hey, ive tried searching for this and i know its not a racing bike but at the moment i'm not doing any loaded touring and i want to keep up with my riding group so was wondering if it's possible to ditch the MTB gear sets for something more racy. ive been out of cycling for a couple of years so not sure whats what.
or do i look out for a cheap road bike?
not sure on the year dawes i have but it has gear shifts in the brake levers if that helps?
Tim
dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
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timdownieuk
- Posts: 223
- Joined: 25 Jul 2014, 12:05pm
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
tim_399 wrote:hey, ive tried searching for this and i know its not a racing bike but at the moment i'm not doing any loaded touring and i want to keep up with my riding group so was wondering if it's possible to ditch the MTB gear sets for something more racy. ive been out of cycling for a couple of years so not sure whats what.
or do i look out for a cheap road bike?
not sure on the year dawes i have but it has gear shifts in the brake levers if that helps?
Tim
How many gears has it got on the back? If it's 8 or more it'll be a "cassette" gear cluster and changing these is a piece of cake with the right tools. You should be able to find a reasonably priced closer ratio cluster easily enough.
Tim
Last edited by timdownieuk on 30 Jul 2014, 10:45pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
Hi,
Unless your a demon descender you've got plenty enough gears.
A fast road bike it isn't, in nearly all the details, most notable is the high bars (for a road
bike), and a relaxed touring body position doesn't help much going as fast as possible.
You could go closer ratio's on the back, but I don't think it will help much.
Nice 28mm road tyres might help over 32mm Marathons.
rgds, sreten.
Unless your a demon descender you've got plenty enough gears.
A fast road bike it isn't, in nearly all the details, most notable is the high bars (for a road
bike), and a relaxed touring body position doesn't help much going as fast as possible.
You could go closer ratio's on the back, but I don't think it will help much.
Nice 28mm road tyres might help over 32mm Marathons.
rgds, sreten.
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
There could be a whole range of reason why you can't keep up. I see you say you have been out of cycling for a while so that's probably top of the list. The more you do the fitter you wil become and you also may wish to look at your weight. Also worth looking at how you ride in a group. Are you comfortable sitting on a wheel or do you leave quite a gap and therefore expending more energy?
On the bike side the first thing I would change are the wheels, my partner has a Dawes Horizon and we swooped the original wheels for some Quest ones with 25 mm Durano tyres for general riding. Despite these wheels not being particularly 'racey' they made quite a difference compared to the touring wheelset especially with the tyre change (originally Marathon 35 mm) and she now finds it easier to go a bit faster. You could also change to a closer ratio cassette on the new wheels but I doubt the upper gearing would be much higher (the Horizon came with an 11 sprocket).
On the bike side the first thing I would change are the wheels, my partner has a Dawes Horizon and we swooped the original wheels for some Quest ones with 25 mm Durano tyres for general riding. Despite these wheels not being particularly 'racey' they made quite a difference compared to the touring wheelset especially with the tyre change (originally Marathon 35 mm) and she now finds it easier to go a bit faster. You could also change to a closer ratio cassette on the new wheels but I doubt the upper gearing would be much higher (the Horizon came with an 11 sprocket).
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
Modern Galaxies I've seen have paired a road triple with a mtb rear cassette. As others have said, your top gear is probably over 100 inches which is high enough for any club ride. Unless you have a 10 speed cassette the cheapest and simplest change would be to change the rear cassette for a road cassette with a narrower range. You would lose your lowest gear and keep the highest but the gears would be closer together which is optimal for speedy road riding.
I can only repeat what others have said about other factors making a much bigger difference. Lighter wheels and tyres would make a difference. You could look at making the bike lighter by removing the carriers if they do not get used or even the mudguards if the bike only comes out for sunny sunday rides. Versatile as they are, a Galaxy will never quite be a whippet like race bike, so for purely leisure road riding gettinga road bike may be better.
That said, the biggest differences, sadly, tend to be the ones we can make to ourselves. The performance increase which comes with time spent on the bike, improving our fitness, or losing weight from our midriffs is much greater than that which can be gained through better or lighter equipment. If you've been out of cycling for a while I would advise you to give it a while and see how much your performance improves as you get bike fit again before throwing money at the problem. Changing a cassette is not an expensive or irreversible change though, so it may be worth a try.
I can only repeat what others have said about other factors making a much bigger difference. Lighter wheels and tyres would make a difference. You could look at making the bike lighter by removing the carriers if they do not get used or even the mudguards if the bike only comes out for sunny sunday rides. Versatile as they are, a Galaxy will never quite be a whippet like race bike, so for purely leisure road riding gettinga road bike may be better.
That said, the biggest differences, sadly, tend to be the ones we can make to ourselves. The performance increase which comes with time spent on the bike, improving our fitness, or losing weight from our midriffs is much greater than that which can be gained through better or lighter equipment. If you've been out of cycling for a while I would advise you to give it a while and see how much your performance improves as you get bike fit again before throwing money at the problem. Changing a cassette is not an expensive or irreversible change though, so it may be worth a try.
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
Hi,
Yuo can change bits but nothing will change its a relatively
relaxed steel framed touring bike, and not a road bike.
Having said that keeping up is fitness first, bike second.
rgds, sreten.
Yuo can change bits but nothing will change its a relatively
relaxed steel framed touring bike, and not a road bike.
Having said that keeping up is fitness first, bike second.
rgds, sreten.
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
If you do the calculations on the gears you will find that you don't lack for high gears so changing the chainset won't change anything. You may find that the gaps are a bit big and that can be cured by a road cassette.
However I doubt the bike makes much difference. So long as you can be fairly aero a tourer will go as fast as a road bike on the flat. It won't accelerate as fast or climb as quick (since it weighs more) however the differences are far less than you'd think. You won't win any races on a tourer hut if you can't keep up changing the bike won't change that (the rider is more important than the bike). If it were me I'd look to optimise your aero ness by lowering the bars a bit and think about taking the rack off!
However I doubt the bike makes much difference. So long as you can be fairly aero a tourer will go as fast as a road bike on the flat. It won't accelerate as fast or climb as quick (since it weighs more) however the differences are far less than you'd think. You won't win any races on a tourer hut if you can't keep up changing the bike won't change that (the rider is more important than the bike). If it were me I'd look to optimise your aero ness by lowering the bars a bit and think about taking the rack off!
"Marriage is a wonderful invention; but then again so is the bicycle puncture repair kit." - Billy Connolly
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fluffybunnyuk
- Posts: 450
- Joined: 1 Sep 2013, 10:58pm
Re: dawes super galaxy. new bike or change gear ratios
+1 to what fatboy said.
I thought my dawes wasnt good enough for commuting round london, everything and the kitchen sink taken off.
Only to realise its me that isnt fast enough for the bike!!!... Provided theres no hills, or people are prepared to wait while you climb the hill, keeping up shouldnt be a problem. In fact Im fit enough to cycle faster than the "lardies" on road bikes now, and take great pleasure zooming past the "all the kit and no idea" brigade.
I thought my dawes wasnt good enough for commuting round london, everything and the kitchen sink taken off.
Only to realise its me that isnt fast enough for the bike!!!... Provided theres no hills, or people are prepared to wait while you climb the hill, keeping up shouldnt be a problem. In fact Im fit enough to cycle faster than the "lardies" on road bikes now, and take great pleasure zooming past the "all the kit and no idea" brigade.