Re: [CR] Dawes

Ah, Dawes...They seemed to have multiplied in the incubator of my basement.  My first was a Double Blue. I scrounged it from a scrap pile at Anown America sometime in the 70's.  It had an inaccurately made rear triangle that needed some filing to make a wheel sit properly. But the patient survived and grew to be my rain-bike.  I always was a sucker for long chrome on the forks.  I am always pleased after riding this bike.

My second was a 50's vintage that belonged to the late Jimmy Doone, patron saint of cycling in my city.  Very cool bike with the best head badge ever.  Tim Fricker took some nice pics of it at Cirque last year:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/43828356@N00/sets/72157619410768786/ It's a sort of straw color.  I believe it had been coated with some sort of varnish at one time.  It sports an Allvit 'cause the original Simplex TdeF was shot.  I broke the rather rare left-side cottered alloy crank, so it has an SR cottered alloy crank while I try to decide  what the bike ultimate fate might be.

I came by a Dawes Echelon with a crinkled seat stay. It now resides at my daughter's house in Oklahoma, so I have something to ride when I visit.  A pedestrian model that serves the purpose.

I still have a forkless Super Galaxy in the basement, awaiting a rebirth as an AW hubed three speed.  So many projects.....

Mark "Dawes Lover" Hoffman
New Britain, CT
USA