2026 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos

[RabH]

It was a Hilux, whistlin diesel took over the challenge.

Of course it was, Rás steered me down the wrong path!

 

[Chargeride]

The Landcruisers are just as tough

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Anybody know much about these Polini E-P3+ motors by any chance?

I wouldn't take any risk related to an unknown e-bike system. There were many e-bike motor brands who didn't stand the trial of time. For instance: who will provide the repair in case all goes wrong?
Recently, Yako reviewed Orbea Denna (Shimano) and Canyon Grizzle: OnFLy (Bosch). He said Denna was the right e-bike if you were a road cyclist with some desire to ride gravel.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Remember this was over 8.5 years so I think you are doing pretty well!

I honestly think the motor is toast, I've never heard noises like it before! That Land Cruiser was insane, they tried everything to stop it working but failed!

I'm thinking about treating myself and forking out on a new bike, this one caught my eye but I'm unsure about the motor although looking at the reviews online they seem pretty robust...I have used Dolan Bikes in the past and they have a great rep! Anybody know much about these Polini E-P3+ motors by any chance?

Link to the bike!

Dolan GXE Carbon Road Polini e-Bike - Shimano 12s 105 R7170-DI2

www.dolan-bikes.com

View attachment 214987

The Dolan looks quite nice! Have not seen one before.
I'd love to see Giant hear your story and step up to help in some way.
In looking at the Giant GB site there's slim pickins for a mid drive right now...

 

[Chargeride]

My Brose needed new main bearings sprag clutch and planetary gears.
350 quid including upgraded bearings.
It was making some pretty terminal noises before I had it repaired.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Remember this was over 8.5 years so I think you are doing pretty well!

I honestly think the motor is toast, I've never heard noises like it before! That Land Cruiser was insane, they tried everything to stop it working but failed!

I'm thinking about treating myself and forking out on a new bike, this one caught my eye but I'm unsure about the motor although looking at the reviews online they seem pretty robust...I have used Dolan Bikes in the past and they have a great rep! Anybody know much about these Polini E-P3+ motors by any chance?

Link to the bike!

Dolan GXE Carbon Road Polini e-Bike - Shimano 12s 105 R7170-DI2

www.dolan-bikes.com

View attachment 214987

Polini are Italian, family firm, long established, think since the 1950s in motorbikes and mopeds. Their ebike motors are popular in Italy and are very reliable -they are remarkable because are designed to be easily repaired. Polini issue a parts list (with codes) so you can just order whatever part of the motor needs repairing, this is how they've always operated with their petol motorbike engines and uniquely have carried on with e bikes.

Dolan are from Lancashire and a long time track, road gravel and cross bike brand, very highly regarded. Sir Chris Hoy rides Dolan bikes, broke records on them.

I didn't even know they made ebikes and fascinating they went with Polini motors! Worth you checking them out for sure, see what warranty they provide etc. Given your mileage Rab a motor you can repair (or somebody can) might be worth looking at.

Alex bike tester, English, lives in Italy and does deep dives into motor systems, mostly electric MTBs. Here he digs down into the repairability of Polini - pretty amazing, 3 year guarantee and will repair old motors, 7 years old etc and then give you a new 1 year warranty on the motor, plus all parts replacement:

 

[Stefan Mikes]

The issue with a smaller e-bike system manufacturer is they often go bust. Remember Fazua? Once a brand chosen by TREK and many others, now Porsche has dumped them. What is the local presence of Polini in the UK?

While you cannot lose with Shimano, and especially Bosch.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

The issue with a smaller e-bike system manufacturer is they often go bust. Remember Fazua? Once a brand chosen by TREK and many others, now Porsche has dumped them. What is the local presence of Polini in the UK?

While you cannot lose with Shimano, and especially Bosch.

Sounds ike the two are poles apart; Polini been around for 80 years, I just checked. They make parts for motor sports, motor bikes/mopeds and even flight (ultralight motors) with a solid long term engineering reputation. Built their first e bike motor 10 years ago. Sell e motors systems to Italian boutique high end brands like Olmo, De Rosa and Bianchi, with Dolan fitting neatly alongside those road bike brands. Can't see any problems there. Spesh/Trek in a way are more vulnerable being dependent on just bike sales in a volatile market facing a Chinese tsunami. People will still be buying Vespas, Yamahas, Aprillas and Hondas with Polini parts for years to come. And they fit perfectly with the Right To Repair legislation just passed, keeping their motors running for years just as their motorbike parts have done for decades.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Central Communication Port (CPK): Cycle Sailing

Once a year, with predicted strong wind, I take a train and ride far into the headwind. The ride back home with the tailwind is fast and enjoyable! Many roadies did the same, only they were beating their Personal Records or taking KOMs on asphalt. My plan was a mixed surface ride, possibly with a tailwind at almost all times. Well, only Marek had time and will to join me on Saturday. He and many other mates are riding a 100 mile "grevet" tomorrow. Marek agreed to join me but under one condition: he would not put too much effort (he intended never exceeding 150 W leg power, possibly less). I took my Vado SL as the less powerful e-bike.

