I looked at (& probably now own) a Dawes Atlantis. Of course, I have a few questions...But first pics:



More here

It has Suntour Power shifters, Weinmann 605s, Sakae Super Custom crank, 105 rear derailleur, & Campy Omega Strada Hardox wheels.
I'm guessing the wheels & 7 speed Suntour freewheel are not original?
How do you tell what the hubs are? They Just say Campy & British 1370 x 24 tpi.
Any guess as to year? Did it come with 27s originally?
The serial number is stamped in the BB it is RC4854.
Thanks.

That frame looks so similar to mine. Mine is badged as a "Jaguar", but doesn't have 531 stickered forks. Aside from that its the same colour, same head badge, braze on cable guides on the top tube, 531 sticker in the same place by the levers rather than on the seat tube.

I think yours would have come with 700c "clincher" wheels, and 5 or 6 speed Suntour gears originally. It looks great - I've not seen an Atlantis except in blue before.

Year? My 1980 (or so) Dawes had stops and housing to run the gear cable under the bottom bracket, but the replacement frame I got in the mid-80s had a plastic guide under the BB to route bare wire.

Tony S

This bike has the stops and housings to run under the BB. The shifters are clamp on stlye. The decals are printed on clear plastic, so maybe it is from the late 80's? But the rear shifting is not indexed?

There are scans of the 1984 Dawes catalog on the net (and in the other Dawes Atlantis thread).
Dual blue fade paint, and different logo. No indexing in 1984.
It's obvious your's has swapped parts. I suspect your frame is early 80 late 70s.

I have what I'm pretty sure is an Atlantis (until a few days ago I thought it was a Galaxy). The only reference I've found to the model is here:
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog...g_Atlantis.jpg
and
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalog...cing_specs.jpg

The bike I bought 4 years ago was the same specs as the Atlantis except for the wheels, the handlebar tape and the tyres. My bike is the same colour as the one in the catalogue linked above. The freewheel was an Atom and had a 'gold finish' but I changed it to a Shimano when I changed the derailleur, also to a Shimano, an Ultegra, when I discovered the original SunTour Vx was bent.

The serial number of mine is DJ5962 but I have no idea what that signifies year-wise. Your best bet might be to look at the component year numbers. The derailleur that was on mine bears the code VL in a circle which dates it as 1979. You can find out SunTour dating codes at:
https://www.vintage-trek.com/component_dates.htm#suntour although that might not help you if yours insn't original. Weinmann brakes are also supposed to be date stamped but I haven't got round to taking mine off to check yet.

I notice that your bike is dual coloured, from dark to lighter red. As mine is from dark to light blue I see a connection there. Is yours metalic like mine?

The front derailleur is a Cyclone II it is coded "XG", so it should be a July 1981 model. The brakes say 9/82 (a circle with 82 in the center and a pointer at 9) on the back. I never thought to look there. So it is probably an '82.
The paint does not have any metal flake. It is a burgandy/maroon fade. I just picked up a Fuji Ace (front Blaze der. is "EA" 1988) today that is solid burgandy & matches.
The Dawes will be robbed of parts (definitely wheels), because the Ace (52cm) is to be built for a 13 yr old. I may just make the Dawes a SS or maybe buy a Nexus for it.
Thanks for the info.

Hey Ruppster,
Looks like you and I have the model.
Heres a pic of my Dawes - I think it's an Atlantis.
Bought it via Craigslist in the fall of '06 and the seller did not know much about the bike.
All stickers (except for the Reynolds 531 on the chrome fork) had been removed. The headbadge/sticker was removed as well. The Dawes stamp on the seatstays is all that remains.
The paint looks about the same color - but with no fade job.

Judging by the components, the bike would appear to date from the early-mid eighties.
A date stamped on one of the brake arms is 2/83.

The components are as follows
Crankset: Super Custom – (currently sporting Shimano 600 with Salsa rings – plan to re-install the Super Customs once I get a replacement 53/52 ring) the original cranks look the same as yours.
Front Derailleur: Suntour Cyclone M-II
Rear Derailleur: Suntour Sprint
Freewheel: Suntour Ultra 7 (not quite free spinning - needs replacing)
Hubs: Maillard
Rims: Rigida 700c (Stainless steel spokes in front, galvanized for the rear wheel)
Brakes: Weinmann 605
Stem: Custom
Handlebars: Premier Marque de Grande Bretagne
Brazed on brake cable guides on the top tube.
Serial Number YD5375

I believe that the model is of 1980 to 81 vintage. The bike had very tight 74 degree parallel angles and very narrow 1 inch wheels. The importer was in Hamden, CT just north of New Haven. They set up dealerships throughout the state and then started selling them right from their warehouse. Did a wonderful job of undermining the dealers. There was a glut of them around for a while, great deals while they lasted, which was not long. Decent bikes with decent equipment.