Classic & Vintage - Dawes Galaxy Logo Dating

Anyone have any knowledge about dialing-in the dates for this different Dawes Galaxy logo font? I have not been able to find another logo with this style font.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-IFQfteaMeRI/TyrwJPP_rQI/AAAAAAAAAKo/LVo2lhhMQ8A/s372/Dawes%2520detail.jpg

I've never seen that logo before. Are you sure it's original? If you have a photo of the head badge it would give you a better idea of the period.

I've never seen that logo before. Are you sure it's original? If you have a photo of the head badge it would give you a better idea of the period.

Thanks, Dawes-man. Here is the Head-badge.
I'm don't know if it's original, but seller say's it's all original.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DWOM9M9gZiw/TywY40lpoGI/AAAAAAAAALM/JHxrFLo6NY4/s539/KSL-Dawes%2520bike-Head02.jpg

Okay, that was a short lived badge from the late 60s, early 70s, I think. I have the badge transitions written down somewhere...

I'm pretty certain that the torch badge was discontinued in '76 after the factory burnt down.
Sort of funny, that.


this.

99% sure those are not OG decals. that galaxy's original paint job was pretty awful, so they probably did you a favor in a repaint (if it's been repainted).

Well, I wish there was better info on these online. I bought the bike.
I'm told by the grandson of the original owner, it was bought in 1972. He found it bubble-wrapped in the barn and nobody else in his family wanted it after the grandfather past-away.
I really didn't need to buy another bike and only went to look at it, but it is in amazing condition and looks all original and so had to buy it.
I will post some pictures of the "as found" condition as soon as i get it out of the truck.

there's a dawes group on flickr you might want to probe as well.

Thanks illwafer, I should have remembered to look on flickr. I did see one bike with the same logo style as mine . . . I think.
Here's some pics. I'll have to put together a list of the components. I wonder if the wheels are original, as the rims, hubs and skewers are all different. ???

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-oCw61X435w4/Tyxt89t3u5I/AAAAAAAAANA/7b3wrRlmue8/s800/w_1792.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-dTltNVwJtBU/Tyxt-d0yjLI/AAAAAAAAANA/C3WnHjiLlLc/s800/w_1794.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ywFKu8Gq0sk/TyxuAVuKrVI/AAAAAAAAANA/G4WbYCIZrXQ/s800/w_1798.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-crRg2Q7OoMc/TyxtmmvombI/AAAAAAAAANA/wznANK1gY74/s800/w_1804.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4SP_7eqZ9N4/TyxuCg-1mZI/AAAAAAAAANA/dmdK4O5VKKI/s576/w_1796.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Y2sijOgutFk/TyxuMPL8I_I/AAAAAAAAANA/adii__5BROk/s800/w_1795.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-024lKNDqCDg/TyxtvseJOoI/AAAAAAAAANA/lN_MAD726Rg/s800/w_1793.jpg

fantastic example! really excellent. probably the nicest dawes galaxy i've ever seen.

it looks legit, but i've never seen those decals. that font is so weird. the seattube decals are so unique to dawes...

i would guess very early 70s.

As illwafer says, excellent. It's rare to see such nice paint.

The colours on the top, down and seat tubes looks perfectly matched. Are they? If so, I think the... what are they? Stickers or transfers? I think they well might be original as it would be hard to reproduce that exact colour. The top and down tubes bands look like they might be wrap-around stickers be in the style of late 70s/early 80s Trek frames. Or are they painted on? The lettering on Chuckk's machine are what I'm used to seeing from that period.

What components does your machine have, VonCarlos? They can be useful in dating bikes.

It would be good to see photos of the lugs, square on from the sides. This 1970 bike looks similar to yours:

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4070/5149608462_4aa5c92281.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55569960@N06/5149608462/)
1970(?) Dawes Galaxy (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55569960@N06/5149608462/) by theboatdude (http://www.flickr.com/people/55569960@N06/), on Flickr

this.

99% sure those are not OG decals. that galaxy's original paint job was pretty awful, so they probably did you a favor in a repaint (if it's been repainted).

I'd say the paint on my 1979 Atlantis was pretty good. The brazing was pretty bad, though :)

I'm pretty certain that the torch badge was discontinued in '76 after the factory burnt down.
Sort of funny, that.

The Dawes seems much too modern style a type face, but the GALAXY looks right.

68? Original paint
http://chuck.kichline.com/bikes/Dawes/DSCF0002.JPG

Looks like original paint to me. Very nice looking!

