I'm very late coming to this thread. I was in SPain when Lenton started it and since coming back I've been busy with the end of year accounts for my company but I'd like to add a couple of things.
First off, I think Lenton has done a great job on the build. I like the modern look of the Shimano cranks and the purposeful look of the large tyres.
As many people here know, I ride a 1979 Atlantis, the bike that got me into bikes in the first place. My monicker here is in recognition of that. My Atlantis, at 58cm, is a bit small for me. The frame that Lenton has built on for his friend is one I bought in the UK on eBay in the belief it was bigger than mine. The seller was mistaken and it is actually smaller but it was several month after buying it that I got to England to see it and rather late to do anything about it.
It was pretty rough so I decided to have it painted by Argos as I was interested to know how well they would match the colours and get the fade. I think they've done very well except the tone is slightly lighter than the original. As Lenton has mentioned, I wasn't precise enough regarding what I wanted doing, wrongly taking for granted they would check alignment and threads. The only regret I have about the painting is that they were unable to reproduce the Made In England sticker at the bottom of the seat tube or source originals. It is printed on a chrome background and was sported by all Dawes machines of the period:
[IMG]
IMG_7436.JPG by
Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]
I'm surprised my old friend Auchencrow finds the ride "pretty aggressive" as I find it just positive and stable, as well as very comfortable due to the give in the Reynolds 531 frame, but I'm not sure what he is comparing it to. My Trek 730 is much sharper and almost 'twitchy' in comparison. I do agree with him on the rarity of the Atlantis. The touring Galaxy is far more common. In the last 8 years or so I've only seen 4 or 5 on eBay and I've bought 2 of those. You do sometimes see a Dawes Lightning described as an Atlantis as the colour scheme is identical but the former is heavier, made from Reynolds 501, and has steel rims.
I think the Atlantis is a very nice bike and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them to anyone. Unfortunately, they are very hard to find. This is the spec from the Dawes catalogue of 1979, which I found on
Mark Bulger's excellent website:
[IMG]
06_racing_specs by
Dawes-man, on Flickr[/IMG]