Dawes Super Galaxy (Bike Nerd Warning)

[malkymoo]

All this talk of Galaxy frames has inspired me to look at renovating my old Dawes bike. It is a Dawes Mean Street, basically a Galaxy frame (531 tubing) fitted with hybrid components. From memory I think I paid about £475 for it, not cheap at the time. Quite nice components, Shimano Biopace gears etc. I bought it around 1990, used it for about 20 years and then bought a Marin aluminium framed bike. I have gone back to using the Dawes in the last couple of years as I find it much more pleasant to ride, it just feels right as opposed to the Marin which feels more unstable.

It now needs a complete overhaul, all the gears and chain are very worn, the middle gear on the front is so worn as to be dangerous, I have just been using the high gear only for my trips into town. The rest of the bike seems generally ok. I will probably get it renovated professionally, don't really feel up to doing it myself.

The Biopace gears are long obsolete, so I guess I will have to get an alternative fitted. Any tips on what I should ask for? I will just be using the bike for local journeys of a couple of miles, with the occasional foray into the countryside, about all my 74-year-old knees are up to, definitely not club or touring use.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

These are 36 spoke and most of the modern ones I have are 32 or fewer.

In answer to AiY's earlier question, the donor bike has a good frame and wheels, I think it is a 501 rather than 531 though but the brakes, gears and shifters are definitely bargain basement compared to the Super Galaxy. Much more worth as a complete bike, it would be a solid station or pub bike for someone for £25.

John

I'm watching you . I think there may be some budget tinkering going on here. I may have to tip you upside down and empty your pockets Way too much smoke and mirrors with this trading of bikes

It's a shame the gears aren't of any use, but as you say as a complete bike it's a bargain and you're trading your way to obtaining parts at profit, not cost. I find that part about the thread far more entertaining than having to Google shimmy swimmy gears every five minutes (my badness )

Thank you

Take care

AiY(D)
Senior Executive Budget Manager
PS - are we able to see some close up's of the wheels please?

[servodude]

These are 36 spoke and most of the modern ones I have are 32 or fewer.

In answer to AiY's earlier question, the donor bike has a good frame and wheels, I think it is a 501 rather than 531 though but the brakes, gears and shifters are definitely bargain basement compared to the Super Galaxy. Much more worth as a complete bike, it would be a solid station or pub bike for someone for £25.

John

I'm watching you . I think there may be some budget tinkering going on here. I may have to tip you upside down and empty your pockets Way too much smoke and mirrors with this trading of bikes

It's a shame the gears aren't of any use, but as you say as a complete bike it's a bargain and you're trading your way to obtaining parts at profit, not cost. I find that part about the thread far more entertaining than having to Google shimmy swimmy gears every five minutes (my badness )

Thank you

Take care

AiY(D)
Senior Executive Budget Manager
PS - are we able to see some close up's of the wheels please?

I wouldn't be surprised if you could get more for a 80's Reynolds 501 frame "stripped of all the bits you're not going to use" on it's own - rather than as part of a bike from back then

I certainly turned one in to a very capable commuting bike a good while ago
while 531 was better, 501 had its place (the rustic country cousin with it's seams and whatnot)
- designed to be easier and cheaper to work with, a fraction heavier as a result
- not that that mattered on a commuting bike or tourer (before Strava anyway )

Horses for courses

-sd

[redsturgeon]

Your wish is my command.
Not properly cleaned yet, just a quick wash down before I spent five minutes truing them up, all the spoke nipples turned freely. The wheels spin nicely too and bearings seem fine but I will strip and re-grease them. They are the same Sachs-Maillard hubs and Belgian Alesa alloy rims as the originals but much nicer condition. The bike gods are smiling!





SD may have a point regarding the selling of the frame but in my experience around here frames tend to go very cheaply.

John

[redsturgeon]

All this talk of Galaxy frames has inspired me to look at renovating my old Dawes bike. It is a Dawes Mean Street, basically a Galaxy frame (531 tubing) fitted with hybrid components. From memory I think I paid about £475 for it, not cheap at the time. Quite nice components, Shimano Biopace gears etc. I bought it around 1990, used it for about 20 years and then bought a Marin aluminium framed bike. I have gone back to using the Dawes in the last couple of years as I find it much more pleasant to ride, it just feels right as opposed to the Marin which feels more unstable.

It now needs a complete overhaul, all the gears and chain are very worn, the middle gear on the front is so worn as to be dangerous, I have just been using the high gear only for my trips into town. The rest of the bike seems generally ok. I will probably get it renovated professionally, don't really feel up to doing it myself.

The Biopace gears are long obsolete, so I guess I will have to get an alternative fitted. Any tips on what I should ask for? I will just be using the bike for local journeys of a couple of miles, with the occasional foray into the countryside, about all my 74-year-old knees are up to, definitely not club or touring use.

