Paynesarah

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this site. I've just bought a vintage Dawes road bike and I'd like some help in identifying it's date and edition.

I've put some pics on my Flickr profile, album link here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/129085...7649449959337/

I think it's 1970's, steel frame (531?). Not sure if new bits have been added over time.

The only things I've done to it since buying it are put on new cables, hoses, bar tape, brake hoods, pedal straps and seat.

Everything else is 'as was'.

It's clearly been repainted at some point.

Interestingly, there isn't much clearance between the tyres and brakes - no space for a mudguard.

Any help in identifying it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

uncle uncle

Welcome. Nice vintage bike. (By the way, it's usually refered to as "housing" not "hoses".) People will be asking for the serial number and a picture of the label on the steer tube (the part of the bike that the front fork goes up into). My initial guess, and it's only a guess, judging by the little brazeons that the cable housing on the top tube, I am going to say early seventies. By the late seventies, it was more popular to have cable stop ends that allowed a bare cable run (less friction that way). Before the seventies, it was more common to see individual clamps hold the brake housing to the top tube.

Paynesarah

Hi there, thanks for replying. The serial number is ch564. Sadly, there isn't a badge on the steer tube - I think it must have got removed when it was repainted.

Bobtoo

My Dawes Super Galaxy is from 1982 and it has the rear brake cable passing through similar braze-ons. I think the Suntour front and rear derailleurs might well be original so you can check the date codes on them VeloBase.com - View Brand

Dawes serial numbers aren't much good for identification unfortunately. If it's pre-1981 I'd expect to find two holes in the head tube for the rivets to hold the badge on- I think the post-81 badges were stuck on. Have a look at the Dawes catalogues here Veteran-Cycle Club Online Library and here bulgier.net - /pics/bike/catalogs/ to see if anything matches up. The easiest way to find out if it's 531 is to measure the seat post with a caliper or micrometer. If it's 531 the seatpost will be 27 or 27.2mm.

juvela

Hello Sarah,

Congratulations on your new arrival and welcome to the forum.

Yours is one of the nicest Dawes road bicycles I have seen. If that is a respray someone certainly did a careful job.

I wonder if it could be a Double Blue model; am no Dawes expert so must leave it to others to identify.

wrt the fittings - the Campag pillar is most certainly not original. As mentioned by Bobtoo its size can provide a clue as to the bicycle's frame tubing. The frame could be 531 plain guaue and have a pillar a bit smaller than the sizes he mentions. There will be a size marked on the pillar's back side. The front and rear mech are not a matched set so at least one is not original, likely the rear. iirc Suntour VX launched in 1978. My guesstimate would be that chainset, down tube controls, pedals, front mech and headset are all original. Brakes are likely original.

wrt to your wheel/tyre clearance question - i could not see any tyre markings in the photos but suspect that the frame was constructed with 700c wheels in mind and someone has fitted 27" ones instead. This makes a difference of four mm in radius, the 27" being the larger size. note how the brake pads are fitted north of the midpoint in the adjustment slot. if brakes original to bicycle and wheels were intended size one would expect pads to be fitted near centre of adjustment slot.

As to dating me guess would be mid-'70's.

Thank you for posting and good fortune with your new mount.

Bobtoo

In the UK it was common for the Vx rear mech to be paired with a Compe-V up front in the late 70s and early 80s. I'm going to guess the bike is from around 1982.

If you examine the brakes, chainset and handlebar stem you might find more date codes. Then it's a guessing game to decide which components are likely to be original.

I'm wondering if the bike was originally fitted with 26 x 1 1/4" wheels, which was quite common around the turn of the 80s. That would be a diameter of 597mm compared to 622 for 700C, so approximately 1/2" difference in the position of the brake pads. Now you mention it the pads are really high in the slots, particularly at the back.

juvela

thanks very much Bobtoo for this additional information.

one thing i was thinking about is that since the frame is a respray we might wish to not place too much weight upon the braze-ons since they could have been added upon that occasion.

Paynesarah

Hi Bobtoo, thanks for taking the time to response - the catalogue links are all really useful so i'll take a trawl through those and see what I find. There are no holes in the head tube so that might be a clue!

Paynesarah

Hi Juvela, many thanks for your insightful comments. The seatpost is 27.2mm so I guess we could conclude its a 531 frame. The wheels are an interesting question - I suspect you're probably right and the bike was built with the 700cc wheels in mind. It 'runs' fine in the turbo trainer at the moment, but I'm tempted to get some new wheels built around the hubs - smaller spokes and new rims. Do you think it's odd riding 27" wheels on a bike built for 700cc? I suppose with the adjustment slot, it might not matter so much. Best wishes, S.

Paynesarah

With this in mind, I wonder whether this might also be the case with the holes in the head tube for the badge? Perhaps they were filled in....?

juvela

wrt "holes filled in" - a possibility. it would certainly show if one were to withdraw the fork from the frame and examine the interior of the head tube. not asserting it is the case; just within the realm of possibility.

thinking about the drive train -

noticed that the chainset and front mech look to have a comparable level of wear/usage while the shift levers and rear mech appear new or near new. this is what contributed to the idea that all was not original there.

it is a little difficult to imagine a machine as late as 1982 coming with this headset.

wrt the wheels - it is conceivable that the atom hubs could have been original to the bicycle, but certainly not the wheel rims. would not be surprised if it is necessary to deflate the rear tyre in order to get it to pass the chainstay bridge.

Pars 

With the 700c wheels being that tight, the 27", being 4mm larger in diameter, would probably not fit. 700c is 622mm, while 27" is 630mm.