Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

TECH NEWS

Just in: Pinnacle Dolomite Five

£900 aluminium framed do-it-all bike arrives for testing

Okay, shades on everybody the Pinnacle Dolomite Five has just landed here at roadcc Towers in all its zingy orangeness. Evans have enjoyed some success with their inhouse Pinnacle bikes in recent years and took things up a notch when they signed up James Olsen - from Genesis. The £900 Dolomite Five, is the top Dolomite in the first 100 per cent Olsen range of Pinnacles… sort of the pinnacle of the Pinnacles then, sorry.

Anyway, it's an aluminium frame designed to accommodate mudguards if you wish and fatter tyres with the geometry close to that of a race bike, it looks an ideal bike for racing, sportives and just riding along so a do it all bike for British contitions then. Olsen has form when it comes to this sort of thing, but more on that in a moment.

Let's briefly talk Pinnacles we have known. We were a bit underwhelmed by the £450 Dolomite One when we reviewed it a couple of years back, but the marque has built up a solid reputation for dependable, workaday steeds that won't let you down and won't break the bank either. This year's Dolomite Five and its siblings though are all about moving things on a bit injecting a bit of charm, character and fun - workhorses you'll be more than happy to ride after the working day is done - that's the way we understand it anyway.

James, it is worth pointing out, was responsible for the Genesis Equilibrium, one of roadcc’s favourite bikes. While there’s a clear difference in materials, the Equilibrium steel, the Dolomite Five aluminium, they have a lot in common. They are both designed to be versatile, of equally being up to the challenge of a sportive as much as being a mile-munching winter bike with mudguards and a rack for commuting duties. And the Equilibrium we tested is roughly the same price as the Dolomite Five we have here, so it’s worthy of comparison. If you're in the market for a bike like this in this price range, it's fair to say these two could be on your shortlist. We'll find out how far up the list the Dolomite Five will be when Stu Kerton sticks some serious miles in to it.

So, the Dolomite Five then. First, doesn't the orange paint look just, well fab? Just me? Whatever, it's certainly an attention getter. Underneath the paint and smart decals is a 6061-T6 heat-treated aluminium frame with a taper-oval shaped top tube and slim curved seat stays. A carbon bladed fork with aluminium steerer tube slots into the 1 1/8in head tube. The frame has been designed with versatility and key selling point, and as such it’s fitted with long reach brake calipers and has the necessary mounts to fit mudguards if you wanted. And looking out the window right now, that’s not a bad idea at all.

It’s a competitively specced bike for the money, with most of a Shimano 105 groupset. There’s an FSA Gossamer compact chainset, a popular choice at this price, Its 50/34 chainrings combined with a 12-25t cassette give you a nice spread of gear ratios. You can’t get Shimano 105 long reach calipers, to there’s Tektro R539 57mm deep drop brakes instead.

Shimano also supply the RS-10 wheels, a solid choice which with 16 spokes in the front wheel and 20 out back (though the spec sheet does say 32) should prove to be reliably dependable. Tyres are Kenda Kriterium 25mm tyres, which offer the extra comfort without a discernable loss of rolling speed a rider choosing this bike will undoubtedly desire.

Finishing kit, by which we mean the handlebar, stem, seatpost, saddle and bar tape, is all Pinnacle branded kit.

Weight for the complete bike on the roadcc scales is a 9.15kg (20.17lb). That compares favorably with the Genesis Equilibrium’s 9.3kg weight (20.5lb), although we might have expected the aluminium frame to contribute to a little more of a weight saving than that.

Stu, who reviewed the Genesis, is out on the Dolomite Five now pounding out the miles so if you see an orangey blur on the Wiltshire lanes….

www.evanscycles.com

David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes

Add new comment

14 comments

Avatar
SpaceFlightOrange | 11 years ago
0 likes

Popped in to my local Evans today and had a good look. There is enough clearance at the rear for mudguards, thought not as much as the front. It might even be possible to squeeze a set of 28mm tyres on, but not with guards. I'd been looking at the Sora version, but this is much nicer looking and at £250 more,you couldn't upgrade the Sora version for that price.

