Cycling UK Forum

Hi all,

I'm brand new on here and have recently bought an old Dawes Super Galaxy tandem. I've been using it with the other half at weekends and been tweeking/servicing bits as I familiarise myself with our new machine.

We intend to use it for camping/touring and pub trips and I've been looking at renewing the tyres. Shwalbe Marathon Mondials have the greatest load capacity and a good combination of other qualities and I'd like to fit the widest tyre possible. Does anyone have experience fitting them to a Super Galaxy tandem or know how wide these tyres really are when fitted? The additional stay (between seat stay and chain stay) looks very narrow.

Here's some photos to help identify the age and any other useful distinguishing features. By all means comment on anything else you see, any advice/tips would be gratefully received.







Many thanks for any help.

Sam

I don't think you'll get Mondials on it,we had Dawes SGT just like yours and IIRC there's not enough clearance,which is no loss really Mondials are awful on tarmac,they're slow and draggy and squirm in the wet.
If you're looking for something with a bit of tread Schwalbe Marathons (not M+)will do the trick,if you're looking to ride mostly tarmac and the odd mild offroad towpath etc, Panaracer Ribmo's are great tandem tyres,quick and very puncture resistant.
We've used both extensively and I've no problem recommending either for tandem use.

See this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=98204

I have Panaracer Crosstowns fitted - no problems at all. Just that our Tandems seem to be of a similar vintage...

Thanks both. I'll have another look at the Marathons and the Rimbo. Does anyone know what the load rating is for the Rimbo, or how to find it?

if you can, lose the suicide levers!

DoubleTrouble wrote:Thanks both. I'll have another look at the Marathons and the Rimbo. Does anyone know what the load rating is for the Rimbo, or how to find it?

Panaracer don't publish a load rating for their tyres. However when I've e-mailed them (via their website) with queries concerning tyre usage (in relation to load rating) they have replied accordingly.

cheers

We've got one of those (tandems)- well, technically we nicked it off my girlfriends dad, as he wasn't using it anymore. We've got normal Marathons on it, and I can confirm that it does roads (in dry or wet- would not voluntarily take the machine out in snow/on ice!) and towpaths and stuff just fine.

Funnily enough, when we rescued it from a shed and got the wheels straightened and the machine generally fettled, we put two new Marathons on it, and the rear actually exploded with a terrifying report, in a way I've never seen a tyre fail before or since. Turned out to be a latent defect in the tyre and the shop that sold it were incredibly apologetic and replaced it faster than a fast thing.

It's a great bike, I think the longest we've done was about 225 miles over four days, which was a great pleasure- at the beginning of our relationship and we're still together . I agree about taking the 'safety levers' off the brakes, and make sure you muck out the Arai hub-brake and check the shoes. You can get 50mph downhill very easily out of it, and being able to scrub off speed and/or stop (neither of us is a waif) from that speed needs attention to the brakes.

Happy tandeming!

Thanks very much Jardine. I forgot to mention this is our first tandem and we're loving it! Do you know what width Marathons you have fitted? Arai brake and rear hub inspection is next on my list... Thanks

.

The Marathon Dureme is Schwalbe's tandem specific tyre. Planet X currently have them on offer at £14.99.

gaz wrote:

DoubleTrouble wrote:Here's some photos to help identify the age and any other useful distinguishing features.

Welcome to the forum.

Much of the kit looks similar to the 1990 catalogue model. There will be a date code on any Shimano equipment.

DoubleTrouble wrote:Arai brake and rear hub inspection is next on my list... Thanks

Suzue rear tandem hubs are famed for the cheese grade metal used in their axles. Longstaffs used to do a Cr-Mo upgrade, not sure if they still do.

They do.

You're welcome... I did just have a look, though (it's under a cover and hasn't been on the road for a year or so- the stoker growing, delivering and feeding a small boy has temporarily put paid to tandeming!) and they're actually Marathon Plus 28mm, which are very tough but maligned for being slow. Fixing a rear flat is a bit more of a pain on the Super Galaxy Twin, so a reasonable trade-off.

As regards verifying the age of Dawes bikes- there was a good thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=98903#p921389

Mike

pete75 wrote:The Marathon Dureme is Schwalbe's tandem specific tyre. Planet X currently have them on offer at £14.99.

Just be careful because there are (or rather were, Duremes were discontinued a couple of years back) tandem and solo variants. The planet x ones are indeed advertised as being the tandem ones.

Again, thanks for all the help everyone. The Dureme seems only available in 40mm. Would this fit my frame?

DoubleTrouble wrote:Again, thanks for all the help everyone. The Dureme seems only available in 40mm. Would this fit my frame?

Don't think so,I'd say your maximum size would be a 35mm slick.