DOLAN BIKES

Crouching Tiger

Terry Dolan’s bikes have long been admired for their fluid lines and aggressive performance on the track – but road riders can enjoy that performance too. Frankie Andreu puts the bike building maestro’s Hercules Ultegra SL Max on trial.

Terry has been designing and building bikes for three decades ,having learnt his craft from Liverpool frame builder Harry Quinn. In addition to his branded models, Terry has supplied frames to other makers, some of which have been ridden to victory in the Classics and in a grand tour. Dolan bikes have been ridden to Olympic, national and world titles on the track. Terry has worked with Great Britain’s national track squad since 1988, supplying frames from the 960g carbon monocoque Tuono road frame to the integrated seatpost Aurora and popular Pista track bike, as well as custom builds. Dolan’s bikes are still built at the company’s premises on Merseyside.

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WHO is responsible for the bike you ride? Ultimately, you are. If you’re a professional cyclist on a pro team, though, you often don’t get a choice; your management picks the bikes for you. Well, that’s the theory. On rare occasions, however, it’s possible to spot a bike that’s covered with decals that actually don’t match the manufacturer – and the man behind many of the bikes that lie beneath that disguise is Terry Dolan. He’s been supplying bikes to top pros because they’ve demanded them. Dolan bikes have been ridden to national and world titles by Mark Cavendish, Rob Hayles, Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy. These titles came from the track, but these days, the quality and performance of Dolan bikes has carried over on to the road scene. The Hercules, made from Japanese Toray uni-directional carbon fibre, has a very different appearance from most road bikes, because of its curved tubes. Every tube has an individually curved shape which gives the appearance of an aggressive crouching animal ready to lunge and strike its prey. The seatstays and toptubes are concave, while the chainstays and downtube are convex, giving the bike a unique appearance. The curvature, most obvious in the toptube, increases the torsional rigidity of the frame while maintaining the dampening effect that carbon fibre offers. It’s a compact frame and, because of the curved top tube, Dolan measure the size of their bikes by the length of the top tube needed. The bike I tested had a virtual 59.6cm toptube that actually measured 57.5cm in length. This compact design keeps the tubes shorter, decreases weight, and increases the frame’s stiffness without sacrificing reach or comfort. The Hercules has a nice-looking 5cm seat post extension about the toptube. This eliminates that odd look of having a huge amount of seatpost protruding, which can make a bike look smaller than it actually is. The Hercules comes in white with black highlights and Dolan can fit your bike with almost any choice of components. They send their bikes unassembled, with the parts and frame in two different boxes. If you prefer, you can gather the equipment yourself and, once finished, you have a racing machine on your hands. The Dolan’s curved tubes stand out but that’s about it – it’s an inconspicuous bike without a lot of flash or pageantry. Until, that is, you take it outside – and discover the performance that has given Dolan their good name.

MY TEST RIDE began at Spencer Mountain, North Carolina, on a day when the bright red and orange colors of autumn leaves were blasted across the hillside. I took a small climb that went around the mountain instead of going up and over. Although my route didn’t take in the radio towers at the top of the mountain, it still provided me with a good opportunity to get a feel for what this bike could do. The short wheelbase of 100cm kept the rear wheel very close to the seat-tube. The Ksyrium Equipe wheels had 700x23 Michelin Pro 3 Race tyres. I imagine it’s impossible to keep any larger-sized tyre, as there’s less than two centimeters of clearance. At the opposite end, the Hercules had a beefy carbon semi-bladed fork, with an aluminum steerer, which tapers rearwards with a 43-degree rake. With the rear wheel tucked in close and 60.8cm between the centre of the bottom bracket and the front skewer, the bike rallied around corners. T way I could whip the bike over into a hard hairpin and just as quickly whip it back over to the other side was a test of nerves. The 19cm headtube kept me in a low-flying position, so it felt like I was anchored to the road. It was easy to push on the bars, to carve, tear up, and rip up anything thrown in front of me. “Faster!” was the Hercules’s motto, and I was the limiting factor in this high-speed game. Much of this sensation also came from the fact that the Hercules was a sturdy and strong-feeling bike. It almost felt bombproof, with the Ksyrium Equipe wheels helping to roll out destruction on the road. The wheels rolled very well and were tough enough to go hopping over railroad tracks, pounding through pot-holes and dodging city traffic. I’m sure the wheels helped, but the Hercules’s curved carbon fibre tubes certainly dissipated the harsh vibrations while maintaining a very stiff feel. The bottom bracket is slightly oversized – the downtube flairs vertically at the headtube and gradually changes to flair out horizontally at the bottom bracket. This shape change makes for great stability and handling in the front triangle, while also giving the bottom bracket a ton of strength to prevent any lateral movement. Sprinting in 53x12, the frame was immovable. The headtube was didn’t sway when I pulled on the bars, and the bike accelerated very responsively. Perhaps some of the design characteristics of Dolan’s track bikes carries over to the road bikes, because hitting top speed quickly was never a problem with the Hercules. Dolan produces some very high-end, expensive bikes – but they can also provide a great riding bike at lower cost. This bike came with an Ultegra SL gruppo, which worked flawlessly. Shifting was precise, braking fantastic, and if I closed my eyes I’d never have known the difference from the 7800 Dura-Ace groupset. A comfortable bend in the FSA Wing Pro shallow-drop bars makes it easy to reach the brakes. On top of the fat 31.6 Alpina carbon post was a saddle that some riders consider their favorite. I didn’t’ particularly care for the 200g San Marco Concor Light saddle. It’s very short, which doesn’t leave a lot of room to move around for comfort or handling.

KITTED OUT WITH my 300g Shimano PD-R600 pedals, the Hercules SE weighed just 18lb. It would be easy to swap a few parts to bring the weight down still further, but at $3,249.99 for the complete bike as is, it’s outstanding value. No remodeling is needed – right from the off you get a sold, responsive, great handling bike. In 2008, Andy Fenn won the junior Paris-Roubaix title on this very frame, giving testament to its durability and raceworthiness. Again, it was one of those times where the rider picked the bike that he wanted. Maybe some day soon we’ll see Dolan bikes scoring national and world titles on the road too.

CONCLUSION: The Hercules Ultegra SL Max is a great performer, inspiring confidence with its handling and ability to sweep through corners. Its strength comes through with the way it can accelerate and the 1,140g, full carbon carbon frame delivers comfort to make the long rides seem short. The Hercules’s curved tubes give it a very different appearance from most bikes, which may be an acquired taste. If you can adapt, though, you won’t be disappointed. And your wallet will thank you too, because the Hercules delivers a ride worth much more than its asking price.