hatherton_wood
Active Member
Anybody know anything about this model? Looks like early 1970's. Shimano 333 three speed hub. What surprised me was how light the frame is - yet does not say what it is.
Dawes Flair 3 speed
- Thread starter hatherton_wood
- Start date
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Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Looks in amazing condition considering the age. Did you have to do much to it?
hatherton_wood
Active Member
No - just had to clean up the chrome on the wheels a little. Pedals were missing - put some cheap ones on for now. Otherwise don't think it has been used much at all.
This catalogue has it http://veterancycleclublibrary.org.uk/ncl/pics/Dawes catalogue 1975 (V-CC Library).pdf . The one pictured has the Huret 5 speed option but the specs at the bottom say it also comes with the internal 3 speed. Not much in the way of helpful information unfortunately.
Measure the seatpost if you can. My Dawes Fox is made of something odd, which may or may not be called Supertube, and its seatpost is 26.2mm IIRC.
Measure the seatpost if you can. My Dawes Fox is made of something odd, which may or may not be called Supertube, and its seatpost is 26.2mm IIRC.
biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
looks nice and clean
hatherton_wood
Active Member
Yes its 26.2 seat post - I wonder what it is? Its lighter than my Claud Bulter 531 frame. its certainly the lightest 3 speed I have come across and flys with its 27 x 1-1/4 wheels. Might treat it to a Brooks saddle... might be worth it!
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
That's an excellent roadster!! Nicely retro.
*approves*
*approves*
According to this article http://www.classicrendezvous.com/British_isles/Dawes_main.htm it could be something called Mazzucato tubing.
hatherton_wood
Active Member
Interesting - I did not think it was cheap tubing. Be interesting to see how the Shimano 333 hub holds up - the gear changing is quite positive. Its interesting to try this compared to the Sturmey AW I am so used to.
DawesFlair
Member
Very nice example.
Got one of these new as a teenager in 1976. Not a cheap bike back in the day - a fair bit dearer than a Raleigh.
From the short head tube the one in the picture must be the 21" frame like mine.
I remember this catalogue very well also.
Flair came highly recommended by a friend of parents who was a bicycle mechanic.
Unfortunately I had a bit of a prang and bent the frame, which was replaced, but with a 5 speed frame, meaning the chain guard had to be changed as the 3 speed one required welded on brackets on the frame which would have been hard to replicate on the new frame.
Thought I might fully upgrade to 5 speed one day (from the catalogue you will see there was a 5 speed option).
Still got the bike, it's still a 3 speed.
Not in use right now, tyres are perished. Bike is still pretty decent other than that.
Shimano 3 speed nice to use and trouble free.
Got one of these new as a teenager in 1976. Not a cheap bike back in the day - a fair bit dearer than a Raleigh.
From the short head tube the one in the picture must be the 21" frame like mine.
I remember this catalogue very well also.
Flair came highly recommended by a friend of parents who was a bicycle mechanic.
Unfortunately I had a bit of a prang and bent the frame, which was replaced, but with a 5 speed frame, meaning the chain guard had to be changed as the 3 speed one required welded on brackets on the frame which would have been hard to replicate on the new frame.
Thought I might fully upgrade to 5 speed one day (from the catalogue you will see there was a 5 speed option).
Still got the bike, it's still a 3 speed.
Not in use right now, tyres are perished. Bike is still pretty decent other than that.
Shimano 3 speed nice to use and trouble free.
raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
Nice 
DawesFlair
Member
Update:
New inner tubes, chain oiled, brakes and gear selector mechanism checked and freed up, (didn't really need anything as weren't really sticking).
Up and running again.
Not quite as nice as the one that started the thread - but a lot of history for me.
Youngest son now a classic bike enthusiast - and it fits him. (not entirely decided if this is a good thing)
For a bike with SENSIBLE stamped all over it it's still good fun.
New inner tubes, chain oiled, brakes and gear selector mechanism checked and freed up, (didn't really need anything as weren't really sticking).
Up and running again.
Not quite as nice as the one that started the thread - but a lot of history for me.
Youngest son now a classic bike enthusiast - and it fits him. (not entirely decided if this is a good thing)
For a bike with SENSIBLE stamped all over it it's still good fun.
Chris S
Legendary Member
- Location
- Birmingham
It probably won't:
"The 333 hub was much more complicated internally than the Sturmey-Archer AW. The diameter of the hub was smaller, and so stresses on the internal parts were higher. The metallurgy of Japanese steel at that time was not up to the standards of British steelmaking, so the parts were weaker. Japanese cyclists were (and still are) lighter, on average, than Americans.
The combination of design and metallurgy of the Shimano 333 hub was probably adequate for the needs of the Japanese market, but when sold in the U.S., the hub acquired a reputation for unreliability.
...
When an older Shimano 3-speed hub fails, it is most often because one of the under-engineered pawls has shattered. The hub may still work after a fashion, so the rider continues to use it until the broken fragments of the pawls have gone on to destroy the gears and other parts, making the hub basically irreparable."
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/shimano333.html
