More Dawes bashing?

[CREPELLO]

you would not want to use a F1 engine on a family car it would break down after a few 100 miles

I'm not calling for a Dura-Ace Ultra Galaxy but what would be wrong with full Ultegra or even full 105 versions... Dawes are after all charging £1800. Are these group sets considered unreliable? And if not what would make them unsuitable?

I ask in part because if I did build up an Ultra Galaxy frame I'd use full Ultegra apart from brakes and wheels.

Because current 105 and ultegra don't do triple shifters or triple cranks. Because current 105 and ultegra only have mid cage rear derailleurs which may support up to a cassette of 32 but only with a double up front. Shimano have in their wisdom removed triples from anything above tiagra so you just cannot do it.

Also, Ultergra hubs are 130 OLN road standard. Tourers use 135 MTB spec hubs. Anyway, aren't the hubs LX (which is 105 equivlent), so a little more than £60 a pair.

The rack wasn't a Blackburn? Is Tubus cro-mo steel no good to you?

You seem to be caught up on the 'mish mash' of components. Sometimes this results from pricing a bike to a price and because there is no drop-bar specific touring group set. As was said above, you could spec and fit a 9 speed MTB rear mech, but they aren't generally available now on the higher groupo's. Which is why Dawes fit the 105 with a 11?-30 cassette. And that is why I choose to build up my own tourer, complete with a wonderful mish-mash of parts

BTW, I'm sure the front badge wasn't peeling - it's hard plastic. Just the protective film you get on new stuff.

[Ben@Forest]

My Dawes Galaxy Tour 2004 has been utterly brilliant, good value for money and still going strong. Everything original except rims and other consumables, sprockets etc.

+1. I bought my 2004 model in spring 2005 at a substantially reduced price, has been superb. If I was forced to choose only one from the five bikes I own it would be the Galaxy.

[honesty]

oh, forgot about OLN, good catch.

Another thing to say is they have 105 level disc brakes (BR R517), so thats going to add to the price as well.

I've finally checked on the shimano tech docs website (doesnt open well on my phone) at the T551 crank is listed in their none groupset component section, but looks to be at Deore level

EDIT: found it on their line ups, and its actually LX level, not Deore, and definitely not sub Deore as the OP said:
http://productinfo.shimano.com/lineupchart.html#series=deore_lx&speed=3x10

[honesty]

Ok, so for clarity the ultra has:

Tiagra level triple shifters, triple front derailleur (highest level of either that Shimano currently do) and cassette
LX level crank, bb, and hubs
105 level rear derailleur and brakes

remember 105 is the road equivalent of LX, so apart from those parts that they physically cannot get, Dawes have fitted LX level across the board (Well apart from the cassette, but that makes sense to me)

Brooks saddle, Tubus rear rack (considered better than a Blackburn one), and marathon tyres are all pretty much best in class.
Alex rims are probably a cost saving exercise, but good for touring.

Seems a pretty decent setup if you ask me. As you can get last years model at a pretty hefty discount paying RRP would be a bit mad on this bike though!

[Erudin]

... the T551 crank is listed in their none groupset component section, but looks to be at Deore level

EDIT: found it on their line ups, and its actually LX level, not Deore, and definitely not sub Deore as the OP said:
http://productinfo.shimano.com/lineupchart.html#series=deore_lx&speed=3x10

There is one for sale on the forum at: http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=90018. The cheapest I could find it to buy new was over £70. I think 48-36-26T is a good choice for a touring chainset, plus it's easy enough to fit a 22t inner if required.

Not sure if 10 speed stuff is necessary for a tourer or if it will mix and match with 7/8/9 speed components (I guess it won't), but looks like that's where things are headed for new touring bikes.

[andrewk]

On the crank, I believe components starting with 5 with 3 numbers are Deore level. So tiagra equivalent for mountain bike components. More than likely specced as the only trekking crank Shimano do. Deore is pretty standard in touring bikes.

As an aside spacycles.co.uk have a 2013 ultra galaxy for 1290 quid...

