A year after I got my Raleigh Gran Prix, My dad asked me, "What kind of a 10-speed should I get?" and after doing extensive research, I recommended the Dawes Galaxy in about 1974, I think it was brown with yellow seat-tube highlights (coffee in raleigh lingo.) The parts specification indeed was completely identical to a Raleigh/Carlton Supercourse, even down to the chromed fork crown (Brooks B15, and (GB/Weinmann/Normandy-Sport/Simplex/ATOM/Strongight-steel cranks) but the price was about $15 or $20 cheaper, which was no small amount back in those days.
http://www.bulgier.net/
In the 1970's and earlier, Dawes bikes had a 3-D headbadge of a torch with a flame and DAWES written across the torch. It was very cool.
I understand there were some higher-end models, such as the "Super Galaxy" (which was and is a longstanding GT model with all Reynolds 531) and the "Double Blue" (which purported to be a racing model, no longer made.) I'd say that Dawes bikes remind me a lot of SEKAI bikes. They were a smaller maker that was about 10% cheaper than similar bikes from the "big 4" in europe : Raleigh, Peugeot, Motobecane, Bianchi. They went up to the midrange and stopped. The very high-end bikes were rare or non-existent. I have a 1980 dawes catalog I've been meaning to scan. I don't think that Dawes ever put Campagnolo parts on any of their bikes - too expensive for their customer demographic!
I think Dawes survives today as an english bike maker, although many of their models are probably made in Asia now. I don't think there is another minor player in the U.K. that avoided bankrupcy at least once so they must have been doing something right.
- Don Gillies
San Diego, CA, USA