VonCarlos

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.

Dawes-man

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.

VonCarlos

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.

Dawes-man

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

illwafer

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).

VonCarlos

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.

illwafer

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

VonCarlos

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. ???

illwafer

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.

Dawes-man

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.

Dawes-man

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

[IMG]
1970(?) Dawes Galaxy by theboatdude, on Flickr[/IMG]

Dawes-man

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

Dawes-man

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.

Dawes-man

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:

[IMG]
right side official by crazyoctopus, on Flickr[/IMG]

Dawes-man

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

[IMG]
The Whole Thing by ninethousand, on Flickr[/IMG]

VonCarlos

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.



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



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:

VonCarlos

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.

waverley610

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

rhm

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.

VonCarlos

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

rhm

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.

Kobe 

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

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

VonCarlos

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.



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

illwafer

RHM has my old crank.

jonwvara 

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.