Project Bike #4 - Dawes Galaxy

[zzpza]

Previous projects:

Project Bike #3 - Paul Milnes
Project Bike #2 - Raleigh Sensor
Project Bike #1 - Apollo Equipe
Project Bike #0 - Peugeot

This was in a friends garage when he bought the house. Instead of throwing it away, I took it home.


After a good clean by zzpza, on Flickr

It's made from 531ST tubing, has a nice leather saddle and a Stronglight drillium crankset.


Stronglight Drillium Chainrings by zzpza, on Flickr

But, all the brightwork is heavily tarnished and the frame's rusting is several places. Thankfully it's all surface corrosion only.


More Rust by zzpza, on Flickr

So, I decided to give the frame a new coat of paint and rebuilt it.

Fist, I stripped the frame down.


Ready For Prep by zzpza, on Flickr

And took the crankset apart.


Need Cleaning by zzpza, on Flickr

The frame got a coat of Kurust and then acid etch primer.


Acid Etch Primer by zzpza, on Flickr

Before colour started to go back on.


1st Colour Coat by zzpza, on Flickr

I was going to go with flat bars and trigger shifters.


Reusable Parts + New Brakes and Headset by zzpza, on Flickr

Then I found an old set of Shimano 600 down tube shifters in the shed I had forgotten about. Shortly followed by a set of ally drop bars.

The saddle is a Wrights W3N. Any good? It seems pretty hard. I've never had a leather saddle before. I've since put some leather feed on it I use on the car seats.


Wrights W3N Saddle by zzpza, on Flickr

Fairly nice finish, I wanted to get the painting done as soon as possible as it was rapidly starting to get cold and wet - not good weather to be painting in.


2nd Coat by zzpza, on Flickr

I did a quick polish on the centre of the ally bars - just the bit that will show between the bar tape!


Polished Bars by zzpza, on Flickr

I did a bit of a 1200 grit 'polish' on the stem as it looked pretty bad. I'll do a proper polish at a later date.


Stem Cleaned by zzpza, on Flickr

This is after 2 coats of lacquer, a T-Cut and wax.


After Lacquer by zzpza, on Flickr

Fork and new headset fitted.


Fork Fitted by zzpza, on Flickr

Seat post, saddle, bottom bracket, shifters, bottle cage and stem fitted...


Saddle and Bottom Bracket by zzpza, on Flickr

Bars and levers (aero and cross top) fitted.


Progressing Nicely by zzpza, on Flickr

Getting ready to put the bar tape on.


Prep for Bar Tape by zzpza, on Flickr

Bar tape and brake cables fitted.


Bar Tape Done by zzpza, on Flickr

Just waiting for a rear mech, 8 speed cassette, chain and gear cables.

Any idea how old the bike is? It came with single pivot side pull brakes, 27" wheels, old style bottom bracket (i.e. not sealed), but no cotter pins. The head tube has "72" stamped in it, but it's too new to be 1972.

 

[wheres_my_beard]

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLeOSOe4GmQ

 

[PpPete]

Looks like a fantastic job !

As for age - not sure when they officially launched 531ST as a tube set, but I think that will give you an earliest date.
All I can tell you for certain is that it is pre-1987, because by that time they were putting on 700c wheels and the wide cantilever brakes (that are now known as cyclo-cross or frogg-leg style)

 

[zzpza]

Cheers for the info and support, always nice

From the font of the Dawes logo it does seem to be early 1980's. I'm still trying to track down a catalogue showing the same model, colour, logo and options to nail down the year.

The good news if that I have finished the bike. Some more progress photos first.

A close up of the Stronglight crankset. The drillium chainrings look good.

Stronglight Drillium by zzpza, on Flickr

The cable guide is a push fit one, so I had to reuse the original and be careful replacing it without damaging it.

Cable Guide by zzpza, on Flickr

With the frame being designed for 27" brakes I had a lot of drop to cover.

Extra Long Drop by zzpza, on Flickr

The drive train is all Shimano. I used Shimano 600 Ultegra Tricolor (6400) down tube shifters, rear mech and front mech. The cassette is a Shimano HG50 8 speed.

Drive Train by zzpza, on Flickr

Including the heavy leather saddle, pump, full set of lights and the bottle cage the bike comes in at 11.5 KG.

11.5 KG by zzpza, on Flickr

The finished bike:


Non Drive Side by zzpza, on Flickr


Drive Side by zzpza, on Flickr


Finished by zzpza, on Flickr

I'm pretty pleased with it.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Any idea how old the bike is? It came with single pivot side pull brakes, 27" wheels, old style bottom bracket (i.e. not sealed), but no cotter pins. The head tube has "72" stamped in it, but it's too new to be 1972.

Brilliant job!

It has to be around 85, based on what Pete said above and the 82 below (which still had band-on shifters).

 

[Scilly Suffolk]

What a fantastic job: chapeau!

I really like the chainset, absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Alembicbassman]

You should still be able to get a set of Dawes Galaxy decals including the Reynolds 531 Renovated stickers. My LBS restores old framesets and can get most decals.

Do the bars feel OK without the recessed cable guide? I guess the cross top levers can't be used with original type brake levers.

Of course, being a Galaxy it needs a rack and mudguards.

 

[Arjimlad]

Truly a thing of beauty !

 

[zzpza]

Thanks for the kind words.

The bars feel fine even without the cable recess. I've got some nice Fizik bar tape that is quite thick so it covers the cable easily. You probably could use the cross tops with the original levers, but the cable routing would look a little weird.

I've found the same decals as the original ones on eBay, but they are a bit pricey! I might leave it bare. Having had 2 bikes stolen recently I would prefer not to advertise the tubing!

 

[HovR]

Really great job! Well done! Glad to see you put some drops on - The bike just didn't seem right to me with flat(ish) bars.

Also, your second set of pictures made me realize that I could fit a second rear light to the seat tube of my Dawes Echelon, and it will still be visible between the seat stays. Never thought of that before - Thanks!

 

[frank9755]

Well done on a loving restoration!

It's definitely early-80s, because I have one that is very similar.

I got it second hand (£35 about three years ago) and was told 'early-80s' by the seller. I would guess 1983 but could be a couple either side. Mine's the same colour as yours was, has the same chainset (but not the rings - mine did a lot of miles so went through a few rings), and even the same rack. I was interested to see that yours has just the one set of bottle bosses, as mine does. I'd often thought that odd on a tourer.

I considered a respray but I love the midnight blue colour and its aged patina so I have kept it, surface rust and all. Mine was 6-speed but I cold set it to 130mm, upgraded it to 7-speed and fitted a set of RSX STIs which I got for very little.

I use it as my local errands bike, for commuting when I am going to have to leave it locked up on the street and for social rides when I'm not in a hurry. It copes fine with 30kg of groceries and I used it on FNRttC last weekend.

Mine has the original canti brakes which work well (better than on my modern Super Galaxy, in fact) and accommodate 700c wheels no problem.

If you would allow me to criticise one thing about your restoration it would be painting the forks black. I associate that with modern, carbon forks. I'm not aware of it having been done in those days, when forks were either frame colour or chrome tipped, so it just kind of jars for me. But it's your bike, and I hope you get a lot of pleasure from it!

 

[Doug.]

Well done.

 

[uphillstruggler]

that is outstanding

i hope you get loads of miles out of it.

well done

 

[Garz]

Impressed to say the least!

 

[Chris-H]

Just the motivation i needed to do an 80's resto myself,stunning bike mate you really have done well and i love the location of the rear light,never in a million years would i have thought of that,frees up space on the seat post,just whats needed on the wifes bike