorskin tyres are 23mm in diameter. They're perhaps not the first choice for many riders, but in all our years of testing, we’ve never punctured a Gatorskin; they’re all-year favourites.

The Mavic rims’ 17mm internal diameter will take much wider rubber if you want to slap some 25s or 28s in there for increased comfort. 

The ride

We spent a good 10 minutes going over the Dolan before our maiden voyage, for no other reason than to see where costs have been cut.

Beyond the fact that it’s running a KMC chain rather than Shimano, there’s nothing obvious to report.

A bike whose spec seems too good to be true for the price might just have the performance to back up its spec sheet too.

There’s a willingness to the Dolan that makes it a joy to ride – and especially to ride quickly.

The Mavic wheels take a little time to catch up with your demands of them, especially if you’re doing sprints or going for a KOM on a local climb, but once they’re spinning up, they’re more than capable of helping to propel you along rolling roads.

And it’s on these kinds of lanes that the bike excels, as well-timed electronic gearshifts help you carry every last bit of momentum up short rises, and make full use of the bigger gears down the other side.

The Di2 electronic shifting is a boon on longer climbs, thanks to the fact that the system will endure ham-fisted up-changes when it’s time to get out of the saddle and shred your legs to the summit.

The lightweight nature of the bike means it’s very much at home on a slope, but the excess rotational mass it carries in its wheels and tyres again let it down slightly in this area.

The Ultegra braking set-up is as good as you’d ever need on a road bike and – while you’re better off not grabbing a handful as you’ll need to get those wheels up to speed again soon after – when it comes to gradual stopping power, they’re truly excellent.

Ergonomically, this is one of the most instantly comfortable bikes we’ve thrown a leg over in recent months, with the handlebar diameter and stem length a perfect fit for the frame size and our 5ft 9in height.

It’s as comfortable when riding on the drops as when tapping along chatting with mates, and the overall package has almost everything it needs to encourage hard riding.

Despite the Dolan’s relatively conservative geometry, it actually feels a little nervous at lower speeds thanks to the very low front end.

However, once the speed picks up, this initial twitchiness disappears, and is replaced by responsive performance that’s right up there with any bike we’ve tested at double the Dolan’s price.

There’s a little harshness from both ends, but nothing we couldn’t live with. This is likely down to the straight-set carbon forks and unyielding alloy seatpost.

Continental’s 23c tyres, in performance terms, meanwhile, never let us down. They’ve long been favourites of ours, for their all-season ability.

The whole package holds together as a machine on which you could happily smash out a mid-length sportive, or take to the races.

It’s a versatile package that’s highly specced and particularly capable. We’d swap out the wheels for something lighter and more performance-oriented for more serious forays into competition, but that’s just about the only change we’d make.

Dolan have a Mavic Ksyrium Elite option at an extra £300, which will save you 300g and could be well worth considering if you’ve a little more cash in the kitty.

Ratings

Frame: Ergonomically splendid. Makes for a very comfy ride. 8/10
Components: Ultegra Di2 all the way. Impressive! 10/10 
Wheels: A bit on the chunky side. We'd recommend an upgrade. 7/10 
The Ride: Impressively responsive at higher speeds. 9/10

VERDICT

It has its flaws, but the Dolan L'Etape deserves plenty of credit for offering a carbon frame and Shimano Ultegra Di2 for sensible money.

Geometry

Spec

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