Avatar
matthewn5 | 11 years ago
0 likes

Isn't Shimano's BR-R560 a 105/Ultegra deep drop brake?

I know it's strictly non-series, but the moniker suggests 105. I would prefer them to Tektro any day.

Avatar
deanj | 11 years ago
0 likes

I bought one of these a couple of months ago and can confirm that it does take mudguards (I've got SKS Chromoplastics on mine). I can't give any insight into how easy they are to fit though, as I got the shop to put them on  1

Avatar
SpaceFlightOrange | 11 years ago
0 likes

You can get some awesome bikes at this price range (the Canyon Roadlite al 6.0 springs to mind) but very few offer the versatility (mudguards/panniers/bigger tyres). The only others i can think of are the Kenisis T2, Tifosi CK7 and Equalibrium 00. But none offer this sort of spec. I can't wait to see how the frame compares to these bikes.

I'm looking for an all weather trainer/commuter/tourer at this price range and this is high on my list. I'm in love with the equalibrium 20 but can't justify the additional £400.

I struggle to justify buying a bike that has a similar Spec to my Boardman Hybrid Comp for almost double the money ( the race light T2 has the same chain set/bb)

I love my Focus Cayo 4.0 but I can't help thinking that at the price I paid, I should have spent a bit more and bought a titanium all rounder...

Looking forward to the full review

Avatar
boffo | 11 years ago
0 likes

Oh, please please please don't let orange be the new black, I've been feeling quite smug on my orange Condor Fratello for a couple of years now.  22

Avatar
Bexleyhillbilly | 11 years ago
0 likes

I'd take issue with describing RS10s as dependable - I broke a front spoke after 2500 miles and a rear one after 4000, both at the nipple. A 15 spoke front wheel is pretty wobbly to coax back home and the rubbing wrecked the paint job on my forks. It's difficult to get spare spokes and you have to buy the nipples separately. They looked flash, but now reside in the furthest reaches of the attic, where they perform a more useful function as supports for spiders' webs.
Incidentally, according to the sticker on them they seem to be made by someone else under licence from Shimano.

Avatar
ZabaZabaHey | 11 years ago
0 likes

The colour makes a nice change from the sea of red, white and black combinations out there.

Avatar
SuperG | 11 years ago
0 likes

Love the colour, well put together bike and nice graphics.

Does look tight for guards on seat tube tho

Avatar
bikerdavecycling | 11 years ago
0 likes

Yay! A bike without disc brakes at this price point. I was fearful when I read it was a do it all bike that that would mean discs, which are unnecessary and damn ugly. The bike is very nice indeed.

Avatar
badback | 11 years ago
0 likes

The paint job reminds me in a way of Molteni orange which is not a bad thing as it's one of my favourite colour schemes.

At least it should avoid SMIDSY situations not being in regulation stealth black !!!

It looks a bit tight on the back wheel for a mudguard but that's probably the camera angle.

Avatar
stuke replied to badback | 11 years ago
0 likes
badback wrote:

The paint job reminds me in a way of Molteni orange which is not a bad thing as it's one of my favourite colour schemes.

At least it should avoid SMIDSY situations not being in regulation stealth black !!!

It looks a bit tight on the back wheel for a mudguard but that's probably the camera angle.

I'm planning to fit a set off SKS Chromoplastics over the weekend so that'll highlight any clearance issues. Should also mean that it'll stop raining as well!!

Avatar
mrwilliamson | 11 years ago
0 likes

32 spoke front and rear??

you sure about that?

Avatar
David Arthur @d... replied to mrwilliamson | 11 years ago
0 likes
mrwilliamson wrote:

32 spoke front and rear??

you sure about that?

Ok smartypants. The spec sheet from Evans I was using to write this article stated 32 spokes, but having counted them myself it's clear they've made a mistake, it's 16/20

Avatar
Rupert49 | 11 years ago
0 likes

I've been riding a Pinnicle for about 4 years now, very dependable, if a little lacking in sparkle but goes anywhere just did a 5 hour hilly ride today - no bother.

If I needed to replace my old stead I probably wouldn't look beyond the Dolomite

Latest Comments