The Dolan ADX is a four

Titanium road bike with Shimano 105 Di2 from the British brand

This competition is now closed

By Oscar Huckle

Published: August 24, 2022 at 12:00 pm

Having been announced in June, the new Shimano 105 Di2 R7150 groupset is now starting to make its way onto 2023 bikes.

This Dolan ADX – our latest Bike of the Week – is the first machine to arrive at BikeRadar HQ sporting the box-fresh groupset.

The Dolan ADX is a titanium road bike for riding in all weathers, with mounting points for mudguards and pannier racks.

As a result, British brand Dolan says it's a machine designed as a practical, yet stylish proposition.

Let's take a closer look at the bike – and the 105 Di2 groupset fitted to it.

The titanium frame uses Ti-3Al-2.5v tubing, which means there's 3 per cent aluminium and 2.5 per cent vanadium, in proportion to the titanium. That's the standard mix for a bike frame. Dolan claims the frameset weighs 2.3kg for a 54.5cm size.

The frame is bang up-to-date with the latest standards and features 12mm road thru-axles and flat-mount disc brakes.

The ADX we reviewed back in 2018 used quick-release dropouts, but road disc brake standards have settled down now (incidentally, the 2017 Dolan ADX we’ve also reviewed had rim brakes).

The ADX is compatible with mudguards and pannier racks, and Dolan says the frame can carry up to 20kg of luggage.

The chainstays are dropped slightly, which Dolan says is to increase tyre clearance. You can now fit up to 700 x 35mm road bike tyres, or 700 x 32mm with mudguards.

Our test bike is the Dolan ADX 105 Di2, which retails for £3,099.92.

However, if your budget doesn't stretch that far, the range starts from £2,399, with the same frame and a Shimano 105 R7020 mechanical groupset.

Our bike has seen some upgrades to the wheels, tyres and finishing kit from the stock 105 Di2 build and would cost £4,169.92.

Shimano 105 Di2 is the brand's third-tier electronic groupset, competing with SRAM Rival eTap AXS.

There are no deviations to the new electronic groupset and our size 58.5cm sample features a 50/34t compact crankset and an 11-34t cassette – perfect for year-round riding.

Our ADX is specced with a Mavic Cosmic 32 carbon wheelset, shod with Continental Grand Prix GP5000 clincher tyres in a 700 x 28mm width.

The stock build features a Mavic Aksium wheelset and Continental Ultra Sport III tyres. The Conti GP5000s are some of the best road bike tyres we’ve used, so we expect this to be a worthwhile upgrade.

The finishing kit comes courtesy of Deda, consisting of a Zero 100 aluminium stem and handlebar.

Once again, these parts are an upgrade over the Zero range, which is specced on the stock build.

The bar tape also comes courtesy of Deda and is its Loop tape in black; an upgrade over the brand's simpler, aptly named, ‘Handlebar Tape’.

The 31.6mm titanium seatpost comes from Dolan's in-house Alpina range and the saddle is a Selle Italia NOVUS Endurance TM Superflow. The stock build is specced with an Alpina carbon seatpost and a Selle Italia X1 Flow saddle.

The size 58.5cm bike weighs in at 9.3kg without pedals.

The Dolan ADX is on its way to our senior technical editor, Warren Rossiter, for testing.

We’ll bring you a full review on BikeRadar soon, as well as our thoughts on the new 105 Di2 groupset.

Technical writer

Oscar Huckle is a technical writer at BikeRadar. He has been an avid cyclist since his teenage years, initially catching the road cycling bug and riding for a local club. He's since been indoctrinated into gravel riding and more recently has taken to the dark art of mountain biking. His favourite rides are epic road or gravel routes, and he has also caught the bikepacking bug hard after completing the King Alfred's Way and West Kernow Way. Oscar has a BA degree in English Literature and Film Studies and has close to a decade of cycling industry experience, initially working in a variety of roles at Evans Cycles before joining Carbon Bike Repair. He is particularly fond of workshop tool exotica and is a proponent of Campagnolo groupsets. Oscar prefers lightweight road and gravel frames with simple tube shapes, rather than the latest trend for aerodynamics and full integration. He is obsessed with keeping up to date with all the latest tech, is fixated with the smallest details and is known for his unique opinions.

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