2012 Dawes SST AL Overview (includes hd video, lots of pictures, and weight)
 

I love this bike it rides smooth as butter and is very lightweight. Everything that is important seems of high quality and the guys at my local bike shop seem to agree. This is my second road bike and it makes my old bike seem like a pos. Instead of writing about it ill show you guys visually with high quality photos and videos. If you want to know anything else feel free to ask.

*If you want to make any picture bigger you can copy the url and where it says /s640/ you can make it go as high as /s2000/ for example, https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/IMG_0489.JPG would be changed to https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/IMG_0489.JPG

2012 Dawes SST AL
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-l...0/IMG_0489.JPG

Welding Points
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...0/IMG_0497.JPG

Stem
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...0/IMG_0501.JPG

Seat
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...0/IMG_0502.JPG

Crank
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-i...0/IMG_0505.JPG

Cog & Steel Reinforced Indent
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-s...0/IMG_0506.JPG

Carbon Fiber Fork
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...0/IMG_0507.JPG

Front View
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-R...0/IMG_0508.JPG

Weight (19 lbs 14 oz)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...0/IMAG0009.jpg

Full HD Video Overview

Looks nice, kingcoke - enjoy it!! However, center your bullhorns in the stem.

Wow how did I not notice how off centered they were! Thanks man.

Thanks for the review!

How is the frame geo? It looks nice, and thanks for the review!

great review. show us your whip skidds!

I like it and the frame is on my radar but isnt 20lb a little heavy for an alloy single speed with CF fork?

My vintage steel upgraded to 9 speed sti is only 21lb.

I was wondering the same thing.

Deep wheels and chunky parts overall are probably submitting to the overall high weight. CF fork won't be amazingly light, either, having an alloy steerer and all - but I do believe the frame/fork should be light on their own.

It's got fairly heavy and cheap wheels, the tubing is probably not butted, and the crank+BB is probably fairly heavy as well.

geo? what does that mean?

Didn't think people would care to see that but I guess ill record some when I get time over the summer.

Yeah I attribute its weight to the crank, wheels, and pedals. That's why I said all the important components seem to be of high quality because the frame itself seems very lightweight and sturdy. I may not be very knowledgeable on the particular parts and stuff but this bike just feels right to me. Oh and its under 20 lbs cmon.

Lightweight means different things to different people. If your last bike was a Varsity, pretty much any bike feels lightweight. If your other bike is a mid-range carbon road bike, 20 pounds is heavy.

Thanks for the pics. These make the raw frame look nicer than the pics on bikesdirect.com.

looks great. Hope you enjoy it. I ended up getting a Windsor The Hour as my first fixed gear. I looked at the Dawes AL but I wanted a steel frame.

Cheers,
Aristo

Frame geometry.

Do you have a scale to get us some wheel+tire weights? I'm curious if the frame and fork are heavy or if it's just the components. I'm with the crowd that says 19+lbs for an aluminum/carbon bike is heavy. My old all steel bike was under 18lbs and was 57cm. What's the frame size on this one?

Also, what were your bikes from beforehand that you're comparing this to? I've been playing around with the idea of buying one but the geo seems a little bit relaxed compared to what I'm used to and I want to be able to get it to something like 16-17 lbs.

SST AL owner here. For those asking about weight, you can drop a decent amount by replacing the saddle and seatpost. Also, the tubing is not butted.

This was my old bike http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...SIN=B004W8LG1S


I see, I don't have enough experience with different bikes to gauge it well but in my opinion its not very relaxed and there's a fair amount of stress on my shoulders when I am on the bullhorns.

I only have a small scale with a max weight limit of 3 pounds so I can only get weights of the smaller components. Yeah I guess I had low expectations my old bike link is above. The frame size is 58 cm. I doubt you'll be able to achieve 16-17 lbs with this bike so you should look elsewhere. But hey for $369.99, I think I got a steal.

what is the bottom bracket height? I want to compare that to the kilo tt. thanx!

looks good, don't worry about the weight, the old bike shows 29.5 lbs on Amazon, so 10 lbs in reduced weight. Maybe that 29.5 is shipped weight, the box and whatever else with it ?

I'd say so.

I've ridden my 2011(2012?) Dawes SST AL 1500 miles or so.

Great bike--have not had to replace anything, except for the Maxxis tires and the chain that came with the bike.

I agree it feels high-quality for what it costs. I love the frame's design--very cool looking.

I have a couple other bikes at home, and I always find myself riding the SST AL.


First night:
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5075/5...1e94a09d_b.jpg

Recently--after replacing the tires with a pair of Vittoria Zaffiro Pro 700x23 145PSI tires:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/7...75b8a173_b.jpg

Thanks for the review and video! The focusing on your camera is really weird, but nice video nonetheless.

Put a front brake on. ;)

Aluminum AND heavy. You get the best of both worlds.

Nah, looks like a decent bike. The welds look pretty consistent.

Whoa youtube enchantments did some weird stuff to the video, I reverted it back to normal now though. The focusing should be closer to normal now; its a little hard to talk, focus, hold, etc all simultaneously.

Oh and I have found no desire for a brake since removing both. Breaking by skidding is actually very easy and efficient. I find it to be more natural then pulling a lever and have successfully avoided accidents countless times with it. The only times it gets scary is when im going down steep hills, but I live in Arizona and we have a very limited and rare amount of those.

I need to weight it on another scale, and lift/ride other lightweight bikes because I honestly find it to be crazy lightweight still and all the bike mechanics always agree. Welding points are consistent as they look too.