Advice/Info Please on *another* Dawes Galaxy

[Samuel D]

I couldn't find a website for aycycles - do they only operate out of shops?

I think he meant www.acycles.fr. I have successfully used them.

[Graham]

Oliver,

I have an updated Dawes Super Galaxy ( 1981 ). I still tour on this . . . and use as shopping bike and foul weather hack.

Rear stays cold set out to 135mm
New 700 wheels fitted with XT hub & shimano cassette . . . needing deep drop caliper brakes

Positives
-------------
modern components and standard sizes
Replaced the feeble Weinman centre-pull brakes

Stronglight 80 chainset is still in place with a Shimano sealed BB and chainrings reduced to 40 & 28 ( chainrings from Spa Cycles )
Shimano downtube gear shifters ( 8-speed ) . . . but I could have left the original Suntour shifters in place albeit without indexing.

Thus I have a robust old bike that remains simple and reliable : adequate brakes : an appropriate gear range : not so expensive to upgrade to current state.

[olivermleach]

Graham, how many gears are you running then? 2x8?

[Brucey]

Sorry Brucey - had another look and spotted the michelin protek tyre - that could fit the bill on a small budget. I am not too interested in fast rolling characteristics anyway as I am not fussy when it comes to touring tyres. I'll always take reliability over speed....

I've used one set of Protek tyres on a city bike and they seemed like they were puncture resistant enough, fairly well made (after two years, no sign of the premature aging that has afflicted many schwalbes in recent times) and like most other puncture resistant tyres, a little slower and harsher than I'd like. I've not used them for laden touring but on the basis of what I've seen, I might well do so.

I've also used some very inexpensive Michelin training tyres in recent times and despite my reservations (not expensive, made in the far east, no puncture protection etc) they have actually been OK. I'd venture to suggest that Michelin tyres made in the far east are better quality than those made by many other makers in similar locations.

Re axles; I'd suggest that you buy a shimano one (same M10x1 threading as many others, but do check first), cut it down to the correct length, and use that with the original cones and locknuts. Carry the original axle as a spare.

cheers

[markfh]

Samuel D is correct, I did mean acycles. I have corrected my post above and included a link to their English web page http://www.acycles.co.uk/. Personally I have not used them so cannot vouch for their service.

[olivermleach]

UPDATE

I took the bike to the local shop today (quick plug - Micycle in Finsbury Park, North London). They are pretty sympathetic and have a bit of a liking for old bikes. I have two weeks to go until exams so am going to let them do a service on the bike as they are going to be building a wheel.

They weren't keen on loading the rear wheel, as I thought. They quoted me about £140 to build a 700c wheel witha 5-speed freehub body. They wanted to build a front too for a matching set, but I have that spare front wheel and insisted on using it to save money. I'm pleased with this all as it means keeping the current gears. I thought they might suggest changing to modern gears, but they were very complimentary of it all, and so are building the wheel to suit.
.
Rear Rack - currently attached via p-clips to the seatstays - they didn't recommend loading it in that state and recommended replacing the rack with an axiom that mounts behind the brake caliper and somehow takes up to 50kg. I don't know what other people's experiences have been with the p-clips when heavily loaded (tents etc).
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=58975

They are skeptical whether the current centre-pull Weinmann's will reach the 700c wheels - I implored them to try and they will - I remembered a few people on here suggesting that they'd managed to get them to work.

The tyre issue is now moot - I can stick a standard Schwalbe Marathon on the rear and have a spare for the front.

So it will cost around £190 for the bike serviced and a new rear wheel. They urged me to learn how to strip the bearings and put it back together for next time. Frankly some of the components are pretty rusty so I'd rather someone else took on that job for the first time in at least 10-20 years. So around £350-450 +/- rack/calipers to get the bike ready for loaded touring, including the original £150 cost. Which given the cost of a good quality touring bike these days seems like a good deal, but with the added charm of the original components. I am aware that they make cheap alloy touring bikes for a little more than this - for example: http://www.evanscycles.com/products/daw ... e-ec114614 - but where's the fun in that?

[gerrymcm]

If your CP brakes don't reach your new rims you could try these.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BSSFBSRC/s ... eplacement
You'll need cartridge pads but I think you get another 4 or 5mm of drop but I guess you'll be sacrificing MA.
I know it's more expense but Alhonga do very deep drop brakes which are intended for this exact thing.

Try googling "brake drop bolt" there are commercial version of these things to lower the bolt hole allowing your brake to reach.

There's a posting this forum about improving efficiency of the old CPs by stripping, polishing and greasing/oiling them.

Good luck
Gerry

[gregoryoftours]

If your CP brakes don't reach your new rims you could try these.
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/BSSFBSRC/s ... eplacement
You'll need cartridge pads but I think you get another 4 or 5mm of drop but I guess you'll be sacrificing MA.
I know it's more expense but Alhonga do very deep drop brakes which are intended for this exact thing.