The factory burning down is, I believe, Dawes are so hard to get manufacturing info about. All the records went up in the same fire.

I obviously haven't been paying enough attention over the past 8 plus years of Dawes-ownership... here's one that has the same kind of banding as the OP's machine:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3529/3287407161_7f3a1097a2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyoctopus/3287407161/)
right side official (http://www.flickr.com/photos/crazyoctopus/3287407161/) by crazyoctopus (http://www.flickr.com/people/crazyoctopus/), on Flickr

I think this is what most people are used to seeing:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3137/2876933033_1a8fb86875.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninethousand/2876933033/)
The Whole Thing (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ninethousand/2876933033/) by ninethousand (http://www.flickr.com/people/ninethousand/), on Flickr

Okay, I found a picture on flickr of a Dawes with the same style font as mine. It was posted by jonwvara, and I think we have a member on BF with the same name.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A1eUPVlygPE/Ty03XNMofxI/AAAAAAAAANc/T4xkJVAhg8k/s576/Dawes%2520blue%2520flickr.jpg

And mine, as I found it. Still needs to be cleaned!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4SP_7eqZ9N4/TyxuCg-1mZI/AAAAAAAAANA/dmdK4O5VKKI/s576/w_1796.jpg

The Blue color is painted, with stickers (decals) making up the bands and fonts.
I haven't had a chance to look it over in fine detail yet, as the temperature in the garage is 31 degrees.

Here are a few more pics:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eofFo9k_E08/TyxtnxEY8HI/AAAAAAAAANA/Syz9TgiQN3s/s800/w_1803.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HBLsb2DNfRA/TyxtpNKGMkI/AAAAAAAAANA/DZOJZ2IYNm4/s800/w_1802.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-KnpwKha4Gn8/TyxuD--EzwI/AAAAAAAAANA/nzjfMIpQtiQ/s800/w_1799.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AhMMpWbJ83E/TyxuF07dgvI/AAAAAAAAANA/jLP1uQYjOJY/s800/w_1800.jpg

Started cleaning-up and looking over this Dawes. After I put on my reading-glasses, to my surprise, I saw this wonderful handle-bar plug.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7007/6820095801_bff2112f94_z.jpg

In the current Veteran Cycle Club newsletter (no.347) there's a page and half article on
The Great Cycletouring Boom of the 1970s where the writer (Steve Griffith) has much praise for the Galaxy, and featuring a '73 advertisement matching the green/gold image above!

<The machine of choice was without doubt the Dawes Galaxy. It is important to remember this was the only mass produced touring cycle on the British market. To get anything comparable you would need to go to a smaller maker for a much more expensive solution. The Galaxy may not seem such a great spec. today but compared to the typical sports lightweight it was a real step forward...> snipped

Beautiful bike, VonCarlos! The handlebars are certainly original; that engraving is a Dawes thing. Under the tape you'll find the model name (Dawes Certes, for example). Did you check the saddle cantle plate for a date?

The other Daweses shown in the photos above --such as the "1968" one) all seem to have the later GB stem style, so I'm thinking yours is a little earlier than that. But they doubtless continued using the earlier style stems in some sizes concurrently with the later style in other sizes, depending when they ran out of the earlier ones.

Beautiful bike, VonCarlos! The handlebars are certainly original; that engraving is a Dawes thing. Under the tape you'll find the model name (Dawes Certes, for example). Did you check the saddle cantle plate for a date?

Hey rhm,
Thanks for the tip. The bars are Maes and the date on the saddle is B 68.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-IjBMsdP5p-E/Ty_q78j69_I/AAAAAAAAANo/ozB2e2x3LPg/s720/w_1825.jpg

:thumb:

Next question, then, is: is this the saddle that came with the bike from the factory, or was it an upgrade at the time of its sale, or was it a later upgrade? We need to see a page out of the 1968 Dawes catalog.

I figured mine was late '60's , but the decals are different than yours.

It also had the bulb holder, but no bulb inside.

http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad157/matketze/DSCF0029.jpg

Here's an interesting piece I don't see much from this French brand, a '60's or early '70's Huret spoke protector. Not easy to photograph.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-OTZ3yDjb9bw/TzgkC1g6HhI/AAAAAAAAAOk/HkioPv7CoGg/s576/w_1841.JPG

And the cranks, which I have yet to identify. Maybe Nicklin ????

