Retro Dawes Galaxy, gravel bike, sacrilege to change?

No need for chainstay squashing fortunately, STW standard issue WTB Nano 40’s fitted in fine with plenty of clearance:

That looks ace!

That looks really good – other then the brakes, i can’t really see how a modern bike would be much better

There’s little to beat the lines of a nice old steel bike.

I guess you are 5’7-10″, you’ll probably appreciate wider bars off road or for longer rides – for comfort.

that looks super comfy

Oh, that is lovely. Bet it’s a super smooth ride.

perfect!

Best freebie I’ve seen in years.
Looks great.
🙂

I only mentioned it because I think a lot of older bikes came with fairly narrow bars as standard

i didnt know that slowster, my randonneur has incredibly narrow bars and its the one thing i really dont like. i couldnt understand why as the chap who bought it originally was about my size but maybe thats the reason. luckily though i managed to find some of the really wide nitto noodles on ebay used in the winter so maybe i should get it together now to find some bar end shifters and fit them.

One of my sons has ‘borrowed’ it and loves it, used it loads, but comment he made was the bars seem a bit narrow so maybe we’ll look for some slightly wider ones. Also the shimano stx canti brakes are okay but I think could be better, what decent canti’s or mini v brakes are well rated? Cheers

comment he made was the bars seem a bit narrow so maybe we’ll look for some slightly wider ones

Redstripe, unless you plan to change the stem as well, you’ll need to check the diameter of your current bars, i.e. 26mm or 25.6mm. I think there’s not a lot of choice available nowadays in 26mm diameter bars, especially if you want them in silver, and even less in 25.6mm. Nitto probably do some, but I am not familiar with their offerings. Otherwise I think your choice in 26mm is the Deda Elementi Speciale I linked to above (but cheaper from Evans with their free delivery), or the more expensive Cinelli 64 Giro d’Italia, both of which are very similar in shape, i.e. shallow drop. You should note that Deda measure outside to outside, so their 46cm bars are equivalent to other manufacturers’ 44cm bars.

If you are not sure what size to get, my advice would be to go for the widest size available.

Will mini vs work with 40s?

I got some cheap tektro ones which are a great improvement on the canti’s

That bike does look nice by the way

Don’t know if it helps on the brake front but I’ve got an old Dawes Galaxy sitting around that I’ve been idly experimenting on from time to time.
It came with regular V brakes/deore levers, they stop fairly well.

Thumbs up. You may well have started a trend for giving old tourers a new life in the fat lane,it never occurred to me 40c tyres would fit in there. As for brakes, I’ve certainly used better-working V-brakes than the lacklustre TRP Spyres that came on my offroad tourer.

Mini-Vs should do it, or maybe regular long Vs with something like these?[/url]

Like –

Very much the sort of bike I’ve been putting together for the past few years. These old frames are great and totally useable with some better/ new brake pads/ blocks.
The original pads would have hardened and be less effective.

A couple of things which may help.
Planet X still sell a bunch of quil stems and suitable bars – however, some of the more ergo shapes won’t thread though the steem as the curves are too tight.

KCNC still make some nice 26mm bars and can be found cheap.

I have about 15 pairs but I’m not in the Uk to be able to help out.

Thanks for the tips & comments, will get some wider bars (I think the existing stem is a Kalloy or SR with the slightly smaller diameter), would like to keep traditional bend and silver/ally bars, and try changing the brake blocks first to see if it improves, cheers

Looks ace! Envious of the chainstay clearance!

Brakes – if they’re new blocks on old rims, it’s worth waiting a little whole for them do bed in. I was disappointed with my Shimano CX50 canti’s on the Module 4s, but a month in, I’m not wanting for power, quite happy one finger braking most of the time. Don’t know if some contamination/oxide layer on the rims has worn off as well as the pads bedding in. Probably a bit of both.

Bars – have a look the Soma Highway One. Shallow drop, silver, both sizes. I had to stick my stem in boiling water to get the bars through it, though!

That will be a 25.4mm stem.

Get some swissstop pads and set the cantis up properly and theres no advantage in mini Vs (or even full v brakes).

The cantis look right and give bags more mud clearance than mini Vs.

Nitto do a ‘Randonneur’ bar in 25.4 (well they do two slightly different ones apparantly, who knew?) which has flared drops.
Bit of backsweep on the tops too.

Keep meaning to try one on the old roadie.

Spa seem to have both styles if you fancy a shufti.

link.

^ Nitto B135* or B132 depending on which drop/reach option you go for.

nice bars, but be aware, although normally sold in 45cm width that’s the width across the bottom of the drops, due to the flare they are actually quite narrow at the hoods (~38cm from memory)

* There’s a pair in my loft if anyone nearby wants them 😉

You’ve just saved me having to send a pair back.

Ta.

🙂

The Velo Orange Rando Bars* come in a wider option (48cm I think), but they are still only about 40-41cm at the hoods, and have more flare (out and up) than the Nitto.

If all you want is a little bit of flare outwards (not the up or back bit) then the Velo Orange** Grand Cru are well worth a look, I have a pair on both my Audax bikes now, the flare is not as extreme, ie: not ‘Grrrraaaaavvvel!’ levels of flare but it is enough and a great bar for comfy road riding a occasional unsurfaced tracks.

Both the VO bars are quite long reach on the ramps though***, so you may need a shorter stem if you’re used to compact drop bars, and they are traditional bend, so make sure you’re happy with that and your levers suit. bars are so personal it can take a bit of experimenting to work out what you like.

* There’s also a pair of those in my loft, but they’re waiting to go back ona bike 😉

** VO only come in 26.0 but pletny of stems available still.

*** see below for shape side on:

Nice! one of them went for crazy cheap on ebay the other day. c. £50 F&F

Another thought on brakes – mini vs might not work (see my thread below) – canti post spacing and rim width might mean you can’t get the pad in the right place, and big tyres mean you’ll be deflating the tyres to get the wheel out – the pads hang up behind the fork leg.

try new pads first, then CX50s if you need.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/these-brakes-dont-fit-which-ones-would

Nice! one of them went for crazy cheap on ebay the other day. c. £50 F&F

I know, I’m trying to get hold of another one but need small, that one was huuuuuge!