Dawes ends Galaxy touring bike line after 49 years
 

2020 Dawes Galaxy

Iconic tourer a victim of low sales and massive demand for other bikes, says Dawes


https://road.cc/content/tech-news/da...9-years-278623

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2455e90324.jpg

If they create a "gravel" version of the Galaxy, I'm sure sales would soar.

I have fond memories of the Dawes Galaxy I purchased as a high school senior and rode throughout university. End of an era.

Decades ago there was not a lot of competition in the touring bike range. I am in USA, I was shopping for a touring bike in 2004 and the only touring bikes in stores were Fuji, Trek 520, and Cannondale. Surly that year started selling the LHT as a frame and fork only, not a complete bike and nobody stocked them in retail stores.

I recall doing lots of internet researching for bikes, saw several in the UK and Continental Europe that were not available in USA. Dawes Galaxy was very well thought of.

But now there is a lot of competition in the touring range and I am sure that has hurt the older companies that specialized in it. I think Roberts (UK) stopped selling touring bikes a few years ago. Thorn (UK) still sells touring bikes, but they no longer make them in UK, moved frame production to Asia.

This website has been up for decades with photos of touring bikes, has not been updated for a while. But is still on the internet with some great photos. A quick word search for Galaxy gave me 10 hits.
https://www.pbase.com/canyonlands/fullyloaded

All of the touring bikes I’ve seen on YT in the last decade are either full-on Rivendell style rigs or sloping top tube Aluminum frames with Rohloff hubs and disc brakes.

This bike looks a bit department store -ish in its inbetweeneyness.

On the first day of a loop tour out of Missoula the GF and I rant into 2 solo guys from Scotland doing the Trans Am route in the space of maybe 5 miles. They were both riding Dawes touring bikes. The second guy had no idea a fellow countryman was not that far up the road, so I assumed the first guy did not realize a fellow countryman was behind him.

It's coming .

"We do intend on bringing the Galaxy name back in a year or two,"

Trek just recently released a gravel version of their 520 touring .

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/b...rCode=bluedark


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...191a6ce8f.jpeg

That is exactly the first thought that passed through my head when I read the OP.

Speaking of gravel, the author of the Road.cc article writes:

"...in the last few years the Galaxy must have come under considerable pressure from the new breed of gravel and adventure bikes and the trend of super-lightweight 'bikepacking'. If you can strap bags to any bike, why buy a dedicated tourer optimised for racks and panniers?"

The author must have never done a long distance, self supported tour, where 20 litres of storage space won't cut it.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Had a feeling this was coming. Just a few weeks ago I was trying to confirm the specs on the new Galaxy and couldn't help but notice that the bike was no longer listed as a product off of the main Galaxy website.

If you are in the UK and want a derailleur fitted touring bike, I have an older Thorn Sherpa which I really like. But, it has 26 inch wheels, not 700c like the Galaxy.

... R.I.P. , but rather than cry over spilled Milky Way , what are some alternatives .

Completely agree. This is exactly what I have been thinking about with all the focus on bikepacking/gravel bikes. They work for some situations but without the capacity to include racks and panniers for more extensive touring, it can really limit your excursions. Backcountry winter touring with 20 liters of storage? I don't think so, unless you are staying in a hotel and eating out at restaurants.

Alternatives depends on what type of touring you plan to do. The bike in the photo had 700c wheels, Schwalbe 37mm Marathon tires, fenders, canti brakes, triple crank, and brifters. I can't tell if the frame is aluminum or steel, but the shape of the top tube and downtube have shapes that are uncommon on steel, so I assume aluminum.

So, looks like pretty much a typical off the shelf loaded touring bike designed for pavement (tarmac) touring with derailleur drive train with panniers. Some such bikes use bar end shifters, some use brifters, that is personal choice. For a rim brake bike, the canti brakes instead of V brakes is a bit unusual, but certainly not something that would drive decision making. Perhaps the canti brake choice was based on the cable pull with available brifters.

So, pretty much classic design. Not using the latest changes that the bike industry is pushing, such as through axle, hydraulic disc brakes, giant (and expensive) cassettes, etc. They used triple cranks that some manufacturers are trying to move away from but for a derailleur touring bike a triple is still the best option. Functional, easy to maintain, easy to repair, etc. I would have expected a dynohub, but that might have been an option.

Lots of alternatives out there. Different companies depending on where you are located. In Europe, probably Santos and Koga. Within the UK, Thorn has steel frames, not aluminum. And the Thorn loaded touring bike is more likely to be Rohloff with 26 inch wheels, so not a direct substitute.

Just for fun, here is a thread including the 1969 review of the Dawes Galaxy. It looked like a classical British touring bike with plain gauge 531 main frame.

Don't forget Genesis as well. Their Tour de Fer touring bikes are steel and come in four different configurations currently.

This bike has almost nothing to do with a tour bike anyway. IMO. Good riddance.
The older ones were a bit better I think.

I am still not sure what a gravel bike is, but the bike in the photo has 37mm wide tires, if you stripped off the fenders you could put even wider tires on that bike. Strip off the rack and toe clips and ... <drum roll please> ... you have what looks like a gravel bike.


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2455e90324.jpg

But it's not marketed as a gravel bike and that is much more important than the actual specs of a gravel bike :foo:

We call it the Dawes Gravel X !

Now I understand what a gravel bike is.

How could I have missed the most important criteria, the brochure and website claims?