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SkTwOrhDzGU/TzgkF1-H3dI/AAAAAAAAAOk/c4azIehgPq4/s720/w_1837.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-PV8bV1-3lC4/TzgkE-Mc_yI/AAAAAAAAAOk/Q2pVUh0YR6g/s720/w_1834.jpg

RHM has my old crank.
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4042/4648400117_850648d4c2_z.jpg

Okay, I found a picture on flickr of a Dawes with the same style font as mine. It was posted by jonwvara, and I think we have a member on BF with the same name.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-A1eUPVlygPE/Ty03XNMofxI/AAAAAAAAANc/T4xkJVAhg8k/s576/Dawes%2520blue%2520flickr.jpg

And mine, as I found it. Still needs to be cleaned!

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-4SP_7eqZ9N4/TyxuCg-1mZI/AAAAAAAAANA/dmdK4O5VKKI/s576/w_1796.jpg

The Blue color is painted, with stickers (decals) making up the bands and fonts.
I haven't had a chance to look it over in fine detail yet, as the temperature in the garage is 31 degrees.

Here are a few more pics:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eofFo9k_E08/TyxtnxEY8HI/AAAAAAAAANA/Syz9TgiQN3s/s800/w_1803.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HBLsb2DNfRA/TyxtpNKGMkI/AAAAAAAAANA/DZOJZ2IYNm4/s800/w_1802.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-KnpwKha4Gn8/TyxuD--EzwI/AAAAAAAAANA/nzjfMIpQtiQ/s800/w_1799.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-AhMMpWbJ83E/TyxuF07dgvI/AAAAAAAAANA/jLP1uQYjOJY/s800/w_1800.jpg

Yes, that's my Dawes. It has the same Nicklin crankset as yours, and the same bars, stem, and bar plugs. Has a Wright's saddle, though, not a Brooks. I will try to post some more photos soon--meant to do it last week but have been too busy.

I finished cleaning up this Dawes Galaxy several months ago, but have been to busy to get finished photos.
Was able to get some nice photos this week.
In all the investigation and research I've done, I've not seen a nicer one.
This Dawes rides very nice and smooth, straight as an arrow. I wish it was my size.
Unfortunately it's too big for me and I should never have bought it, but it was too nice to sit in someone's garage and rust away.
Here are the details.
*58cm x 58cm.
*Stem - GB Hiduminium.
*Handlebars - Maes bend. (Dawes ?).
*Brakes - Weinmann 750, Vainqeuer 999.
*Chain-wheel & Cranks - Nicklin (?).
*Spindle - Superior B.W.T 2C.
*BB Cups - TDCross.
*Pedals - Milremo.
*Shifters - Simplex S-2337A (?).
*Rear Derailleur - Simplex Prestige S 005.
*Freewheel - Atom.
*Spoke protector - Huret.
*F Derailleur - Shimano FD-TY20 (not original)
*Wheels are a mix
Front - Sturmey Archer rim to Milremo hub 27"
Rear - Ukairim rim to Normandy hub 27"

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8319/7984440767_2aa5380a70_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8175/7984441409_e4dafa3878_b.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8170/7984449814_a669ba7934_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8311/7984444553_a961c64d96_c.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7984445049_5f1c7cd47d_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8171/7984452124_11c06008b9_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8314/7984446907_c60a901c4b_z.jpg

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7984453230_0acebff995_z.jpg

Very nice indeed! Thanks for the 'after' pics. I've always regarded those plastic gear levers as pretty naff but on your machine they are a very nice touch to the whole combination. Great!!

Wow - That is truly a knock-out Von C! :thumb:

That looks great, VonCarlos. I don't do any polishing, myself, but I do enjoy looking at it. Since my paint was quite scratched and rusty to begin with, I cleaned the frame thoroughly but didn't do any touch-up work or brighten up the aluminum at all. Somehow in reading this thread earlier I missed the mention of a date code on the saddle frame--I'll have to look at mine. I've been guessing it's about a 1965, but maybe it's actually later. I'm not familiar with the Brooks saddle on your bike, but it looks almost identical to the Wright's on mine, down to the same number of holes punched in the lower edge of the leather.
Interesting to me, too, that the Double Blue--which I've assumed, with no real evidence, was fairly high on the Dawes food chain--had a chromed fork, but not stays, and no chrome on the fork crown.

These pics deserve a bump.

