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So I bought an old Dawes galaxy. The condition is really good and the rims looks hardly used (although a spike is snapped) be fore I get it fixed and service them are they any good? The say ‘Maillard made in France’ and are both 32 spoke (looks like cup and cone)
I had some Maillard hubs (possibly atoms) on weinmann concave rims back in the mid eighties - they lasted years & years & were fairly bomb proof. I had them rebuilt in about 1998, and they lasted until 2006 - mainly on a turbo trainer.
Came on a lot of mid range road bikes back then - mine were on a Raleigh Scirroco. Yes they’re cup & cone - I replaced the bearings on mine when I rebuilt them.
Maillard are great quality. Replace the spoke and service the hub and carry on. You'll get tons of use our of it. Enjoy.
I always wanted a Galaxy as a youngster. I had a Carlton Continental that I used for everything and went everywhere with. But it was a Galaxy that I wanted more than anything else.
But it was a Galaxy that I wanted more than anything else.
Me too.
But they were of their time and were not actually very good.
Coming out of the long club-run tradition they were way too stretched and low at the front for a comfortable touring position
Not the only bike with this issue but we didn't know better.
One bike to do everything 🙂
They'll last if looked after, the only drawback is that the original 700C rim is hookless which limits tyre pressures (modern hookless rims are different)
FYI - Mate had a galaxy way back when for our LEtoJOG trip. He discovered pretty terminal corrosion around the fork/steerer interface by luck and got the forks changed at the beginning of the trip. Worth a check. Otherwise a great bike for adventures.
Actually I just noticed the rim is ‘Weinmann’ 116 Alloy.
I surprised me that they stopped making them, I always thought that the Galaxy was the most reputable thing that Dawes made
Weinmann used to do a lot of base level stuff bitd - brakes and rims in particular. Nothing wrong with it just adequate oe kit, indeed some of their brakes were so light they became a favourite with tt’ers.
The wheels are probably perfectly fine and serviceable. Provided the broken spoke isn’t evidence of some lash up rebuild I wouldn’t rush in to changing them unless you have to / have money burning a whole in your pocket. 32h was fairly normal before deep section rims.
Great. Sounds like it’s worth servicing the hubs and replacing the spoke. Thanks
On any other forum I’d say post a picture of it.
I had a 90s Galaxy from new. Nice comfortable 531ST frame. Wheels were only adequate though. Broke a few spokes until I bit the bullet and got my LBS to build a new back wheel. New rim and spokes on original hub. Fine after that.
I'm anywhere between 14 and 16 stone though plus luggage. Lighter riders may be OK.
Also back then wheels were a mystery to me. Now I'd check all the spokes for tension and true it myself which might prevent a rebuild being needed.
Galaxy is a lovely bike, I had a super galaxy. Before that a Raleigh randoneur, in fact I had about 5 randoneurs. Being early 90s recession I used to buy them in loot, clean them up, and resell in CTC mag. Couple of hundred quid on each for an evenings work, was a lot of money c 1990.
Really well equipped, I did lejog on a randoneur. Could easily ride it all day, every day. Which I did.
Enjoy the galaxy.