Originally Posted by
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.
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.