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Dawes Bike and Tandem

B

brian40

New Member
Hello,
I wonder if any member can help me date the folowing bikes:

Dawes Clansman has NO.7552 on the seat stay tube and 872 stamped into the bottom bracket underneath the frame. I bought this bike when I was 13yrs old,second hand, it was passed to another family member, I have reclaimed it and intend to restore it. Any help would be appreciated.

This next tandem was bought recently between my two sons and me with the intention of restoring it. The tandem has the following detail:
The tandem has S LKA (i think) 9524 stamped into the seat stay tube.

Many Thanks
Brian.

 
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your reply. Its the only reply so far and nmuch welcomed! I will look into the site you mentioned. Its strange that such a popular make of bike has little info on the web. I rebuilt a Rotrax for my son and there was lots of info!
Many Thanks
Brian.
 
Mike /John
Thanks for the info. I looked at "Flicker" before and picked up on a couple of references on later models. The Tandem seems to be more of a problem, its been suggested its older than I thought, perhaps pre-war.

I'm off to dig!
Many Thanks
Brian.
 
when I left school in 62, I got a job with the Peaks Grocery shop on the bristol road northfield. the wage was £3.16.6p per week after 3 weeks , I went to the bike shop in the same road and bought my first new bike, a "Dawes Double blue" it cost the princely sum of £24, I put £15, and my dad paid the rest, I gave him 10/- per week till it was paid off, what a great joy that was I,m 62 now but never forgot that bueatiful bike.
 
Re identifying the Dawes.
I have just come across this thread and see that you have already been pointed to the Flickr Dawes Group. (which I am responsible for:))

My advice would be to post some pics of your two on there and let the other members see the details.
Dawes serial numbers are not well documented and it was because there is so little info on the net about Dawes that I started the group. (I am 'elevhem' on Flickr)

Only yesterday I uploaded several pages of a 1938 Dawes catalogue, and there are two tandems that might help ID yours.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/dawes_galaxy/

We have 22 members to date so there is some real interest in Dawes out there!

Mark Bulgier also has 4 Dawes catalogues, from 64 to 84, to see on his excellent site.
https://bulgier.net/pics/bike/Catalogs/
Just scroll down the page, they are in alphabetical order.

Good luck anyway.
John.
 
I bought my first new bike from Knights on Kingstanding Circle in about 1949, it was a Dawes Pathfinder, it had a wide ratio 4 speed Sturmey Archer gear, I used it for years to go back and forth to work and most weekends in the summer rode it to Stratford, Evesham, Worcester or the like. E.

Ps. I nearly got killed on my way home from work one night, they told me I'd hit a dog in the dark at the bottom of Heathfield Road.
I have no memory of the accident just remember waking in hospital at midnight with all the family sitting round me and being told I had a fractured skull. The headaches persisted for months.
 
What a shame that the wonderful cycle manufacturer that was Dawes is just a memory now ! Yes, you can buy a 'Dawes' cycle today but it aint made by hand in Brum - no its put together in Vietnam or some such far flung outpost !!!

The last new bike I bought was from Russells in Stafford St, Walsall in 1988 and it was a Dawes 'Super Galaxy' - and I guess that apart from the Dawes frame and the Brookes B17 leather saddle, there wasn't much else on it that was made in England !!! Shimano chainset, gears, pedals etc etc. I only recently got rid of it and it went on ebay for not much less than I paid for it new in '88 !!!! Just goes to show that the demand for British quality is still there - pity there's so little in the way of supply !!!
 
I agree with you 100%.
My solution is to ride vintage English machines.
I've got a couple of 40s Holdsworths and a Bates. Nearly as old as me but still fine riders.
 
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