I checked under the saddle of my Double Blue--it says B67 in the same format as the OP's. I assume it's the original saddle. Interesting--it's a Wright's saddle, but the date stamp on the metal seems to be the same as the stamping on the OP's Brooks. Except for the logos stamped on the leather, the saddles themselves also look exactly the same. The metal support wires (not the right term, but not sure what they're called) look exactly alike. Not sure what happened to Wrights, but I'll hazard a wild-ass guess that they were bought up by Brooks in 1967/68, and Brooks built up the remaining stock on hand with a different logo.

This is where Google is your friend. I Googled Wright's saddle and came up with this "The Brooks Blog" http://blog.brooksengland.com/wps/wrights-saddles/

To quote:
"Recently our terribly popular Facebook page was queried as to whether or not Brooks used to own Wrights Saddles. My impetuous and incorrect response garnered a written clarification by none other than Steven Green, who has been with Brooks for over 30 years and manages our office in Smethwick.

Quoting Steven: “Brooks did own Wrights (and technically still do)”
“It was the takeover of Wright saddles that brought about the move of Brooks premises from Birmingham City Centre to Smethwick (circa 1960). The Wrights factory was located in Selly Oak – a suburb of Birmingham at some 2 miles to the south of the city centre. The company wished to condense the two factories into one working site – neither existing site was large enough to accommodate the other and so both were closed down and moved to the present site in Smethwick.”
“Wrights and Brooks made almost identical saddles. However, it was always considered that Brooks used a much superior grade of leather—– so although the Wright brand was still produced for a number years beyond this, it was gradually phased out…..”

So there you have it, the record “set to Wrights” on yet another piece of Brooks history.

This is where Google is your friend. I Googled Wright's saddle and came up with this "The Brooks Blog" http://blog.brooksengland.com/wps/wrights-saddles/

To quote:
"Recently our terribly popular Facebook page was queried as to whether or not Brooks used to own Wrights Saddles. My impetuous and incorrect response garnered a written clarification by none other than Steven Green, who has been with Brooks for over 30 years and manages our office in Smethwick.

Quoting Steven: “Brooks did own Wrights (and technically still do)”
“It was the takeover of Wright saddles that brought about the move of Brooks premises from Birmingham City Centre to Smethwick (circa 1960). The Wrights factory was located in Selly Oak – a suburb of Birmingham at some 2 miles to the south of the city centre. The company wished to condense the two factories into one working site – neither existing site was large enough to accommodate the other and so both were closed down and moved to the present site in Smethwick.”
“Wrights and Brooks made almost identical saddles. However, it was always considered that Brooks used a much superior grade of leather—– so although the Wright brand was still produced for a number years beyond this, it was gradually phased out…..”

So there you have it, the record “set to Wrights” on yet another piece of Brooks history.

Cool! That sounds about right.

Cool! That sounds about right.

Shouldn't that be "Wright"? :innocent:

I have both Brooks and Wrights saddles, and while the leather "may" be a bit thinner on the Wrights I find they stand up just as well as the Brooks do, and in some cases better. I would not hesitate to purchase a Wrights saddle or a Brooks if it will suit my needs.

Aaron :)

Shouldn't that be "Wright"? :innocent:

I have both Brooks and Wrights saddles, and while the leather "may" be a bit thinner on the Wrights I find they stand up just as well as the Brooks do, and in some cases better. I would not hesitate to purchase a Wrights saddle or a Brooks if it will suit my needs.

Aaron :)

I agree, although if anything, the leather on my Wrights is thicker than the leather on my Brooks saddles. When I got it, it was as dry as a potato chip. I soaked it in Lexol overnight, wiped it off, and it completely came back to life.

Gentlemen,Ladies....

Can anyone answer these questions I have about Dawes ? Did they sell frame only Dawes in the 80's ? If so what names did they use for the models and did they come with Dawes label on the downtube but" handbuilt" in gold right beside it ? No headbadge but Dawes rear dropouts. Would they have come with forks or would that be left up to the owners choice ?

Anyone ?

Gentlemen,Ladies....

Can anyone answer these questions I have about Dawes ? Did they sell frame only Dawes in the 80's ? If so what names did they use for the models and did they come with Dawes label on the downtube but" handbuilt" in gold right beside it ? No headbadge but Dawes rear dropouts. Would they have come with forks or would that be left up to the owners choice ?

Anyone ?

To the best of my knowledge Dawes only sold complete bicycles. The ones from the 1980's did have a sticker on them that said Handbuilt. I have a couple of pictures of a mid 80's Dawes some where.

Aaron :)

Beautiful bike...