Dawes Touring range?

[indio32]

Was looking at the current Dawes website and noticed most of the proper tourers have GONE No Super Galaxy (that really surprised me), No Ultra Galaxy etc but there is a 'Galaxy Classic' and a 'Gran Tour' both listed at £1800.

I then happened to notice while doing some research that Canondale have brought out a new touring bike having not had one in the range for good few years... it lists at £1900.

Thought that at the very similar price point you'd get a very similar bike..... but on closer inspection that doesn't appear to be the case.

The Canondale comes with some pretty top spec components i.e loads of Ultegra etc.

Looking at the Dawes offering and it can best be described as a mess of near entry level components apart from maybe the Dura-Ace bar end shifters.

Anyone have a more nuanced view as to whats happening here?

[cycleruk]

A thought would be (without actually checking the spec') that Ultegra wouldn't have low enough gears to suit a "touring bike".

[TrevA]

They seem to have done away with 853 frames. I also think the problem is that when you go above 9 speed you start to run into compatibility problems between road and MTB group sets, which prevents the use of Tiagra and above shifters. Also, most road group sets don't do triples anymore. The 631 Galaxy Excel doesn't look too bad. The Classic just seems to be a retro version of a classic tourer. Who really wants brake cables that stick out of the top of the levers?

[Toeclip]

Just purchased a " Super Galaxy". It is on page 38 or 39 of their catalogue. Not everyones cup of tea though.