Shimano do a full range of trekking cranksets from Deore to XT (doubles and triples). Ignore UK shops for this kind of stuff as its very much a minority market here whereas its mainstream in Germany. Try Rose bikes, bike 24, fahrrad.de etc.

[LondonBikeCommuter]

Shimano have in their wisdom removed triples from anything above tiagra so you just cannot do it.

Thanks, that's good to know as I was thinking of replacing my double with a triple on my commuter as I'd seen an Ultegra triple.

If there is a Tiagra triple is there a reason that Dawes don't use it?

[honesty]

Tiagra is a road triple so 50/39/30 so because lower gearing with the LX one they use I would expect that's why they chose than one.

[Bicycler]

An older one might have paired a road triple with a mtb cassette but that isn't an option with 10 speed and road STIs

[LondonBikeCommuter]

Ultegra is very high end and expensive , why do you want that

Seems the marketeers have got to you and you are more bothered about where the equipment is in the Shimano hierarchy rather than its functionality

Your almost certainly right in my ignorance I'm being a bit of a bike snob.

In my defense I'd say that a quality tourer will last decades so the extra cost of the group set is pretty insignificant and yet you get the benefit a high end product for decades.

Out of interest what is the difference between Tiagra and Ultegra from a cyclist POV?

[LondonBikeCommuter]

I would ignore the £1800 tag. Dawes are one of those brands where you can always save massively on their RRP

For those that know what, looking at the Ultra Galaxy would be a 'fair' price?

[LondonBikeCommuter]

Also, Ultergra hubs are 130 OLN road standard. Tourers use 135 MTB spec hubs. Anyway, aren't the hubs LX (which is 105 equivlent), so a little more than £60 a pair.

The rack wasn't a Blackburn? Is Tubus cro-mo steel no good to you?

You seem to be caught up on the 'mish mash' of components. Sometimes this results from pricing a bike to a price and because there is no drop-bar specific touring group set. As was said above, you could spec and fit a 9 speed MTB rear mech, but they aren't generally available now on the higher groupo's. Which is why Dawes fit the 105 with a 11?-30 cassette. And that is why I choose to build up my own tourer, complete with a wonderful mish-mash of parts

BTW, I'm sure the front badge wasn't peeling - it's hard plastic. Just the protective film you get on new stuff.

With regards wheels I was expecting a fully loaded bike and a potentially heavy rider coupled to speed and dodgy roads that the Ultra Galaxy would have had better wheels....cyclocross standard?

I think that the mish mash comment you make about hitting price points hits the nail on the head for me regarding concerns. The Ultra Galaxy shouldn't in my view be about cost it should be about the best touring bike money can buy and if it costs £2k or whatever then so be it. Yes the Galaxy, Galaxy plus etc can be about hitting price points not the Ultra.

Galaxy tourer, Blackburn racks, Brooks saddle its a heritage thing!

I've seen 3 2014 Ultra Galaxy's and I can tell you the Dawes badge was peeling on all 3 and it had nothing to do with a protective film. I was so surprised I mentioned it here a while back and even took a photo. The bar taping seemed a bit amateurish as well.

from a mate who recommended a Galaxy's Dropbox as my phone copy got deleted.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/qv39fd10v5hs ... 1zpBsO7rwa

[wearwell]

I would ignore the £1800 tag. Dawes are one of those brands where you can always save massively on their RRP

For those that know what, looking at the Ultra Galaxy would be a 'fair' price?

Spa have the 2013 at £1290 which looks like a good price to me.
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s21p2892
Seems to be the Dawes way - catch out some unwary buyers with latest model at daft prices which will be hugely reduced in a very short time but perhaps not available in the frame size you want.

[Bicycler]

I'd agree with that. Much more or any price around the Ultra's RRP and I'd be looking for something custom built. If I had that kind of money to spend on a bike I wouldn't accept compromises on important parts of the bike. For me compromises include things like road triples, 10spd gears and sti shifters. Obviously people want different things, but at £1800 I wouldn't want somebody else's idea of a touring bike.

[Bicycler]

- Removed double post -