Hello - I'm new on here.
I thought I would review my 2000 Dawes Galaxy which I've owned for 19 years.
It's a workhorse that has commuted, toured, been ignored in the attic, taken my son for bike rides on the back, or attached with a tag-a-long, and recently rekindled a love of long bike rides on good lanes.
It looks tatty, with mismatched forks, and scabby lacquer. But the important bits are all in good condition or replaced as required. I've not upgraded much - just the seat (Charge Spoon), the tyres (Marathon Supreme - 32mm summer, 35mm winter), and most importantly of all the brake pads.
The worst bit of the bike, by some margin, is the god awful canti-lever brakes. "Oh, you just need to adjust them properly!" - you can stuff that advice where the sun does not shine Nobby-know-it-all. With the Shimano brake pads - 2 hours of careful cleaning, chamfering and rim scrubbing gives about 1 hour of decent dry braking performance on a ride, or 0.00001 hours decent brake performance in the wet. If it's muddy/salty - I'm convinced pulling the brakes actually makes the bike accelerate.
They are awful, and that comes from the idiot that cleaned his Raleigh record sprint rims with WD40! The logic was along these lines, "WD40 is great at cleaning metal. My wheels are made of metal. I shall clean them with WD40". How I got a degree in engineering is a mystery...
And yet the WD40 centre pull econo-brakes were STILL better than the canti-levers.
Bad brakes make you brilliant at anticipation. Unfortunately that anticipation was more along the lines, "Yep - I'm definitely going to crash there... " <crump>
After one too many near "man and bike bush insertion incidents" on Chiltern descents (stop tittering you at the back) I decided to stop being a victim and look for a solution.
Fortunately as a wizened old geezer, with a bit more engineering nous between the ears than the young idiot with WD40. I thought, "Hmm - on my motorbikes, different brake pads make a big difference". And so I sought the best pads for cantilevers.
All hail the gods Koolstop - and their astonishing Salmon pads.
You can imagine the comedy of the first ride when I pulled the levers with my usual rock crushing grip and hearing the long forgotten squeal of tyres and the sense of panic and confusion as the world rotated about the front axle.
After a little rest, waiting for the adrenaline to subside - a massive, shit eating grin spread across my face.
Wow - what a difference.
The salmon Koolstops still need maintenance to keep them tip top - but it's 30 minutes cleaning per 1000km in the dry and 200km in the wet. And the brakes have improved from, "We are all going to die!", to, "adequate at a push I suppose": Which is literally a life saviour. The Chiltern bush is safe from my embrace.
Flush with my success, I thought, what else can I improve?
It turns out a couple more areas. Starting with the tyres.
In the depths of lockdown I got my hands on a simple set of rollers. A poor substitute for real lanes, but strangely addictive and at that stage of the plague, country vigilantes would hoist towny cycle scum into their wicker baskets if we ventured onto their lanes.
The first couple of sessions were not a success - not because I fell off - although I did: But because I was turning puce trying to ride at 15kph! "Am I really that unfit? Have I been conning myself that I average 22mph at all times?"
It took many days of falling in a heap, spinning the rollers by hand with no resistance, and scratching my head before I found the cause.
Dawes Galaxy's from 2000 came with Marathon Plus tyres - brilliant for the apocalypse, because only a samari sword can puncture them: But unknown to me, probably the most awful combination of discomfort and rolling resistance of any road tyre.
Whilst reading the Thorn bike bible, I was taken by the high opinion of Marathon Supreme's and bought a pair in 32mm.
Initially, these new fangled folding tyres raised an eyebrow: I could literally fit the tyre with my thumbs - what is this magic! Surely they will explode when they meet the first road pimple? So I took them for a ride, and developed a bout of happy Tourette's.
Holy f%^$%T^$% s$%t - this can't be possible! They are MUCH quicker and MUCH more comfortable. For the first time my bike felt plush. Forget the steel nonsense - if you want a plush ride, find better tyres at lower pressures.
I've since ridden gravel, pot-holes, pave, mud - otherwise known as a typical winter Chiltern lane and they've been robust and impervious to puncture.
Brilliant.
The final change was the seat - I didn't realise that big squashy seats are not comfortable on long rides. A number of folk like the Charge Spoon so I took a chance and found the plank in the shape of a spoon - is actually just the ticket for long rides. I don't think about the seat area at all anymore.
And finally, what is good about the Dawes Galaxy? I read with horror, folk with modern bikes worth thousands that have snapped/cracked frames: I take completely for granted that my workhorse has never let me down, yet it has not had a pampered life, and has done most of its miles across rubbish London roads, bumpy Chiltern lanes and gravel paths. Often with 5-20kg of stuff attached to the rack.
The old school 531 gusset frame looks fantastic, and although I would prefer a slanted top tube for practicality and a higher bar - I think the classic flat triangles look ace.
The 9 speed Deore XT transmission with bar end levers is very old school, but it works. Granted, I don't change gear much - preferring to vary cadence until it gets too steep. But when I do, it slots in without adjustment or complaint.
As a touring frame, I've got bosses everywhere, mudguards and rear rack as standard. I love the aesthetics of bike packing - but packing and unpacking looks a complete faff compared to my 2 x 1L bidons in the frame, a rack pack, and even a pannier for the self-sufficient longer rides.
People tell me its heavy, but I don't have a light bicycle so I don't know what I'm missing.
I also don't have a stiff bike, so I can't tell you if it accelerates quickly for a bike: I have a motorbike, and that accelerates MUCH quicker - does that compare?
It's earned a tenured place in the garage, and I have dual flat/SPD peddles so I can just pop to the shops in normal shoes with no ceremony.
I suspect when the plague lifts, I'm going to get addicted to 'proper' Audaxes and I might make a case for something like a Spa Elan. But in the mean time I'll keep adding the miles to the Galaxy.
Crikey - that was long one. Thanks for reading. And if you do have a Galaxy deep at the back of the shed, or hidden in the attic - I hope it gives you the impetus to blow the dust off and take it for a ride - although maybe fit Koolstops first if you venture onto hills or city streets.