Go for it! But don't be too shocked at the price of new shiny bits and the cost of a professional to fit them. Yes, the Biopace are obsolete so you would need to replace the rings with normal round ones but that should not be an issue or you could just get a new crankset with rings. You will also need a new chain and cassette too.

Worth getting a quote, but unfortunately sometimes the cost is prohibitive which is why I find many similar bikes come on the market. I can fix them cheaply with my stock of second hand parts but new parts are often worth more than the bike. Sad but true.

John

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Your wish is my command.
Not properly cleaned yet, just a quick wash down before I spent five minutes truing them up, all the spoke nipples turned freely. The wheels spin nicely too and bearings seem fine but I will strip and re-grease them. They are the same Sachs-Maillard hubs and Belgian Alesa alloy rims as the originals but much nicer condition. The bike gods are smiling!





SD may have a point regarding the selling of the frame but in my experience around here frames tend to go very cheaply.

John

They look in good nick. Thank you for putting the picks up. Reminds me of my very younger days when I would spend hot summer days riding my bike as a teenager. As well as riding to school I also used to spend long days riding the country roads of East Yorkshire too.

AiY(D)

[BigB]

I wouldn't be surprised if you could get more for a 80's Reynolds 501 frame "stripped of all the bits you're not going to use" on it's own - rather than as part of a bike from back then

I certainly turned one in to a very capable commuting bike a good while ago
while 531 was better, 501 had its place (the rustic country cousin with it's seams and whatnot)
- designed to be easier and cheaper to work with, a fraction heavier as a result
- not that that mattered on a commuting bike or tourer (before Strava anyway )

Horses for courses

-sd

I recently donated an old Falcon 12 speed road bike from the early 90s to a friend to use in his garage on the turbo. It had a Reynolds 501 frame, in pretty good nick. Having chatted to a couple of bikeys, I was advised the Reynolds 501 held no real allure for a hipster build or anything similar, and I needed the space for newer replacements.

Until fairly recently I had enjoyed the ride quality of the steel frame, and used it as the nudge to want a titanium bike.

[scotia]

Any tips on what I should ask for? I will just be using the bike for local journeys of a couple of miles, with the occasional foray into the countryside, about all my 74-year-old knees are up to, definitely not club or touring use.

I think you should ask for a new bike with an electric motor (as I did at your age)

[redsturgeon]

Despite the silence, things are happening on the bike rebuild front. As I said, I am not hurrying but I have been doing things most days.

Lots of cleaning and polishing has been going on, as well as sourcing of tricky to find parts. It is only the odd small part that I need to replace but those can be the hardest to find.

At the moment it looks like this



a lot of time had to be spent on trimming and filing back the powder coat where the masking as not quite spot on. So on the brake bosses and the downtube shifter bosses took an hour or two to file off powder coat that was preventing a proper fit.

I think the shifters look great now all shiny against the red. Not sure they will be as easy to use as the modern "brifters" through.



As an example of why things take a long time, although I can strip down a frame in less than 30 minutes if all goes well, this will leave the following components:
1 bare frame
2 wheels
Crankset with pedals
Rear derailleur
Front derailleur
Brakes
Handlebars with brake levers
Shifters
Cables
Chain
Seat
(plus anything I may have missed)

However many of those components can be further stripped down if necessary, eg. wheels can be further reduced to rims, spokes, tyres, tubes, hubs, bearings, freewheel, axles, cones and wheel nuts.

I have resolved to only strip as far a necessary but sometimes what is necessary has proved more than a thought. I cleaned the rear derailleur just removing the jockey wheels and it had been working fine so I thought that would be OK. However on trying to bolt it back on the frame the bolt had seized so I decided to go for the full stripdown and lube.

This is what a rear derailleur looks like in pieces.



As you can see this may take some time but today I am awaiting the final parts from SJS cycles so I should have everything I need for the final assembly

John

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Wow.

What you're describing regarding what you anticipate you have to take apart and what you actually have to take apart is very similar to refurbishment works in the building industry.

The photograph of the derailer in pieces certainly shows the complexity of what looks like a simple mechanism when it's on a bike.

And as we all know when you put it back together there will be pieces left over

AiY(D)

[redsturgeon]

I put the Galaxy together over the weekend. It all went pretty smoothly, I did not protect the paintwork in the end because the powder coating is really, really tough. How do I know that? When I peeled off the masking tape from the brake bosses they were well painted in red powder coat, I tried bending and folding the tape to get that coating to peel or crack and it would not come off or crack off the tape. I also had to file away some of the over-spray, I had thought I would just be able to scrape it with a stanley blade, but no, I needed to file the stuff away, it was both tough and well bonded to the frame. I am very happy with that.

