Muscleburn
Retro Newbie
OK, before I start I am new to the forum and have a feeling that I may have already committed a cardinal sin for which I beg forgiveness! I was recently given a Dawes Super Galaxy and in a bid to reduce weight I have removed all of the panniers and mudguards – they are stored very neatly in the garage but I have a feeling that I may have de-faced a classic in the eyes of the purists – sorry!
My story goes;
Earlier this year I decided to source a road bike (I ride MTB single tracks regularly at the weekend but wanted a more sedate bike I could jump on from home and ride comfortably on the road for an hour or so a couple of times a week). A friend mentioned that he had a bike in his garage that had not turned a wheel in 4 years, but if I wanted it I could have it. I was hoping for a 6/7 year old GIANT or Specialized, and have to admit I was slightly disappointed when he opened the garage and sat in the corner was a VERY dirty looking purple Dawes. Not wishing to appear ungrateful I loaded it onto the car and headed home.
Despite my disappointment I decided that I would set to work on ‘putting it right’, at this point I had no idea what a Dawes Super Galaxy was and even toyed with the idea of taking it to the dump! I gave the bike a full service, re-greased all of the bearings (which were/are all in as new condition), removed the panniers and mudguards, replaced the cracked Conti touring tyres with Hutchinson Top Slick 2’s, replaced the cracked handlebar tape with Scott Super Gell tape and then spent a couple of hours polishing up the frame and metal components. To my surprise the bike cleaned up exceptionally well and when it was finished I stepped back and fell in love!
I then decided to do a little research on the Super Galaxy and was quite surprised to find it was such an iconic bike and well respected bike.
Despite all of my restoration efforts I did not get to ride the bike for several weeks, and my first outing was 58 miles from Binfield in Berkshire to Ferring in Sussex! I had ridden the same route 8 weeks previous on an MTB with slick tyres in 5 hours (with a lot of back/wrist/neck pain), to my amazement I managed the same route on the Dawes in 3 hours and 40 mins with no discomfort (apart from a bit of saddle sore!). I have now clocked up about 200 miles in the last month and would not consider replacing the SG with a newer bike, it is such a great ride. I also enjoy the fact that other riders always give it an admiring glance.
I recently bumped into a group of riders while out one evening at a set of lights, one of the chaps, sat astride a rather nice looking Bianchi, described the SG as the Aston Martin DB6 of the bike world!
I am struggling to date the bike and wonder if any of the experts on this forum could help out? I guess that it is an early 90’s bike, it is fitted with a Diore DX derailleur with bar end shifters and a 531 ST frame finished in metallic purple. Anyone on here shed any light on what year it would have been built?
A couple of pictures mid-resto – at the point these were taken I had not replaced the bar tape or given it a coat of turtle wax (although I had given it a clean)!
My story goes;
Earlier this year I decided to source a road bike (I ride MTB single tracks regularly at the weekend but wanted a more sedate bike I could jump on from home and ride comfortably on the road for an hour or so a couple of times a week). A friend mentioned that he had a bike in his garage that had not turned a wheel in 4 years, but if I wanted it I could have it. I was hoping for a 6/7 year old GIANT or Specialized, and have to admit I was slightly disappointed when he opened the garage and sat in the corner was a VERY dirty looking purple Dawes. Not wishing to appear ungrateful I loaded it onto the car and headed home.
Despite my disappointment I decided that I would set to work on ‘putting it right’, at this point I had no idea what a Dawes Super Galaxy was and even toyed with the idea of taking it to the dump! I gave the bike a full service, re-greased all of the bearings (which were/are all in as new condition), removed the panniers and mudguards, replaced the cracked Conti touring tyres with Hutchinson Top Slick 2’s, replaced the cracked handlebar tape with Scott Super Gell tape and then spent a couple of hours polishing up the frame and metal components. To my surprise the bike cleaned up exceptionally well and when it was finished I stepped back and fell in love!
I then decided to do a little research on the Super Galaxy and was quite surprised to find it was such an iconic bike and well respected bike.
Despite all of my restoration efforts I did not get to ride the bike for several weeks, and my first outing was 58 miles from Binfield in Berkshire to Ferring in Sussex! I had ridden the same route 8 weeks previous on an MTB with slick tyres in 5 hours (with a lot of back/wrist/neck pain), to my amazement I managed the same route on the Dawes in 3 hours and 40 mins with no discomfort (apart from a bit of saddle sore!). I have now clocked up about 200 miles in the last month and would not consider replacing the SG with a newer bike, it is such a great ride. I also enjoy the fact that other riders always give it an admiring glance.
I recently bumped into a group of riders while out one evening at a set of lights, one of the chaps, sat astride a rather nice looking Bianchi, described the SG as the Aston Martin DB6 of the bike world!
I am struggling to date the bike and wonder if any of the experts on this forum could help out? I guess that it is an early 90’s bike, it is fitted with a Diore DX derailleur with bar end shifters and a 531 ST frame finished in metallic purple. Anyone on here shed any light on what year it would have been built?
A couple of pictures mid-resto – at the point these were taken I had not replaced the bar tape or given it a coat of turtle wax (although I had given it a clean)!
can't put my finger on it but it looks really nice. Could be the big black tyres or the shimmery paint, FWIW I reckon a black brooks and black bar tape would work great 
