Dolan Pre Cursa / PreCursa / Track Champion

Yikes. You got any recommendations east London side around hackney/shoreditch ?

Bikeworks just on Cambridge Heath opposite the arches, small setup and they know their stuff with impeccable service!

SBC cycles. Best shop in town

SBC cycles fixed me up good. Thanks for the recs.

How do you guys go about tensioning your chain well? Just pull the back wheel as far as you can and tighten the nuts?

Yup.

I'd jam a rag between the seat tube and tyres to tension the chain nicely then tighten it up.

Ideally I recommend a chain tug.

does anyone have a definitive guide to dolan bb size? I want to fit an sram s300 on mine at some stage. seeing a lot of issues on clearances and getting pretty confused...

decided to hold off on the BB for now. Want to fix the comfort first and foremost. I have 90mm stem right now but i am thinking of getting a cheap super short stem + tall riser bars to give myself a more relaxed position - i am commuting 3 miles + fun rides mainly.

i have ordered the Deda Elementi streettissimo handlebar. Will wait for that to come in to change stem length.

Question - how short is too short for the stem? I really am looking at 60mm-70mm stems. What do I lose out on? Any other way to resolve the relaxed feel?

some stems:
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/brand-x-mtb-stem/
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/cinelli-ant-black-stem/
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/deda-cortissimo-fixie-stem/

There's lots of variables to 'feel' from stems.
Long story short, in my experience, all of them feel normal after you get used to it. Negative rise and more length makes the steering feel 'slower' and more stable to me. Shorter / positive rise, feels more sprightly.
Obviously there's going to be many different points between those 2.

I would suggest you identify what is uncomfortable. Too stretched out is different to too low.
Start by raising /flipping the stem, and then see how much shorter you want to go. Keep adjusting on the cheapest stems you can get untill it feels right.

what's the situation with SRAM S300 - any issues with GXP bb length? Dolan dated my bike as 14/15 which have a wider chain stay issue.

Made the mistake of using a space on DS to give enough clearance with the SRAM S300...

BB blew up after a year because only one bearing was engaging :( Looking for other cranksets now.

Cleaning my Pre Cursa today and put a new chain on, noticed a crack in the drive-side chainstay near the BB weld. I assume this is Not Good!

Only done 11,000 km on it. 3 months past Dolan's 2 years warranty, so will see what they say about it.

2 Attachments

The answer was no to honouring an expired warranty, which I more or less expected.

However Dolan did offer me a new PC frame for £65 under a "crash replacement" scheme which still sounded like the cheapest way to go after shopping around for other options.

£65 is a decent offer from them and if I'm in your shoes I'll take that.

They're reasonably priced frames and personally if they last beyond a year, anything beyond that is a bonus.

I didn't know they have a crash replacement scheme and had always paid the £110!

Whats the crash replacement scheme? Sounds nifty.

Also now im on edge about my dolan. Seen lots of cracks dotted around on these frames. Can anyone educate me on it and take the edge off?

What do you mean? Is yours cracked?
I know mine is not, and I'm not scared that it will any time soon

Oops - dotted around the internet, not on my frame!

Glad to hear it. Might just be an aluminium thing?

Frames just sometimes crack. It's relatively cheap alu but it's still not a bad bike, I wouldn't waste any more thoughts on it, just check it over every now and then

Anyone bought one of the new DB series Dolan frames?

Can't actually find any detail on it beyond what they told me by email - the Dolan warranty page doesn't cover it and I would not have known they do this without asking.

Briefly, as it sounds - ask about your out-of-warranty (or crash damaged) PC and you can get a frame-only replacement for £65 rather than £110. I decided to go for it as it was by far the cheapest solution on shopping around.

By the way the gunmetal grey paint has been OK, but just OK and it's chipped a bit in commute use. I asked for the matt black this time to change things up and as I read here it's very hard-wearing.

Soz for spam, delete if not allowed but I'm selling my Track Champion over here --> https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/334606/#comment14772598

Anyone running non integrated forks (i.e. not Alpina) on a PC? What lower headset assembly do I need?

What difference does the fork make to what headset you need?

(Crown race aside)

None whatsoever. I just need a crown race don't I.

Ignore me.

What's the plan?

I'm thinking about building up a Pre Cursa frame from bits I've got lying around plus. Risers, low profile wheels plus some skinny steel forks from on here. Might end up looking shit.