Upgrading a 10 speed Dawes Galaxy - help needed !

Pete A said:

Dont know if anyone can give me some advice - Im renovating &
upgrading an old Dawes Galaxy at moment. It has a 5 speed freewheel on
the back, and double chainset on the front. My original plan was to
upgrade it to 21 speed (triple front, bar end shifters), keeping the
original wheels and fitting a 7 speed freewheel - have realised now
that Ive bought bike & started work on it that there wont be enough
room on the rear wheel.

Im trying to do the bike up as cheaply as possible; is my only option
to have the rear wheel rebuilt to allow more room for the freewheel ?

You'll probably get away with stretching (cold-setting) the frame to fit the
rear wheel on a 7-speed. If your frame is only 120mm between the dropouts it
will need modifying. If its 126mm, you'll get away with springing a 130mm
axle in a springy frame like a Galaxy. See Sheldon on Cold-setting:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

If the wheel isn't long enough for the gear cluster, then you need a longer
axle (which is just a piece of steel with cone threads cut on it, with a
hole up the middle if its a quick-release), and some spacers (which are just
cylinders of metal; often aluminium, but steel will do) to move the outer
locknuts to the width you require.
When I recently changed the cone on one of my bikes, the replacement I could
get was a different length to the old one, so I had to make a new spacer of
the right length to get the overall axle to be the same width when finished.
A lathe can make spacers in a few minutes. A powerdrill, hacksaw and file
can do them as well, but takes a little longer to finish to required
lengths.

However, having seen your post about 27in tyres, I wonder if the rebuild to
21 (or more) gears should be seen as a long term big upgrade. Change it all
to 700c wheels, modern cassette hubs (arguably stronger than screw-on
types), etc...

27in tyres are still around; I use Michelin World Tour's on my station hack
bike, less than £10 each new in many shops.

- Nigel

--
NC - Webmaster for http://www.2mm.org.uk/
Replies to newsgroup postings to the newsgroup please.

Pete A said:

Dont know if anyone can give me some advice - Im renovating &
upgrading an old Dawes Galaxy at moment. It has a 5 speed freewheel on
the back, and double chainset on the front. My original plan was to
upgrade it to 21 speed (triple front, bar end shifters), keeping the
original wheels and fitting a 7 speed freewheel - have realised now
that Ive bought bike & started work on it that there wont be enough
room on the rear wheel.

Im trying to do the bike up as cheaply as possible; is my only option
to have the rear wheel rebuilt to allow more room for the freewheel ?

Pete A.

One is tempted to ask why? A Dawes Galaxy is a perfectly servicable
bike with ten gears, 21 gears is to my mind pointless on a bike of this
age, type and construction. Having done thousands of miles on a CB
Dalesman (same bike) without any problems over hills and dales I would
advise saving the cash for a lighter bike.
In my experience doing up an old bike is likely to cost you dearly. the
cost of chain, chain wheels, shifters, cassette, hub, bottom bracket and
axle is likely to be more than finding what you want second hand and
already built. Conceivably you might spend a third to half of the cost
of a new roadie anyway.
Seriously I would put it back together and use it as is. It was a great
bike when it was built and is probably still in fine shape if it has not
been abused.

Sniper8052

NC said:

Pete A said:

Dont know if anyone can give me some advice - Im renovating &
upgrading an old Dawes Galaxy at moment. It has a 5 speed freewheel
on the back, and double chainset on the front. My original plan was
to upgrade it to 21 speed (triple front, bar end shifters), keeping
the original wheels and fitting a 7 speed freewheel - have realised
now that Ive bought bike & started work on it that there wont be
enough room on the rear wheel.

Im trying to do the bike up as cheaply as possible; is my only option
to have the rear wheel rebuilt to allow more room for the freewheel ?

You'll probably get away with stretching (cold-setting) the frame to
fit the rear wheel on a 7-speed. If your frame is only 120mm between
the dropouts it will need modifying. If its 126mm, you'll get away
with springing a 130mm axle in a springy frame like a Galaxy. See
Sheldon on Cold-setting:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/frame-spacing.html

You /may/ not even need to do this. My Revell Romany frame dates from 1984
and was originally built for 126 mm OLN hubs. On fitting a seven-speed
block, I put a 1 mm thick washer between the cone and locknut on each side,
which spronged the dropouts far enough apart.

