crazyoctopus

Mornin' to you all,

I am in the process of compiling a complete model description of vintage (pre-1980) Dawes Galaxy and Dawes Super Galaxy. I have been scouring the internets for a few days now searching for information. I have sent over quite a few PMs and e-mails to people hoping to get some photos and info on their bikes.

so my question to you all is if you have a pre-1980s Dawes Galaxy, or Dawes Super Galaxy; please post up your pictures and a little info if you like.

To make the cyclo-genealogy easier I have noticed that there are a few key areas that have changed over the years. I more than understand that your bike may not be 100% original, but there are some key frame changes that will help show the progression throughout the years.

-If you re-painted the frame, or removed all of the decals; I am sorry but your photos will not be helpful -

- The Steerer tube badge
- The seat tube decal
- The decal/sticker placement
- The serial number placement

Thanks for all of your help in creating a working lineage of the Dawes Galaxy

viscount

More than a couple of Galaxies on here in different threads.
Few more here.
https://flickr.com/groups/dawes_galaxy/
Which you may have seen already!

USAZorro

Gaxies? Is that a popular nickname for galaxies?

viscount

crazyoctopus

yep, that is why I am trying to find out what the different color/sticker/badge/serial placements mean. (the amount of times that i typed Galaxies made my mind all mushy like..)
here are mine

steve-d

Stickers don't make the bike. Dawes did!

I have a nice rebuild and respray. Won't post pics as it seems the sticker placement is of paramount importance.

Mine rides great and is increadibly light weight.

Fast too

Oh, I almost forgot, great looking!

Sixty Fiver

Silly me... I figured the title was a typo and corrected it.

nlerner

Here's a late 70s or early 80s Galaxy that I bought as a frameset, and built up/sold off as a 3-speed:





And here's an earlier Galaxy that I was going to sell off as a single speed speed but instead sold the frameset to BF member wahoonc:



And here's my latest, what I think is a late 70s/early 80s Super Galaxy tourer. The downtube decal is a replacement:



Neal

crazyoctopus

True true that stickers don’t make the bike, but it will help give a better definition of what year the bike was made; so no more 70sish it will be a concrete 75 or 71.
like nlerner i am positive that your bike was from the 70s because of the front head badge, it is the Dawes torch. the 80s headset badges were round with leaves.

nlerner

Actually, I thought the torch headbadge was from the 1960s, and the wreath one shown in my third pic was mid 70s. And then this one below is late 70s/early 80s. That's just a guess, really.

Neal

txvintage

I think the badge in Neil's post was also used into the 90's.

viscount

Sorry Sixty Fiver, I couldn't resist repeating the Gaxie typo (It got attention and responses though, didn't it?)
But nevertheless it is an interesting excercise to try and nail the dates that Dawes changed their badges.
Very little real info of this on the net and it has irked me for ages, and pooling info might make it clearer.

My knowledge coincides with nlerners.
I've got a Galaxy with the oval plain badge believed, but can't prove it, to be 1982.
On Flickr is a Dawes with the wreathed round type and this is definitely 1978 because it was bought from winnings on the Football Pools! (You gotta remember that date!)

https://flickr.com/photos/chris531/26...l-dawes_galaxy

I also had an early Realmrider with the cool torch badge, but that was from the early 60s and I won't bore you with more pics of it here.
And it doesn't help nailing the changeover date.
Reputedly Dawes changed the torch badge after the factory fire to the wreathed version.
Sounds right to me.

Question is when did the changeover from the wreathed to the oval plain type occur?
Seems to be between 78 and, possibly, 82.
Anybody got an oval badge confirmed from or before 82?

cudak888 

Similar, but different font, and all caps.

-Kurt

viscount

Absolutely right. There are at least two versions of the oval plain badge.
Later - I presume - were also stickers?
No experience here of the post Birmingham lugless Dawes.

txvintage

The post birmingham bikes are a different animal all together. I still think I have one fo the last few actual "Hand Built In England" bikes.

Too bad, the oddities to ech build is really interesting.

crazyoctopus

awesome info on the head badge nlerner, and the more pictures I find the more chukk's torch removal idea in 1975 makes all the sense. When I get home this evening I will date the brakes so that way i can get a better guess as to what year it is, but form the look of the serials they might make sense.


1972 - bottom bracket serial # R 8213, or 8273


19(66-74) - dropout serial # MS 5695


if they all kinda follow the same progression the 2nd number might be the key to finding out what year they were made. What are your serial numbers and their placements?

viscount

Really interesting...

Dawes are so interesting, but so frustrating....
Yours does look like an English, rather than a Taiwanese, or whatever, built machine.
In any case I would say that a proper Dawes can only ever be an English built machine.
(nothing what ever to do with me being English, you understand...)

crazyoctopus

so any of you check what your serial number is yet?

jonwvara 

This may not help because it's not a Galaxy, but the serial number of my Double Blue is ES2???, with the first question mark likely a 3 6, or 8. The number is on the rear non-drive-side dropout. Wiser heads than mine have deemed it to be from the twilight of the teddy boy era--maybe 1963 or so. It has the torch head badge.
JV

crazyoctopus

and so the mystery continues... anyone else taken the time to look at their serial?

viscount

My old Galaxy (1982) has this SN.

AF5 202. No numbers hiding under the cable guide.

The date is within a year.
Has reynolds stickers denoting 531 ST (Super Tourer)

duel38

I just dug my Dawes Galaxy out of the attic. I am going to look into the serial numbers and such. I got it when I was in college ... pre 1980 ... used it to rehab my knee from surgery. It was the fastest bike around <G>. it had to be 6 to 10 years old at the time. I am looking to get it restored but keep it original. It is in pretty good shape, needs tires and a seat, some cables but all is there. It is all original at this point. Any ideas?

PDXaero

just to add to the database my 84 dawes has a S/N that appears to be C3121 preceded by a sideways Z

P4D 

I am trying to get a read on this Dawes Galaxy in terms of year, etc. Anyone seen one in these colors that might help with the vintage? Anything on this bike I should be particularly worried about inspecting beyond the normal?

https://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...esgalaxy63.jpg

nlerner

Given the font on the downtube, I'd guess 1980s if that fade paint scheme is original. They were all the rage in the late 80s. Can't tell much else without detailed pics of the seat stay area, headbadge, and fork crown. I think this thread documents those differences pretty well.

Neal