As we arrived in Łowicz, a very small weather cell sat above the city. It rained. Just 10 minutes waiting in the train station and we were good to go!

As soon as we left Łowicz and were directed into field roads, we both felt amazed: orchards!

Apples...

Plums...

The tailwind was becoming stronger and stronger. We crossed River Bzura for the second time that day to see many kayakers.

Bzura is one of the local rivers with a lot of kayaking activities.

River Rawka (of a great local importance) near to the confluence with the Bzura.

A stop at 33rd km. This man -- presumably the composer of the music for the Polish national anthem was presumably born in this village in 1765. His CV has many gaps and uncertainties!

Marek allowed me having a longer stop in Guzów.

Soon, we rode into the area of the planned Central Communication Port - Port Polska.

CPK controversy
No doubt Poland deserves a huge airport and a High Velocity Railway hub in the central part of the country. The issue is, the controversial project has already eaten billions of Polish Zloties to no avail. We could see very little of the construction in the area. I am afraid I might not live up the CPK opening...

Who knows? Perhaps we rode the future 9L/27R runway?

Still inside the CPK area. I regret so many villages I was familiar with such as Drybus would disappear from the map...

After the CPK stop, we were only riding. 5 km before Pruszków Railway Station, we said our goodbyes and then Marek sprinted for the last 5 km, easily catching the return train.

Ride map. We did not achieve a high average speed but again, it was not a road ride!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Sounds ike the two are poles apart; Polini been around for 80 years, I just checked. They make parts for motor sports, motor bikes/mopeds and even flight (ultralight motors) with a solid long term engineering reputation. Built their first e bike motor 10 years ago. Sell e motors systems to Italian boutique high end brands like Olmo, De Rosa and Bianchi, with Dolan fitting neatly alongside those road bike brands. Can't see any problems there. Spesh/Trek in a way are more vulnerable being dependent on just bike sales in a volatile market facing a Chinese tsunami. People will still be buying Vespas, Yamahas, Aprillas and Hondas with Polini parts for years to come. And they fit perfectly with the Right To Repair legislation just passed, keeping their motors running for years just as their motorbike parts have done for decades.

The problem is, it is not a British company.
Ras, wait... are you buying a Dolan? Because it is so easy for you to advice a purchase to others but you never take a risk yourself?

 

[RabH]

I wouldn't take any risk related to an unknown e-bike system. There were many e-bike motor brands who didn't stand the trial of time. For instance: who will provide the repair in case all goes wrong?
Recently, Yako reviewed Orbea Denna (Shimano) and Canyon Grizzle: OnFLy (Bosch). He said Denna was the right e-bike if you were a road cyclist with some desire to ride gravel.

Thanks for your input Stefan, I have no desire to ride on gravel and Polini are far from unknown with 10 years in the e bike motor industry! My only sticking point as you have mentioned is the lack of a UK presence and that is why I haven't already ordered! However I have been doing a lot of reading for the past few days and I'm liking what I have learned about Polini and their motors!

The Dolan looks quite nice! Have not seen one before.
I'd love to see Giant hear your story and step up to help in some way.
In looking at the Giant GB site there's slim pickins for a mid drive right now...

Giant have lost it on the e bike front sadly Dave, all just high end bikes with hub drives now which do not interest me in the slightest!

Polini are Italian, family firm, long established, think since the 1950s in motorbikes and mopeds. Their ebike motors are popular in Italy and are very reliable -they are remarkable because are designed to be easily repaired. Polini issue a parts list (with codes) so you can just order whatever part of the motor needs repairing, this is how they've always operated with their petol motorbike engines and uniquely have carried on with e bikes.

Dolan are from Lancashire and a long time track, road gravel and cross bike brand, very highly regarded. Sir Chris Hoy rides Dolan bikes, broke records on them.

I didn't even know they made ebikes and fascinating they went with Polini motors! Worth you checking them out for sure, see what warranty they provide etc. Given your mileage Rab a motor you can repair (or somebody can) might be worth looking at.

Alex bike tester, English, lives in Italy and does deep dives into motor systems, mostly electric MTBs. Here he digs down into the repairability of Polini - pretty amazing, 3 year guarantee and will repair old motors, 7 years old etc and then give you a new 1 year warranty on the motor, plus all parts replacement:

Thanks Rás, would you believe I was watching that exact video earlier! I really like what I have been reading regarding this motor, its just the lack of a UK presence that's holding me back but I am very close to ordering as the bike ticks all my boxes...

