Cycling UK Forum

hamster wrote:

Mick F wrote:As for the Mini, we had seven of them over the years.
Over five million of them sold 1959 to 2000.

That BMW abomination will never become so popular or so iconic.

True, but it does start in the morning and the ignition doesn't go all erratic in the rain.

And it might be making money for the company.

Jonathan

I've only ever driven a Mini once. We were sent for our 25th anniversary to an hotel that did a treasure hunt thing. They lent you a Mini in the classic red-with-Union-Flag design, , and you drove around the Harrogate-Ripon area, visiting various points. It all depended really on being able to read an OS map and six-figure grid references. A Scouting and Guiding background did us no harm, and my wife did the navigator thing while I did a sort of rally-driver act (but at not quite the same speed...) across the hills.

Good fun. We've got the trophy somewhere.

How did we get here from the Galaxy?

drossall wrote:How did we get here from the Galaxy?

Sorry, my fault!

My point is, that using the name of something when that "something" is completely different to before, is just plain wrong.
All it's doing is a pretence.

Didn't Mick F take us from warship maneuvers to diesel electric power systems - he has form!!

I love these discussions, makes the times we live in a little more bearable!

Cheers James

Jamesh wrote:Didn't Mick F take us from warship maneuvers to diesel electric power systems - he has form!!

I love these discussions, makes the times we live in a little more bearable!

Cheers James

DAWES needs to make a Galaxy ebike tourer

With a trailer for the battery!

When I first became aware of the Dawes Galaxy brand in the 1980s it was
a) Perceived as being a quality bike..possibly the best "off the peg" tourer you were likely to see in a bikeshop or amongst your friends bikes
b) Seen as "the other alternative" to a skinny tyred 531c road bike and capable of cycle camping, b+b/yha touring, day touring, commuting, mild offroad/tracks etc and group road rides. A real "general purpose" bike.

I bought my Galaxy for the reasons above but over time bought better bikes for these roles - MTB style tourer (conversion) for cycle camping, relaxed geometry road bike for day tours and a dedicated commuter/hybrid bike (hub gears,dynamo, etc) for all-year all-weather commuting. See the collage showing my early 90s Galaxy and my three replacement bikes...

The final blow to the Galaxy's "General Purpose role is gravel bikes of course..which as others have noted, are aimed very clearly at the Galaxy's original "do it all" market segment.

That said I now have my old Galaxy back from "Uni duty" with my son. I'm fixing the minor damage (eg spokes) and rennovating it for me again. Its a nice bike and I am not ready to part with it yet

SIL4 wrote:

mercalia wrote:

SIL4 wrote:I bought my 2016 Gran Tour 725 on a whim with some proper touring in mind, before my plans changed, and so it never got used as intended and I had planned to sell it, but it's now temporarily acting as my road bike over winter and so will be keeping it: great finish, rides nicely and the quality is a good as anything else I've owned.

Thats a nice bike I would keep it

Yes, it's a keeper, but I always regret selling this - a rare Synthesis XT 653, which they can't have sold more than a handful of: bought from Harry Hall at a bargain price because it was the only one they had and couldn't even sell it at 50% a discount. Full XT groupset, ceramic Mavic rims etc.

I sold it but ended up buying it back and fitted it with an ENO hub and then foolishly sold it again to make some room... hindsight is wonderful, but someone on this forum could well be enjoying it still..

Pretty sure I bought this Synthesis from you! I rebuilt it to a 27 speed true all terrain tourer, specifically to do a C2C.
One of the best riding bikes I have ever had.
Changed domestic circumstances meant time from home not really possible and I couldn't bear it reminding me of my failed plans so I sold it on at a hefty loss.
Would happily buy it back!
The only Dawes I have had as best I recall.

Mick F wrote::lol:

As for the Mini, we had seven of them over the years.
Over five million of them sold 1959 to 2000.

That BMW abomination will never become so popular or so iconic.

I've driven both. The BMW version is vastly superior in every respect.

No. Different.
IMHO Too big, fast, complicated, expensive.

zenitb wrote:When I first became aware of the Dawes Galaxy brand in the 1980s it was
a) Perceived as being a quality bike..possibly the best "off the peg" tourer you were likely to see in a bikeshop or amongst your friends bikes
b) Seen as "the other alternative" to a skinny tyred 531c road bike and capable of cycle camping, b+b/yha touring, day touring, commuting, mild offroad/tracks etc and group road rides. A real "general purpose" bike.

I bought my Galaxy for the reasons above but over time bought better bikes for these roles - MTB style tourer (conversion) for cycle camping, relaxed geometry road bike for day tours and a dedicated commuter/hybrid bike (hub gears,dynamo, etc) for all-year all-weather commuting. See the collage showing my early 90s Galaxy and my three replacement bikes...

The final blow to the Galaxy's "General Purpose role is gravel bikes of course..which as others have noted, are aimed very clearly at the Galaxy's original "do it all" market segment.

