Dawes Chevron restomod

[theWatchmen]

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum and new to road bikes. I recently found a Dawes Chevron that is in need of some love. The whole drive train (gears, cranks, chain, gear shift, etc.) needs replacing and I also wanted to fit disk brakes - I know it's not in keeping with the original but I am using this as a project to get familiar with some of the newer tech. It probably needs new break levers too. The wheels are also a bit rusty, but maybe those could be restored.

I was looking for suggestions on which parts to fit for leisure/amateur use.

Thanks,

Marco

 

[sjcprojects]

First of all, welcome to the wonderful and occasionally frustrating world of retrobikes

A few quick points off the top of my head:

Disk brakes - whilst probably technically possible with the use of adapters, this is really not at all practical (both cost and effort-wise) for a bike that is obviously not at all set up for disk brakes. You'll need new wheels, but moreover you'll almost certainly run into issues getting the spacing right for the brakes to correctly work. Better to get some modern side-pull brakes which will definitely fit, and will still do a very good job (Tektro do some decent ones). One important point is you'll need brakes that don't have a recessed nut fitting.

Gears - depends how modern you want to go, but if you're thinking of modern style shifters (with integrated brake and gear levers), you'll want to get new wheels anyway because these only work with 8 speeds upwards. New wheels are going to be the best investment anyway, because most likely the ones you already have are pretty heavy and new ones will make the bike a lot nicer to ride. This will almost certainly also involve spreading the rear of the frame to fit a wider hub.

Crankset/bottom bracket - Any Shimano Hollowtech crankset and bottom bracket (Tiagra, etc) will be a big upgrade and they are easy to fit - but you'll need to get the old bottom bracket out first so make sure you get the tight tool for that (also this can be a tricky job depending on the state of the bike).

My main advice would be do lots of research before buying anything. It's very easy to get a part that won't actually fit/work properly. My other bit of advice is to check this channel on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@RJTheBikeGuy
Video tutorials are definitely your friend here, and this guy is nice and to the point with his.

Finally...good luck! You will need it...

 

[theWatchmen]

Many thanks for the kind words and for your reply!

I did a bit of research, indeed disk brakes are not worth the effort. I was thinking of soldering on mounting points, but I wanted to keep at least the frame and bars as original

It's been a while since I got parts for a bike, I didn't realize there were so many options! The first step will stripping down and cleaning frame.

For spreading the frame, is that something that can be done manually or are there specific tools required?

As for parts that fit, are there any parts sellers that can provide some guidance?

Thanks again for the encouragement, I might post updates as I progress.

 

[sjcprojects]

Yes, lots of options, that's for sure. One good thing is that things like bottom bracket widths and threads haven't really changed so you can easily fit a pretty modern crankset to an old frame.

Spreading a frame (or 'cold-setting') can be done manually with just a plank of wood, although there are also more refined ways of doing it! Unsurprisingly RJ has a video about it:

For brake calipers, if you're getting new ones there aren't that many with the old style nut fittings around, the Tektro ones I mentioned are these:

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brakes/tektro-r359-caliper-brake-set-4757-mm-drop-nut-fitting-silver/
There will be of course also be plenty of used brake calipers around on eBay, etc, you just need to check they have the nut fitting and not the more modern recessed allen key type. You can actually use the modern style of brakes on a frame like yours, but it involves drilling the hole for the brakes to make them larger, so you may not want to go down that route - though it is perfectly possible and means you have a lot more choice of brakes you can use. Depends how much work you want to put into it - though anyway that would be much less work than brazing on mounts for disk brakes!

In terms of wheels and gears, most more modern drive chains will fit fine on an older frame, once you have fitted a new bottom bracket and spread the frame. In terms of cranksets, they don't care what speed the rear derailleur and wheel is, so you can mix and match a bit - though if you want to make your life easier then buy a whole (lightly used) groupset all together.

Personally, seeing as a decent brand new groupset costs way more than a very nice used full bike would, I'd say look for a lightly used groupset on eBay, something like this 9 speed Tiagra one (now ended, but gives you an idea of price). Lots of people upgrade from 9-10 speed to a new 11-speed setup, so there are 9-10 speed bargains to be had out there, and it keeps it cost-effective.

 

[theWatchmen]

I have started the disassembly of the bike, and I am now starting to think about which components to fit. Looks like most cranksets available are 2x, but the bike is only a 1x. I know it's possible to fiddle a bit a get a 2x to work, but I saw some people simply remove the second ring from a 2x set. Is that a feasible approach or I'd better bite the bullet and fit a 2x?

 

[sjcprojects]

It's certainly easy enough to remove the second ring on a chainset, but there are actually plenty of 1x ones around these days seeing as it's become a lot more common for modern bikes to use a 1x setup (just take a look on eBay for example). I think the first question to ask yourself is what sort of gearing you want - in other words, are you going to be going up hills, or just on the flat, or a mix, etc...

1x is nice and simple, but can have the draw back of either leaving you spinning too much on the flat or struggling on hills.

The bike will probably take a 2x fine anyway - it depends mainly on the width of the bottom bracket spindle (axle) as to whether there will be enough clearance for the smaller ring to not foul the frame chain-stay. I think I'm right in saying that more modern cranksets like the Shimano Hollowtech system I mentioned actually tend to be wider anyway because the bottom bracket cups sit outside the frame.

 

[hamster]

Forget discs. You would need a stronger fork (braking loads try to bend one leg unlike a rim brake fork), plus a lot of welding and reinforcement at the rear.
Modern frames for discs are readily available from £100 anyway, which will be less than bodging an old frame.

 

[non-fixie]

Since "leasure/amateur" is my middle name, I thought I'd chime in.

If you don't want to modify the frame, but have the advantage of modern-ish tech such as brifters, one option is to go "Shimergo".

Have a look here.

Two examples from my stable:

Campagnolo Chorus 9-speed shifters with a 5-speed Shimano rear cluster and a double up front, in a 120mm rear triangle:



Athena 11-speed shifters with a 9-speed Shimano rear cluster, shortened to 8 cogs to fit the 126mm space between the rear dropouts. And a triple chain set:



Superfluous clicks of the right shifter are blocked by the RD limit screw. The Campag left shifters use a ratcheting system rather than indexing, and they will shift pretty much any FD.

 

[theWatchmen]

Thanks @hamster and @non-fixie and apologies for the late reply! I didn't get a notifications for your posts I'll definitely look into the shimergo!

 

[theWatchmen]

On a side note, this bike doesn't have a front derailluer so I need to figure out a way to add both cable guides and the derailluer itself. Any suggestions for parts or solutions on how to add it? I can post pictures of what's currently on the bike if it helps