Re-Building an old Dawes Galaxy Advice please

[jakobpoffley]

I've just bought a Dawes Galaxy on eBay for just £160 pounds mainly for the frame because most of the parts need replacing. I want to do it all myself because then i know how it all works for if i have any problems on future tours. So the main parts i need to get is a new chainset but I don't really know what to look for. I want something good for touring but also for commuting 26 miles a day. I'm going touring for 25 days in Norway this summer so need something fairly good for hills. I also wanted to change the downtube shifters to bar end shifters. Any ideas for which are best would also be appreciated. The bike currently has a 7 speed cassette but i was wondering if that can be upgraded to a 8 or 9 speed easily or would the spacing be wrong. I don't need to change it but if i can i think i might as well.
Also what rear pannier rack is best for touring (i've already got a front rack). I don't really want to spend the amount tubus racks cost but are cheaper racks worth it?
I'm willing so spend quite a lot on the parts as i got the bike for such a cheap price.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[gaz]

Chainset: Both Spa XD2 and Spa 104 are widely considered to be good value. Which depends on you choice of gear ratios. You may need a different length of bottom bracket to the one you have now.

Bar-end shifters: Shimano are the most obvious choice for indexed, Dia-Compe for friction only. There may be others.

Cassette: Check the Over Lock Nut measurement for the rear dropouts of your frame. If it's 130mm then I'd expect your existing hub to be a 7 speed MTB model. I've little experience of freehubs and cassettes, it will certainly fit a 8 from 9 cassette. Alternatively the frame can be spread to 135mm to accept current 8/9/10 speed MTB hubs. It may also be possible to change the freewheel part of the current freehub and re-space it to 135mm.

[mercalia]

I used to have an 25" Horizon Tour 3x7 speed ( before an attempted theft vandalised it) - the same frame as the Galaxy but cheaper parts. This was a C1999 model. For a chainset I would go for no higher than 46/36/26 - the stock too high in my opinion, I never used the top ring. The BB was a 118mm Un52 ( now un55?) I think, thats what I replaced the rubbish one it came with and was ok ( still have it as a spare for my 1-Down), but I suppose depends on which chainset u go for?

[jakobpoffley]

Chainset: Both Spa XD2 and Spa 104 are widely considered to be good value. Which depends on you choice of gear ratios. You may need a different length of bottom bracket to the one you have now.

Bar-end shifters: Shimano are the most obvious choice for indexed, Dia-Compe for friction only. There may be others.

Cassette: Check the Over Lock Nut measurement for the rear dropouts of your frame. If it's 130mm then I'd expect your existing hub to be a 7 speed MTB model. I've little experience of freehubs and cassettes, it will certainly fit a 8 from 9 cassette. Alternatively the frame can be spread to 135mm to accept current 8/9/10 speed MTB hubs. It may also be possible to change the freewheel part of the current freehub and re-space it to 135mm.

Thanks for your reply. Those chainsets look incredible good value. However do you think it would be worth spending a bit more or are these very good?
I've done a bit of research and shimano ones look good.
I've just measured it and it is actually already 135mm. I don't really know much about any of this so could you say what my options are. Whats the difference between a mtb hub and a road hub? I'm guessing i'd have to replace the hub if i want to upgrade to a bigger cassette then?

[greyingbeard]

road hub rear is 140mm, mtb 135
measure the space between dropouts on your frame to see what you need
cassettes just fit on. make sure you have a long mtb derailleur.

[mercalia]

The decision re chainset is whether to stick with the square taper or not - Shimano dont do that any more with their good ones? Many people here think that the square taper BB still makes a lot of sense

[gaz]

road hub rear is 140mm, mtb 135.

I hope that's a typo. Road hubs are 130mm.

... I don't really know much about any of this so could you say what my options are. Whats the difference between a mtb hub and a road hub? I'm guessing i'd have to replace the hub if i want to upgrade to a bigger cassette then?

I don't know much more about cassette hubs than I've already posted. It's possible that your existing 7 speed cassette has been fitted with a spacer behind it and the hub can already take a 8/9 speed. Wait for others with more experience of theses things to reply, if your hubs are Shimano post the model numbers.

MTB hubs tend to have better seals than road hubs. The wider OLN means, everyhing else being equal, that a wheel has less dish when built around a MTB hub.

[gaz]

Thanks for your reply. Those chainsets look incredible good value. However do you think it would be worth spending a bit more or are these very good?

They are good value. Spa also do the same XD2 chainsets with upgraded chainrings, full range here. In this case upgraded is likely to mean lighter and longer lasting, everything else being equal.

[jakobpoffley]

Road hubs are 130mm.

Are all road hubs the same then. So if mine is 135mm i need to get a mtb hub then right?

[jakobpoffley]

The hub my bike says 'Shimano STX fh-mc30' I'd post a photo but i'm not sure i can on here. What does it look like if it has a spacer?

[jakobpoffley]

Thanks for your reply. Those chainsets look incredible good value. However do you think it would be worth spending a bit more or are these very good?

They are good value. Spa also do the same XD2 chainsets with upgraded chainrings, full range here. In this case upgraded is likely to mean lighter and longer lasting, everything else being equal.

I'll probably get the standard XD2 as the one with upgraded chainrings is £125 which is a bit too much. It looks good though

[jakobpoffley]

I've uploaded a photo of the hub. Hopefully this helps

[gaz]

Your hub appears to come in both 130 and 135 varieties.

A cassette spacer is nothing more than a washer.

AFAICT the odds are in your favour of being able to replace the 7 speed freewheel unit with one suitable for 8/9 speed. You'll need to move some of the spacers from the non-drive side to the drive side (approx 3mm) and re-dish the wheel. Someone with more knowledge of cassette systems will be along soon to confirm.

[jakobpoffley]

Thank you for the help. I brought the bike to a bike shop today for their advice. We've decided to leave it at 7 speed because they don't think its worth the effort for so few extra gears and 7 will be enough.

[Brucey]

FWIW the 7s hub builds into a significantly stronger wheel than 8s so I'd be inclined to leave it that way on a touring machine. The MC30 hub is pretty good quality too.

If you want more gears then it is possible to fit an 8-from-9 cassette to a 7s hub. This means that you can ditch the (effectively useless) 11T sprocket from a typical 9s cluster.

There are various ways you can use either an 8s shifter (with a tweak to the cable mount at the mech) or (of course) a 9s shifter with this setup.

cheers