Guess what's coming?
- Thread starter netman
- Start date
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Spiderweb
Not So Special One
- Location
- North Yorkshire
Wow you don’t usually get 80+ year old bikes in that condition, looks fabulous!
The handlebars May be the ‘Swan Neck’ option, as per the original advert, so maybe the right way round?
Edit - swan neck may refer to the stem?
The handlebars May be the ‘Swan Neck’ option, as per the original advert, so maybe the right way round?
Edit - swan neck may refer to the stem?
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OP
OP
netman
Veteran
Thanks, yeah couldn't resist when I saw it... I think they've just been flipped as someone got older and didn't want the reach... the grips appear to be the original shockstop too!!
southcoast
Über Member
It does look very good for its age. Much older than any Dawes I’ve owned! Perhaps I’ll spot it on the prom one day. Lol
OP
OP
netman
Veteran
Maybe, but all that sand tho...! More likely to be seen pottering around the New Forest, deliberately slowing down a chaingang from the local cycle club!!
From the original picture it looks like the bars have been flipped. it has at some point had a front brake added as the original spec only has a rear brake. Lovely bike though.
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biggs682
Touch it up and ride it
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Nice find
OP
OP
netman
Veteran
It's about £395... so relatively a lot cheaper than a Pashley now! Best £70 I've spent in a long while though!
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
It looks great. Even the original enamel is in great shape. The celluloid guards are a mess, but that's to be expected, fragile as they are. Wonderful find.
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
[QUOTE,="netman"] The 89 year old owner was amazed that I said I intend to ride it!
Comes with it's original receipt too...
I'm super pleased with it - will turn the bars the right way round, sort out the tyres (the front is a Dunlop Sport, so could even be original!) and tubes and ride off into the sunset![/QUOTE]
I wonder what the old boy thought you were going to do with it then, if not ride it? Unless that 89 year old owner was very big for his age as a child, I cant imagine him actually being the original owner of an 84 year old bike!
Presumably he inherited it from his dad or some older family member, given the fact the original receipt has survived.
Things like this do give a fascinating insight into the past though, when you start to consider what the average wage for a working man was then, and the relative price of a small car, pint of beer, family house etc. That bike is actually a year older than my 3-bed house, which would have originally cost around £500 when built . I'd love to be able to buy a freehold house for the price of 89 bikes these days!
Comes with it's original receipt too...
I'm super pleased with it - will turn the bars the right way round, sort out the tyres (the front is a Dunlop Sport, so could even be original!) and tubes and ride off into the sunset![/QUOTE]
I wonder what the old boy thought you were going to do with it then, if not ride it? Unless that 89 year old owner was very big for his age as a child, I cant imagine him actually being the original owner of an 84 year old bike!
Presumably he inherited it from his dad or some older family member, given the fact the original receipt has survived.Things like this do give a fascinating insight into the past though, when you start to consider what the average wage for a working man was then, and the relative price of a small car, pint of beer, family house etc. That bike is actually a year older than my 3-bed house, which would have originally cost around £500 when built . I'd love to be able to buy a freehold house for the price of 89 bikes these days!
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OP
OP
netman
Veteran
I wonder what the old boy thought you were going to do with it then, if not ride it? Unless that 89 year old owner was very big for his age as a child, I cant imagine him actually being the original owner of an 84 year old bike!
Things like this do give a fascinating insight into the past though, when you start to consider what the average wage for a working man was then, and the relative price of a small car, pint of beer, family house etc. That bike is actually a year older than my 3-bed house, which would have originally cost around £500 when built . I'd love to be able to buy a freehold house for the price of 89 bikes these days!
He was given it by an old lady after her husband passed away some years ago, and has taken it to a few shows he said. He had ridden it, but only 'down the shops a few times'! I think he thought it would end up in a museum! Lovely chap though - he had a nice MGB GT in his garage as well, but I resisted the urge to ask if that was for sale too!
SkipdiverJohn
Deplorable Brexiteer
- Location
- London
The best way of keeping old technology alive is to use it and keep it still relevant to modern life. That goes for vintage bikes, motorbikes, cars, electronics, machine tools - whatever. I'm sure the original owner would be pleased that his bike was still appreciated over 80 years later. Proper Dawes bikes were high class machines in their day and would have been saved up for purchases, not casual ones..
OP
OP
netman
Veteran
So, had a closer look now... the Williams chainset is date stamped 49 and the SA Hub is 64, so it's had some changes over the years. The front hub is a BSA and the pump is a Bluemel Coventry stamped 'Dickman Cycle Agents'. Given it's not as original as I thought it may be, I think ride as is and (maybe) try to find more original parts for it as I go along? New tyres and tubes and brake cables on the way. Just need to order a pump adapter, as the one in it is shot, and some brake pads - Fibrax 245 are on it currently.
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