Odd old Dawes? 1-Down? What is this?

[sweatysock]

I've acquired an unusual old Dawes which is called a Down or 1-Down like a crossword clue (on the frame toptube) It is a fetching orange metallic, special "protective" paint it says, black forks and in reynolds 631- "Hand Made in England" apparently- with 26 inch wheels! I can't find much on a Google search, but it might be a forerunner of a Sardar?? What's the gen on this little oddity?
It has some nice features like plenty of braze on mounts for racks front and rear, and bottle cages, lots of tyre clearance, unusual Shimano Altus(?) V-brakes with a pulley wheel, and brake lever gear changers... Anyone know the vintage or owt?

[reohn2]

Yep Sardar forerunner and regarded as a good 'un by many,Si has one I think,and speaks highly of them.

[freebooter]

It isn't this orange One-Down with black forks is it?

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=25860

[Halla]

Dawes 1 Down was in the 1999 Dawes catalogue, it was burnt orange with black front forks in the picture, it had Shimano RSX 26/36/46 - 24 speed gears, Shimano Alivio "V" brakes. Mavic 138 box section rims. Reynolds 631 frameset. Looks like it was supplied with racks front & rear as well as dynamo lighting. The RRP was £649.99 as compared to the Galaxy £599.99. Must have been a good bike.

I hope this helps.

Regards Andy

[freebooter]

Sounds like they were all orange/black then. The lost post made it sound like a unique or rare colour scheme. (That post came up when I googled it btw)

I think I saw a post some time ago that said the One Down had a 1 1/8 headset. For some reason Dawes put a 1" on the Sardar which is an absolute PITA. A Sardar with standard size headset would be a nice bike.

[sweatysock]

That's the one! Mavic X138 on the front and 221 on the rear. RSX as descibed, but this one's lost it's front low riders, only got the rear rack. The frame measures 21"- but I'm curious to know if that is a true road 21" or a hybrid/MTB 21" that uses a longer seat pin(it seems a bit small for me- I usually ride a 23" road frame)? Seems a nice wee bike, so I hope I can get it to fit me Thanks for the replies

[CREPELLO]

but I'm curious to know if that is a true road 21" or a hybrid/MTB 21" that uses a longer seat pin(it seems a bit small for me- I usually ride a 23" road frame)? Seems a nice wee bike, so I hope I can get it to fit me Thanks for the replies

I'm curious to know what you mean by this. Do you mean that the seat tube rises much further above the top tube than a road frame? It's certainly going to seem small for you if you ride a 23" road frame, except one thing about the Sardar and probably a good many MTB frames is that they have/had longer top tubes than road frames to suit the flat bar set up. This was always an anomoly with the Sardar sizing, which was only ever sold with drop bars.

[sweatysock]

but I'm curious to know if that is a true road 21" or a hybrid/MTB 21" that uses a longer seat pin(it seems a bit small for me- I usually ride a 23" road frame)? Seems a nice wee bike, so I hope I can get it to fit me Thanks for the replies

I'm curious to know what you mean by this. Do you mean that the seat tube rises much further above the top tube than a road frame? It's certainly going to seem small for you if you ride a 23" road frame, except one thing about the Sardar and probably a good many MTB frames is that they have/had longer top tubes than road frames to suit the flat bar set up. This was always an anomoly with the Sardar sizing, which was only ever sold with drop bars.

Mystery solved- with a bit of effort I loosened the seat pillar and lo and behold it was quite long like a MTB one. as you suggest, the top tube measures 1/4" longer than my 23" road bike, so I've scuttled off down the drive in surprising comfort with plenty of seat pillar to play with/keep a safe amount inserted, and a surpridingly long stretch to the drops. Only problem is that the rear derailleur won't change up as the lever on the Shimano combined brake/shifters arrangement isn't operating- can these things be dismantled? I'll have a go

[sweatysock]

It isn't this orange One-Down with black forks is it?

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=25860

Same, but different pedals and stuff, and been in storage for last 6 years.

[Si]

Yes, as reohn sez, I have a Dawes One Down...an all black one.
It's very much like a Sardar but has the advantage of a 1.1/8th headset, and the (dis)advantage* of not having the disc mounts.

I have to say that I love this bike, it's comfortable, reliable, can shift heavy loads (camping stuff, etc), is tough and handles well. Mine is normally fitted with touring gear and Marathon Plus tyres so it isn't fast, but it's reasonable for a heavy duty tourer. I tend to use it on mixed terrain touring - it handles the average bridle track or fire road with no problems. It also has big clearances - mine currently has big fat spikey ice tyres AND mud guards on it.

When I thinned down the heard, it was a choice between getting rid or this or the Galaxy - no contest, the Galaxy went.

It's a sloping TT - so you'll have to deduct a bit from your normal horizontal seat post size. I got mine as a new old stock frameset purchase over the internet - a chat with the shop selling it was handy as I ended up with a different size than I thought that I would need - and it fits perfectly.

Down sides? Yep, there are a couple - would have prefer ed two eyelets on the rear drop out so that rack and guard weren't on same bolt, no lowrider rack mount on the fork so have to use a clamp on the upper mount, no pump pegs, no disc mounts*.

* whether you view this as a real disadvantage will depend on your tastes - to have a disc mount on the fork _might_ have meant a beefed up fork that didn't feel as good as the one I got.

[sweatysock]

[quote="Si"

It's a sloping TT - so you'll have to deduct a bit from your normal horizontal seat post size.

Down sides? Yep, there are a couple - would have prefer ed two eyelets on the rear drop out so that rack and guard weren't on same bolt, no lowrider rack mount on the fork so have to use a clamp on the upper mount, no pump pegs, no disc mounts*.

[/quote]

Mmmm... interesting, Si. Mine has a slightly sloping TT, double eyelets on the rear dropout AND fork lowrider mounts. Not that I want to make you jealous, or anything

[Si]

Ah, you are right - just had a look at mine and it does have two sets of rear drop out mounts - must have been thinking of my other 26inch wheeled tourer. But mine doesn't have the low rider mount halfway up the fork so they must have improved it after mine was built.

Yep, the TT is just slightly sloping rather than an extreme MTB slope, I think that my One Down was rated at 19inches whereas my Galaxy was 22 inches and both fit me very well - both have similar reach.

[3spd]

I bought a 1-down frame only from bike shed and had Lee Cooper make me a front fork.
Again I have to say what a great bike, despite me getting frame a size too small. I took it on tour carrying at least 45lb of kit only problem I had was 2 broken spokes in rear wheel (thankfully on the way to the ferry home), it was an old 32 spoke MTB wheel, so got home and had some 36 spoke wheels built - no more probs for last 3 fully loaded tours and year round (ab)use.

[sweatysock]

Just for reference... here's the wee beastie

just noticed it has 2 Biopace inner rings on the chainset- they'll have to go...

[Si]

I bought a 1-down frame only from bike shed and....

yeo, think that I got mine from there too - the frame and fork was about £140 - gotta be a bargin at that price! the rest fo it was built from the spares bucket and a cycle jumble. All in all, I think that I've got a top rate tourer for well under £200.