Angelfishsolo
A Velocipedian
- Location
- Cwmbach, South Wales
Have a chat to a local 'back street' mechanic. They may be able to braze some connections in place.
roundisland said:
Whats the diffrence between My £40.00 Ebay Dawes Hybrid and a Dawes Galaxy
- Thread starter roundisland
- Start date
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Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
roundisland said:
There is always a way round stuff - it just depends how keen a bodger you are. I'm sure a front rack could be attached with P-clips or the like. The key thing is to make sure it's all very secure, you don't want anything working loose and getting into your front wheel at any kind of speed. If you bodge something, you'd probably want to keep the weight low on the front rack, for safety.
My late boyfriend was a supreme mackler - nothing was insurmountable, if you didn't mind the odd rough looking fix. He used to delight in finding apparently incompatible drivechain components that could be made to work together...
But as I said, if you learn to travel light, you might even do without a front rack - big rear panniers, stuff bungied to the top of the rear rack, and a big handlebar bag.
Arch
Married to Night Train
- Location
- Salford, UK
Angelfishsolo said:
That is the other option! My boss has brazed all sorts of bosses to his old bike, which acts as a test bed for components to be reviewed in the mag.
PpPete
Legendary Member
- Location
- Chandler's Ford
Retro MTB like that is a great "jack-of-all-trades" - but of course master of none. I even saw one being used in a triathlon (not of course very competitively!)
I wouldnt go to a bike shop with it.... it will likely cost you another £40 as a minimum, and you may not get much improvement. Learn to do your own maintenance....use Sheldon Brown & BicycleTutor. Ask on here if you get stuck. You'll probably spend at least that £40 on tools but at you'll have them a long time.
As for potential upgrades...
Is the frame steel or aluminium ?
Can you measure the rear drop out ? Like this.
These are things that may limit your choices on upgrading the gears/wheels.
I wouldnt go to a bike shop with it.... it will likely cost you another £40 as a minimum, and you may not get much improvement. Learn to do your own maintenance....use Sheldon Brown & BicycleTutor. Ask on here if you get stuck. You'll probably spend at least that £40 on tools but at you'll have them a long time.
As for potential upgrades...
Is the frame steel or aluminium ?
Can you measure the rear drop out ? Like this.
These are things that may limit your choices on upgrading the gears/wheels.
Angelfishsolo
A Velocipedian
- Location
- Cwmbach, South Wales
I would have thought that would contravene various human rights laws. Then again if they were bosses 
Arch said:
OP
OP
roundisland
Guru
- Location
- Worcestershire
Lots of options to think about, I will give it all some thought at work tonight. Thanks again for all the advices so far.
As someone returning to cycling a bit like you (although much older, and possibly greener), I DID find the local bike shop very useful, and still do. Not a big flashy bike shop, but one just about surviving through love of the machine and loyal customers. Mine charges nothing for advice. Most towns have one like that!
The tyres made at least 20% difference in terms of hills and general effort. My gears, too, were clunky. A good lubricating for the chain, plus £10 at the bike shop getting him to reset all the fiddly little settings, made loads of difference.
A.
The tyres made at least 20% difference in terms of hills and general effort. My gears, too, were clunky. A good lubricating for the chain, plus £10 at the bike shop getting him to reset all the fiddly little settings, made loads of difference.
A.
OP
OP
roundisland
Guru
- Location
- Worcestershire
allen-uk said:
I'm as green as they come regarding cycling
The other things you mention are deffinatley going to be the first things I do to try to improve the performance a little.It's a hybrid, not a mountain bike. It has 700c wheels.
You could do a lot worse for touring and general riding, but the quality is not as good.
The Galaxy is made of Reynolds 531st tubing which was designed specifically for touring bikes, although more recent models have been made in Reynolds 853 which is stronger and lighter again. It's as light as you can make a frame that can cope with touring loads, it has braze ons for racks front and rear, and the geometry is for stability at high speeds while loaded up with luggage and comfort for tired, distance riders. Your bike is probably made of plain guage high-tensile steel, which is heavier.
The wheels are stronger, made with tougher, eyeletted rims and cassette hubs. Yours will be most likely to have a freewheel hub, which is a weaker technology.
Yours is OK! People have gone around the world with less. But a Galaxy is a stronger, better designed and faster machine that will need fewer repairs and be more efficient, hence it justifies its price.
You could do a lot worse for touring and general riding, but the quality is not as good.
The Galaxy is made of Reynolds 531st tubing which was designed specifically for touring bikes, although more recent models have been made in Reynolds 853 which is stronger and lighter again. It's as light as you can make a frame that can cope with touring loads, it has braze ons for racks front and rear, and the geometry is for stability at high speeds while loaded up with luggage and comfort for tired, distance riders. Your bike is probably made of plain guage high-tensile steel, which is heavier.
The wheels are stronger, made with tougher, eyeletted rims and cassette hubs. Yours will be most likely to have a freewheel hub, which is a weaker technology.
Yours is OK! People have gone around the world with less. But a Galaxy is a stronger, better designed and faster machine that will need fewer repairs and be more efficient, hence it justifies its price.
Black Sheep
Guru
- Location
- Rammy
allen-uk said:
there was a bike shop in my town that charged to speak to a mechanic instead of sales staff (who'd book in for service and parts replacement)
they went out of business quickly!
I'm a Dawes lover. I have an Ultra Galaxy. Brilliant bike. My "old" bike for which I use as a "winter hack" nowadays is a GT Nomad Sport. Also a cracking bike, but the Galaxy is so much nicer to ride. It feels more responsive and is certainly a lot faster.
As others have said, check out the LBS and take a few touring bikes for a spin. Alternatively see if ebay is your friend, you may be able to pick up a Galaxy cheap there.
As others have said, check out the LBS and take a few touring bikes for a spin. Alternatively see if ebay is your friend, you may be able to pick up a Galaxy cheap there.
OP
OP
roundisland
Guru
- Location
- Worcestershire
roops70 said:I have just seen a similar bike on ebay - nice looking.
What model is it besides Dawes Hybrid? For instance what kind of Shimano gears does it have, and brakes?
And what conclusions have you come to about it? Would you recommend it?
Thanks
At work at the moment will check the bike out for more details when I get home 24hr shift so it will be a while