Removable battery for me is a must, I have to carry the bike up 2 flights of stairs and If I need to add another battery in the future its a no brainer! High power assist for the big climbs is probably top of my list, this motor will be very similar to my Yamaha in that respect! I have purchased from Dolan in the past and know they are well respected in the UK bike world, they introduced their Atreus e bike in 2022/23 but it was a hub drive which didn't interest me!

Thanks for your input guys, I really appreciate it!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

M

Thanks for your input Stefan, I have no desire to ride on gravel and Polini are far from unknown with 10 years in the e bike motor industry! My only sticking point as you have mentioned is the lack of a UK presence and that is why I haven't already ordered! However I have been doing a lot of reading for the past few days and I'm liking what I have learned about Polini and their motors!

Giant have lost it on the e bike front sadly Dave, all just high end bikes with hub drives now which do not interest me in the slightest!

Thanks Rás, would you believe I was watching that exact video earlier! I really like what I have been reading regarding this motor, its just the lack of a UK presence that's holding me back but I am very close to ordering as the bike ticks all my boxes...

Removable battery for me is a must, I have to carry the bike up 2 flights of stairs and If I need to add another battery in the future its a no brainer! High power assist for the big climbs is probably top of my list, this motor will be very similar to my Yamaha in that respect! I have purchased from Dolan in the past and know they are well respected in the UK bike world, they introduced their Atreus e bike in 2022/23 but it was a hub drive which didn't interest me!

Thanks for your input guys, I really appreciate it!

Might be worth calling Dolan in Lancashire and seeing if you could test ride and talk to them about it. I didn't notice if it has a removable battery, looked very sleek so maybe not. and agreed that is not helpful to your long rides.

 

[RabH]

M

Might be worth calling Dolan in Lancashire and seeing if you could test ride and talk to them about it. I didn't notice if it has a removable battery, looked very sleek so maybe not. and agreed that is not helpful to your long rides.

It definitely has a removable battery and good point regarding the test ride, they are around 200 miles away so its doable!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I have no desire to ride on gravel

You could watch the video from @Yako though. He says you possibly could replace the Orbea Denna wheels with yours (hopefully they would match?) Or, just put more skinny slick tyres on the existing wheels. Nowadays, 32-33 mm for a road bike is OK. Not sure how it is with the battery on Denna. They offer a Range Extender as well. Denna is pretty lightweight for a road/gravel e-bike, and as Yako says it is very fast, "with the road bike DNA".

The issue with road e-bikes is these are usually equipped with a hub drive for a very light weight. While "gravel" e-bikes come with mid-drives. The Shimano EP8-RS is up to 600 W and 85 Nm.

 

[RabH]

You could watch the video from @Yako though. He says you possibly could replace the Orbea Denna wheels with yours (hopefully they would match?) Or, just put more skinny slick tyres on the existing wheels. Nowadays, 32-33 mm for a road bike is OK. Not sure how it is with the battery on Denna. They offer a Range Extender as well. Denna is pretty lightweight for a road/gravel e-bike, and as Yako says it is very fast, "with the road bike DNA".

The issue with road e-bikes is these are usually equipped with a hub drive for a very light weight.

I did watch it, thanks for the link Stefan! The battery is integrated though so its a no from me!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Removable battery for me is a must, I have to carry the bike up 2 flights of stairs and If I need to add another battery in the future its a no brainer!

13.9 kg. I easily carry a 17 kg Vado SL upstairs (3 flights).
Range Extenders.

It would be a way worse if you had to store the e-bike in an unheated place.

 

[RabH]

13.9 kg. I easily carry a 17 kg Vado SL upstairs (3 flights).
Range Extenders.

It would be a way worse if you had to store the e-bike in an unheated place.

Range extenders are almost as expensive as the original batteries and very low wattage, I prefer to have another battery due to the long distances I ride!

 

[Rás Cnoic]

It definitely has a removable battery and good point regarding the test ride, they are around 200 miles away so its doable!

Oh that's closer than I thought. And good news on the battery.

 

[Chargeride]

This has to be my new steed for when they ban non folding ebikes on our trains, 600 quid, battery made in a pakistani vape factory.

 

[DaveMatthews]

Giant have lost it on the e bike front sadly Dave, all just high end bikes with hub drives now which do not interest me in the slightest!

Yes, the GB site and the US site are lacking in choice indeed sadly.
The Canadian site still has a nice variety, and this Revolt looks rather nice...

Revolt E+ 2 (2026) | bike | Giant Bicycles Canada

www.giant-bicycles.com