Everything went together very well except for a couple of things. The new headset is a shade taller in stack height than the old one which means that the brake stay for the front brake does not fit on the stack, so I need an alternative that I have ordered, it should be here in a couple of days along with the new brake cables I ordered.

So apart from the brakes, the bike is fully assembled, although Uncle E won't be happy since I have not put on the rack or mudguards yet. I will be riding the bike locally first to test it out without those fitted...it just makes life easier for making minor adjustments and taking off wheels etc.

Pictures soon.

John

[redsturgeon]

[servodude]

bike porn

What's that chain ring set up? Looks like a jump to the wee one

[redsturgeon]

bike porn

What's that chain ring set up? Looks like a jump to the wee one

Any non bike nerds can check out now.

Well spotted Servo.

The bike came with this really weird set up. As you can see these are Shimano Biopace chainrings which were all the rage for a few years from the mid 80s to the early 90s. I have them on some of my 80s/90s mountain bikes and I quite like them.

The set up is 50/44/28 which as you say is really odd. I am looking for a 40 or 38 tooth to replace the 44 but these things are like hens teeth in good nick.

Thinking about it I may be able to borrow one from one of the other bikes!

John

[Dod101]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

[redsturgeon]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

Two separate things to discuss here. Well possibly three.

First wheelbase.

Road bikes tend to have a shorter wheelbase than mountain bikes and this does decrease stability but also you could say it sharpens the handling. The Galaxy however is a touring bike and these tend to have a longer wheelbase than road (or racing) bikes this gives more stability and gives more room to add panniers as the chain stays can be longer.

Second, stem length.

That horizontal extension is called the stem. Again a longer stem length slows down the steering and make for a more relaxed ride. Modern mountain bikes tend to have very short stems which speeds up the steering but to compensate you need wider handlebars. Wth narrower handlebars found on road bikes (for aerodynamic efficiency) you need a longer stem to maintain control.

That is the very basic explanation but there are others things such a steering tube rake and offset that also affect things.

Finally that shot was taken on my iphone that has a very wide angle lens so things are not necessarily in the correct proportion.

Here is a shot taken at a longer focal length.



EDIT

Here are the number if you want them
https://geometrygeeks.bike/bike/dawes-s ... laxy-1982/

[UncleEbenezer]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

I don't see what you're talking about at all there: it looks pretty bog-standard to me - at least for a frame from the era before the gear shifts migrated to the handlebars. Has the picture changed since you posted that?

The chainrings do look slightly odd. Would the bike originally have had a triple, or just two?

[servodude]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

I don't see what you're talking about at all there: it looks pretty bog-standard to me - at least for a frame from the era before the gear shifts migrated to the handlebars. Has the picture changed since you posted that?

The chainrings do look slightly odd. Would the bike originally have had a triple, or just two?

I've just had a mental image of Dod on a chopper

[redsturgeon]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

I don't see what you're talking about at all there: it looks pretty bog-standard to me - at least for a frame from the era before the gear shifts migrated to the handlebars. Has the picture changed since you posted that?

The chainrings do look slightly odd. Would the bike originally have had a triple, or just two?

From what I can tell it originally has the three rings. The front shifter is friction rather than index so it can deal with either but the spacing are odd. The rear shifter can switch between fraction and index so I can go to as many speeds as I like on the rear (given availability of parts).

[Dod101]

I do not understand why the top horizontal rail is so short that you need to have a horizontal extension to push the handlebars further forward. Obviously that explains why the whole bike looks foreshortened to me and the result is that the wheels are very close together. Does that affect stability?

As you can gather I am being totally non technical. It looks very smart though.

Dod

Two separate things to discuss here. Well possibly three.

First wheelbase.

Road bikes tend to have a shorter wheelbase than mountain bikes and this does decrease stability but also you could say it sharpens the handling. The Galaxy however is a touring bike and these tend to have a longer wheelbase than road (or racing) bikes this gives more stability and gives more room to add panniers as the chain stays can be longer.

Second, stem length.

That horizontal extension is called the stem. Again a longer stem length slows down the steering and make for a more relaxed ride. Modern mountain bikes tend to have very short stems which speeds up the steering but to compensate you need wider handlebars. Wth narrower handlebars found on road bikes (for aerodynamic efficiency) you need a longer stem to maintain control.

That is the very basic explanation but there are others things such a steering tube rake and offset that also affect things.

Finally that shot was taken on my iphone that has a very wide angle lens so things are not necessarily in the correct proportion.

Here is a shot taken at a longer focal length.



EDIT

Here are the number if you want them
https://geometrygeeks.bike/bike/dawes-s ... laxy-1982/

Thanks for taking the trouble to explain all that to me. Wheel base is the expression I was looking for and yas it looks a bit longer in the second photo. I can see or at least understand the effect of the stem now that you mention it. Such a lot of it is the geometry or the effets of geometry. Very interesting.

Dod