Bad Experience - dolan bikes Frames break

humbleone78

Hi Guys,

Does anybody have any experience with Dolan Bikes? I bought a frame april 2012 and in October 2014 its snapped on my cycle home from work.

They have a reputation for breaking, only found out the hard way.

anybody can recommend a better frame?

thanks,
Tom

daivid

What frame did you have? Also what is your commute like?
For a 'standard' road commute I'd recomend a steel framed road bike - steel is strong but also flexes, it can also be repared though this may not be viable economically. If you want a tougher but still fast bike you may want to consider a cyclocross bike.

Cant recomend specific bikes I'm afraid, my commuter is over 30 years old (reynolds 531 steel frame) clearly built to last, for pleasure I have a Scott carbon bike and whilst its brilliant I wouldn't commute on a carbon bike unless I had money to burn.

Marco_Panettone

What frame material? What sort of use has it had? Any crashes?

humbleone78

yes my commuter frame....really fast, one brake, nothing could go wrong or so i thought....except the frame snapped, while i was cycling home from work...no accidents,no crashes nothing just riding to and from work along a towpath or the london roads

it was one of dolan pre cursa track frame aluminum frame these are....

ah a 30 year old frame, thats what im talking about built like a train indestrucrtible....so steel is the way to go:)

speaking to the owner at Dolan he blamed me for putting the wrong crank on it as the reason for the break...not the fact he buys the bikes from the far east and sticks his logo on it as they told me....looks a nice frame but its not fit for the purpose of cycling:(

i picked up a marin in the meantime until i get a steel frame, much slower but i feel safer!!!

gonna keep looking for a steel frame, maybe a charge or leader....would like a canondale but they dont have the horizontal drop outs i need for single speed

Marco_Panettone

Have a look at Fuji. I have a steel frame 'classic track', also available in aluminium if you like vibrations!. It comes with 2 brakes (yours to remove as you see fit - personally I like the additional stopping power), horizontal drop-outs and is pretty light and nippy.

p3uk

Having been a cyclist for many years it does frustrate me when people post online with misleading comments. I was researching my next bike, a Dolan funnily enough hence finding the post, and I came across this thread.
How can you complain that a bike designed for track use has broken as you use it to commute on London streets?! Of course the non-cycling readers of this wouldn't know what the difference is but it's abit like whining because the full size tractor you used to mow your lawn has ripped your garden to shreds, ever heard of the "right tools for the job"?!
Also, had you been more clued up on the world of cycling, you'd know that the largest percentage of manufacturers have their bikes built in the Far East. Dolan, like any other brand, have their designs built to order not turn up at a Chinese jumble and by a job lot before putting their stickers on!!!
I am firm believer of there being two sides to every story so, in this instance, you used a track bike for commuting and therefore risked the damage due to naivety. Horses for courses and all that!

dandelionclock30

Yeah, bikes are generally made in China or Taiwan full stop. They are all made there as far as I know unless someone is making you a bespoke frame, even then the tubes will have been manufacturered there.
For your commute get a cyclocross bike, that will be alright for years.

Keep_pedalling

dandelionclock30 wrote: »

Yeah, bikes are generally made in China or Taiwan full stop. They are all made there as far as I know unless someone is making you a bespoke frame, even then the tubes will have been manufacturered there.
For your commute get a cyclocross bike, that will be alright for years.

The tubes will be made in Birmingham if as likely the frame builder is using Reynolds tubing, Quite a few higher end off the peg bikes like the classic Dawes Gallaxy use Reynolds tubes as well (although they will be put together in the Far East)

armyknife

p3uk wrote: »

Having been a cyclist for many years it does frustrate me when people post online with misleading comments. I was researching my next bike, a Dolan funnily enough hence finding the post, and I came across this thread.
How can you complain that a bike designed for track use has broken as you use it to commute on London streets?! Of course the non-cycling readers of this wouldn't know what the difference is but it's abit like whining because the full size tractor you used to mow your lawn has ripped your garden to shreds, ever heard of the "right tools for the job"?!
Also, had you been more clued up on the world of cycling, you'd know that the largest percentage of manufacturers have their bikes built in the Far East. Dolan, like any other brand, have their designs built to order not turn up at a Chinese jumble and by a job lot before putting their stickers on!!!
I am firm believer of there being two sides to every story so, in this instance, you used a track bike for commuting and therefore risked the damage due to naivety. Horses for courses and all that!

You should comment on these other threads too:

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=92501

Hi Guys,
Does anybody have any experience with Dolan Bikes? I bought a frame april 2012 and in October 2014 its snapped on my cycle home from work.
They have a reputation for breaking, only found out the hard way.
anybody can recommend a better frame?
thanks,
Tom

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/dolan-bike-frames-bad-reputation-for-breaking.170119/

Hi Guys,

Does anybody have any experience with Dolan Bikes? I bought a frame april 2012 and in October 2014 its snapped on my cycle home from work.

They have a reputation for breaking, only found out the hard way.

anybody can recommend a better frame?

thanks,
Tom