Found a picture of a dawes super galaxy tandem. This one is identical to the one we bought in 1991 with the marathon frame design. It was the same light green colour and was equipped with weinmann cantilever brakes and an arai hub brake. Stronglight 99 crossover chainset. 6 speed with suzue hubs. After i broke the rear hub axle i modified it with an outrigger bearing and a longstaff axle. Details here. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=61819&p=525967&hilit=suzue#p525967
It was the only tandem in the 1991 catalogue. This puts the date of your tandem a bit later but not more than 4 years as some of the components look identical.
If i recall all the marathon frame designs were 531, but the last ones came with 501 stickers as Dawes changed the frame design away from the marathon design and started importing them from the far east. Several of the dawes frame builders ended up in somerset working for Thorn at this time as dawes stopped frame building.
Dawes have sent me the catalogue scan of the horizon. Here it is It definitely looks about right. The back stays are correct and it has 18 gears on the original.
Not had chance to check the forks on the bike but it will be coming out for a test ride tomorrow so will have a look then.
RJB - Many thanks for the info on the Dawes frames - its interesting to know a bit more about them. i had tried the google search but although i found a couple of bikes that looked right they were expired ads and no dates.
And your Horizon has unicrown forks unlike the model shown in the scan. Unicrown forks were supplied later. This note from Wikipedia about Dawes highlights your problem. "By the mid-1970s, the company was still family owned and producing 1000 bicycles a week. Between 1978 and 2001 the company was sold at least five times, passing through the hands of various venture capital and leisure companies. Resultantly, by the mid-1980s, the firm had 50 staff at its dilapidated Tysley factory. " Happy hunting.
At the last count:- Peugeot 531 pro, Dawes Discovery Tandem, Dawes Kingpin X3, Raleigh 20 stowaway X2, 1965 Moulton deluxe, Falcon K2 MTB dropped bar tourer, Rudge Bi frame folder, Longstaff trike conversion on a Giant XTC 840
Yes I see what you mean about the frame not being quite the same. Perhaps it was made from some leftovers someone found in a cupboard. The hunt continues.. Anyway must dash - time to go and play on it.
Well bike seems to work OK. Just me that needs more practice at riding it.
Fork is definitely unicrown now I know what I am looking for.
I can see that there is a frame which I think may be similar to mine in the 1994 Dawes catalogue, even has a unicrown fork - backstreet twin. frame 301 but not the fork. My fork has no reynolds sticker on but I have the 501 sticker on the frame. Some of the other bits also look more similar to what's on my bike at a first glance, other bits of the set up look a bit more similar to the street style (e.g. handlebars) - the ones on mine are labelled as Dawes. https://dawescycles.files.wordpress.com ... es-cat.pdf Perhaps it was assembled by the trainee.
Whilst I feel early 90's is the right time frame for your Horizon Twin, Dawes formally offered an "a la carte" service for the Super Galaxy (possibly others) around the 99/00 mark where they would supply it with drops, flats or butterfly bars and appropriate brakes/shifters.
Even mass produced tandems are hardly mass-market, I can quite imagine Dawes agreeing to assemble a "flat bar Horizon Twin" to order.
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
Front bars re definitely Dawes branded - not sure about the back bars but they also look very similar to those on the street style. The bike also has a couple of stickers on from SJS cycles. I have contacted to see if they can provide any information about the bike and what spec it had when it was supplied. Its a long shot but worth a try I think. Agree that it may have been supplied like that to order or maybe is slightly later than the 1994 catalogue. Away for a bit now so will look into this a bit more when I get back.
skogar wrote:Front bars re definitely Dawes branded - not sure about the back bars but they also look very similar to those on the street style. The bike also has a couple of stickers on from SJS cycles. I have contacted to see if they can provide any information about the bike and what spec it had when it was supplied. Its a long shot but worth a try I think. Agree that it may have been supplied like that to order or maybe is slightly later than the 1994 catalogue. Away for a bit now so will look into this a bit more when I get back.
Ah. We bought from SJS in 1994 and they made some changes at their suggestion to improve our Double Edge, so it's more than possible that they might have changed the spec to their or a customer's preference.
Bonefish blues - Manyy thnks for the post -its very useful. It wouldn't surprise me if SJS ordered the bike like that possibly due to customer requests or to add some upgrades. If it turns out that is the case then it could be more original than I thought. It may be that the 21 gears were on the original bike as this would be a logical upgrade at the time. Also I can see why flat bars might be wanted. I may need to have a look at some of the components and see if I can work it out if there are any date codes on them if SJS are unable to provide any information on it.