That said I now have my old Galaxy back from "Uni duty" with my son. I'm fixing the minor damage (eg spokes) and rennovating it for me again. Its a nice bike and I am not ready to part with it yet

Love the Cannondale in the picture - what kit did it have on it?

markjohnobrien wrote:

zenitb wrote:.... over time bought better bikes for these roles - MTB style tourer (conversion) for cycle camping, ....

Love the Cannondale in the picture - what kit did it have on it?

That was my French Vélodyssée tour Mark - camping stuff in the panniers .. day stuff including food, water and waterproofs in the big swagbag on the back. Not very elegant to look at, and a bit wheelie prone on steep hills, but actually worked very well in practice. Super stable .. I can cycle no hands with it loaded... not sure if this is due to the old school MTB geometry ??? .. in any event its ideal for cycle camping

Regarding the components on the bike itself all the original 1993 Deore LX groupset/wheels have gone and its now the normal mix of SJSC Ryde rims (Sputnik/ZAC)/Deore hubs/Spa chainset+dynohub/Swalbe tyres/Rose B+M lights etc stuff I have added over the years ... Not sure how I would cope if SJSC and Spa closed shop .. not very well I suspect. The Cannondale M700 frame itself seems pretty solid and will hopefully put up with me for another 27 years - fatigue permitting!!!

http://zenit-b.blogspot.com/2016/11/can ... uting.html

I've been reading the comments on the Dawes Galaxy with interest

I have a mid-90s (I think) Galaxy which I bought second-hand in 2003 for commuting while on a 6-month contract away from home, as I didn’t want to take my own bike with me. It just happened to be available, and to fit me, and I had planned to sell it once the contract was over but ended up keeping it. Over the years I’ve gradually replaced components, and the only original bits remaining are the seatpin and the rack. It had been neglected, with damaged paintwork, so several years ago I had it resprayed by Bob Jackson, who also filled in the holes in the top-tube for the cable routing and brazed on cable stops instead. It became first my touring bike, then my winter commuter, with smaller chainrings, shorter cranks, a quill stem adapter with a short stem, downtube levers replacing the bar-end ones, and a hub dynamo. At the beginning of this year I replaced the cantilever brakes with V-brakes, and as an experiment fitted straight bars. What a transformation! It’s now a much nicer bike to ride, and has gone from being “just the Galaxy” to a bike I actively enjoy riding, especially on tracks. I think that with the strange geometry of the small-framed Galaxy it even looks better now. And if I ever need an electric bike, that’s the one I’d convert.

djnotts wrote:

SIL4 wrote:

mercalia wrote:
Thats a nice bike I would keep it

Yes, it's a keeper, but I always regret selling this - a rare Synthesis XT 653, which they can't have sold more than a handful of: bought from Harry Hall at a bargain price because it was the only one they had and couldn't even sell it at 50% a discount. Full XT groupset, ceramic Mavic rims etc.

I sold it but ended up buying it back and fitted it with an ENO hub and then foolishly sold it again to make some room... hindsight is wonderful, but someone on this forum could well be enjoying it still..

Pretty sure I bought this Synthesis from you! I rebuilt it to a 27 speed true all terrain tourer, specifically to do a C2C.
One of the best riding bikes I have ever had.
Changed domestic circumstances meant time from home not really possible and I couldn't bear it reminding me of my failed plans so I sold it on at a hefty loss.
Would happily buy it back!
The only Dawes I have had as best I recall.

Yes, I believe you did! Sorry you had to part with it under such circumstances - it was a nice thing.

zenitb wrote:

markjohnobrien wrote:

zenitb wrote:.... over time bought better bikes for these roles - MTB style tourer (conversion) for cycle camping, ....

Love the Cannondale in the picture - what kit did it have on it?

That was my French Vélodyssée tour Mark - camping stuff in the panniers .. day stuff including food, water and waterproofs in the big swagbag on the back. Not very elegant to look at, and a bit wheelie prone on steep hills, but actually worked very well in practice. Super stable .. I can cycle no hands with it loaded... not sure if this is due to the old school MTB geometry ??? .. in any event its ideal for cycle camping

Regarding the components on the bike itself all the original 1993 Deore LX groupset/wheels have gone and its now the normal mix of SJSC Ryde rims (Sputnik/ZAC)/Deore hubs/Spa chainset+dynohub/Swalbe tyres/Rose B+M lights etc stuff I have added over the years ... Not sure how I would cope if SJSC and Spa closed shop .. not very well I suspect. The Cannondale M700 frame itself seems pretty solid and will hopefully put up with me for another 27 years - fatigue permitting!!!

http://zenit-b.blogspot.com/2016/11/can ... uting.html

Nice: seems like you have one of the American built frames before production moved overseas. Always liked the look of the older Cannondale frames.

The kit list is good - I’m still using mid 90’s Deore LX on my 708 Raleigh Randonneur - and your additions, including dynamo, are well thought out.

Enjoy as it’s a cracking frame and build.