I bought this bike last year from a CL seller in New Haven, CT. who told me he was the Warehouse Manager for Dawes USA in New Haven, while it existed. I think it is safe to say Dawes did not have a big footprint in the US, but was a well known and highly regarded brand in the UK for touring and commuting bicycles. The seller told me in about 1980 the company wanted to compete at a higher level and especially with the Raleigh Professional. They engaged a UK frame maker to build 50 frames with top materials and ship them to the US for sales. The frames ended up in New Haven and sat unsold for quite some time as the buying public nor bike shops were not well informed about the product. As a result, the company ceased the effort at 50 frames and they were sold to where they could find homes. The warehouse Manager bought this one for himself. The model has no name on the frame unlike other Dawes models. It has Campy rear dropouts, Haden Royal Soverign lugs (identical to the Raleigh Pro MK V), chrome front forks of Reynolds 531 with embossed "D" on each shoulder and a chrome rear lower stay on the drive side. It also has a gold anodized GB Tour of England handlebar. The components are SunTour and Shimano (first gen DuraAce crank) in this case. This is a quality bike and rides like it. The seller also had a really nice UK built Condor of Columbus steel but was not ready to part with it. Every bike has a story. Jeff

I like the frame and component details quite a bit. Do you have more photos of the drivetrain etc?

Hard to believe beautiful frames like that didnt do well, but never underestimate the public's stupidity.

3speedslow here on the forums has a really sweet Dawes, too. Maybe he'll chime in when he sees this.

Hey [MENTION=383860]jeff44[/MENTION] That is a very nice Dawes you have brought to the Forum. Love the lugs and their cutouts. The wrap around seat stay adds to the charm. What is the serial # ?

I have an early 80's Dawes but not as fancy as this one. It was Italified by the PO, even replaced the original 531 fork with a chrome one which was the rage back then. It's name is a mystery to me but it rides wonderful.

Would love to see more of this Competition Dawes. Here is mine...

The story makes it seem like Dawes and/or Dawes US didn't promote the thing- Kind of hard for a bike to sell if no one knows they're sitting in New Haven.