Hmm, those pad holders are interesting, I wonder if they flex much with the mounting bolt set above the inserts. In my experience modern 'extra' deep drop dual pivot calipers work way better than agricultural centre pulls, having a much lighter action and greater power for less effort. You can get nicer ones than the Alhonga ones, quite expensive but I've got some Tektro R559 that come in either conventional nut and bolt or recessed allen fitting. They were about £35 IIRC. They aren't quite as nice quality as deep drop Shimanos but have a bigger drop, up to 73mm.

[olivermleach]

The Tektro R559 long reach brakes have been recommended on this forum before I think:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tektro-tektr ... prod24459/

My main reason for not wanting to switch is not the cost, but wanting to use as many of the existing components as possible. If they don't fit though, then they don't fit. It sounds like the rear might reach but the front probably won't.

[Brucey]

IMHO centre-pull brakes, if set up and maintained correctly, work more than well enough for touring purposes. I still have them on my own touring bike, from choice.

If contemplating a set of DPs, do bear in mind that you should really fit new brake levers as well, because the cable pull is different.

Any new brakeset should come with new cables and new brake pads and these often dominate the braking performance (even if the brake blocks turn out to eat the rims... you don't know that to start with...). DPs have the considerable advantage of simplicity; they are pretty easy to set up. By contrast other brakes (such as cantis and centre pulls) often offer more flexibility but at a price. That price is that you need to be a little more careful with setup.

With CPs (like cantis) the straddle geometry affects the caliper MA (mechanical advantage) considerably. With Mafacs the straddle length is adjustable (for more power if it is set lower) and the post mount allows the clearance to be adjusted too but with weinmann ones neither is so easy to adjust. With weinmann calipers, to a first approximation, the brake will work best if the brake comes on when the caliper is almost fully open. Given that the straddle length is fixed (unless you are prepared to make your own, shorter, straddle cable), in practice this means that you should fit brake blocks that fill the space between the arms and the rim. Thus a good choice is a 'V' brake pad, (although I'd recommend fitting additional washers against the brake arms because the curved washers on the brake pads are usually rather small diameter).

For the OP's dilemma, I wonder if it might be possible to fit drop bolts (see Sheldon Brown) to one or other of the calipers? I have filed CP caliper arms out slightly to give an extra mm or so BTW, and given that V-pad bolts have a reduced shank, I'd expect to get about 3mm extra drop quite easily.

cheers

[Freddie]

Is the saddle set up as your picture in the second post? There seems to be about 12" of drop between saddle top and handlebars, do you find it comfortable riding like this? Will you find it comfortable touring (usually involves more sedate speeds) like that?

[gerrymcm]

gregoryoftours,
Re the offset/dropped brake pad holder and flex.
I've put a pair on bike as temp measure and they did affect the performance of the brake but no so much that I couldn't/wouldn't use it. The entire initial setup was crude though, i.e. extra long cable and not trimmed/squared outers etc, as I was in the process of replacing the fork ASAP to one which was designed for short drop brakes.

So in summary yes it affected my braking performance but at £7.50 plus pads they're quick and cheap although not maybe the best long term solution.

[olivermleach]

Thanks Brucey and others. The planetx pads are certainly interesting but I'd be looking for a more permanent solution.

Brucey, I'd not heard of those. A quick search (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=64678) (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-CAMPA ... 2ee392f941) suggests they are pretty rare and not too cheap. I assume it would be best to use a Campag or similar branded one, over something cheaper or DIY, given the importance of strength and minimal flex in this area through use. I can just imagine something made at home snapping at a bad moment...I've had this happen to a rack securing bolt before.

As an aside, is the spacing within the fork the same as modern forks in terms of the front axle? Haven't got the bike in front of me so can't measure and just found that the spare front wheel is axle-less. I'm assuming so, since Sheldon Brown suggests for variation you have to go back much further I think, to truly vintage French and very old Raleighs.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/bbb- ... -prod29877
100mm?

If a simple solution to the CP brake reach is not forthcoming, it may end up being less hassle to just replace, but then as Brucey mentioned you then need to check the cable pull, and thus the knock-on effect on the brake levers...slippery slope.

[Brucey]

for weinmann CP calipers it would have to be a DIY drop-bolt I would have said. A campag one won't fit. Mind you, I'm optimistic that you will get the extra few mm you need via other means.

Some maillard hubs are about 92mm OLN so you may find that your forks are set that wide. Easy enough to measure this.

cheers

[gerrymcm]

Oliver keep us updated please, being selfish I'm quite interested in this thread. I have an 82 SG (metallic gold orignally but more rust brown now ) bought in 83 as "previous years model", so got a good deal. I'm going to get around to fixing up at some point. I'ts purely for sentimental reasons as it was my first proper bike and it got me into cycling.
When I left home it was borrowed and abused by various friends and family but I took possession of it again a few years I was amazed that everything came apart quite easily, pedals stems etc given that I don't think anyone has even as much as squirted oil on the chain in the last 25 years.

Sorry I've not read right back to beginning of the thread but is keeping the 27" rims and get some 27" tyres an option?
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-27-630-dept203_pg1/
Limited range yes but not completely obsolete yet, you could even stock up!
Clean, lubricate the brakes some new cables and some new pads as Brucey suggests.

Good luck
Gerry