--

Dave Larrington - http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/
World Domination?
Just find a world that's into that kind of thing, then chain to the
floor and walk up and down on it in high heels. (Mr. Sunshine)

"Sniper8052(L96A1)" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Pete A said:

Dont know if anyone can give me some advice - Im renovating &
upgrading an old Dawes Galaxy at moment. It has a 5 speed freewheel on
the back, and double chainset on the front. My original plan was to
upgrade it to 21 speed (triple front, bar end shifters), keeping the
original wheels and fitting a 7 speed freewheel - have realised now
that Ive bought bike & started work on it that there wont be enough
room on the rear wheel.

Im trying to do the bike up as cheaply as possible; is my only option
to have the rear wheel rebuilt to allow more room for the freewheel ?

Pete A.

One is tempted to ask why? A Dawes Galaxy is a perfectly servicable
bike with ten gears, 21 gears is to my mind pointless on a bike of this
age, type and construction. Having done thousands of miles on a CB
Dalesman (same bike) without any problems over hills and dales I would
advise saving the cash for a lighter bike.
In my experience doing up an old bike is likely to cost you dearly. the
cost of chain, chain wheels, shifters, cassette, hub, bottom bracket and
axle is likely to be more than finding what you want second hand and
already built. Conceivably you might spend a third to half of the cost
of a new roadie anyway.
Seriously I would put it back together and use it as is. It was a great
bike when it was built and is probably still in fine shape if it has not
been abused.

Sniper8052

I agree with Sniper,
Keep it as it is.

If you really do want to spend money on it, consider
a) new fork (carbon would be nice)
b) are they steel rims? Get the hubs rebuilt onto aluminium rims.
c) new bar/stem combo
d) new (ok, second hand, NOS) 5 speed kit.
e) respray - I think it is universally acknowledged that a red bike
goes faster than a british racing green bike. A pearlescent black
bike goes even faster.

Have fun
S

Pete A said:

Dont know if anyone can give me some advice - Im renovating &
upgrading an old Dawes Galaxy at moment. It has a 5 speed freewheel on
the back, and double chainset on the front. My original plan was to
upgrade it to 21 speed (triple front, bar end shifters), keeping the
original wheels and fitting a 7 speed freewheel - have realised now
that Ive bought bike & started work on it that there wont be enough
room on the rear wheel.

Im trying to do the bike up as cheaply as possible; is my only option
to have the rear wheel rebuilt to allow more room for the freewheel ?

Pete A.

In accordance with other posters, please don't do it.

Refurbing a Dawes Galaxy immediately marks you as :-

1. An ageing bearded sandal wearing curmudgeon.

2. A CTC member who thinks bicycle technology peaked with the Dawes Galaxy.

3. Probably a council worker, possibly even a librarian.

Save your soul, buy something new incorporating carbon fibre.

"trembler50" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In accordance with other posters, please don't do it.

Refurbing a Dawes Galaxy immediately marks you as :-

1. An ageing bearded sandal wearing curmudgeon.

Hang on - is that supposed to be a downside?

cheers,
clive

[email hidden] (stephen pridgeon) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

If you really do want to spend money on it, consider
a) new fork (carbon would be nice)

In which case....

Quoted message said:

c) new bar/stem combo

.....will also be necessary, as will a new (Ahead) headset, since I
don't know of any carbon forks for tourers that use a threaded
steering column. 1" threadless ones are, for now, still available,
though (Sintema Muddy [1], and probably others).

David E. Belcher

[1] The name is a bit of a giveaway as far as their intended use is
concerned! But they do have eyes for guards, too, so are also good for
tourers and hybrids. No low-rider carrier bosses, though.

David E. Belcher said:

[email hidden] (stephen pridgeon) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

If you really do want to spend money on it, consider
a) new fork (carbon would be nice)

In which case....

Quoted message said:

c) new bar/stem combo

....will also be necessary, as will a new (Ahead) headset, since I
don't know of any carbon forks for tourers that use a threaded
steering column. 1" threadless ones are, for now, still available,
though (Sintema Muddy [1], and probably others).

A decent bike shop could thread a steel threadless steerer.

~PB

Clive George [email hidden] opined the following...

Quoted message said:

Hang on - is that supposed to be a downside?

I thought it showed an strong leaning to the darkside myself.

Jon