Dawes Galaxy Cross bikes and other equipment - a review.

The Bikes (Dawes Galaxy Cross) and other equipment.

After cycling over 5000 km over the past 6 months on these two bikes, we think we're in a position to give an opinion on them.

Overall, they have been great. We have had hassle-free cycling; we have not developed any serious injuries; we have had no major mechanical issues; they have performed well with heavy loads on different road surfaces; they are relatively fast and lively for touring bikes, yet are comfortable on the long road; they are well-priced, but in our case needed improvements.

The Dawes bikes are sold through their agents as fixed packages with standardized components - or that's what we were told. On receiving the bikes we had to make a number of changes. We found the front crankset too large for a loaded touring bike in hilly terrain. We changed them for 42-32-22 sets which were far better. We may have lost a bit of speed, but you definitely don't want to have to get off and push a loaded touring bike up a 15% incline.

We changed the pedals to the hybrid clips and flat combination. We rode in Specialized mountain bike shoes which one can walk around in normally. These worked very well for us as clips are far more efficient and one feels far more secure.

The stem on Ian's bike was too short and low for him, so that had to be changed. This is probably because the length of the crossbar needs to be increased on a flat handlebar bar compared to a drop-handlebar bike. It seems that Dawes does not make this adjustment.

Jenny changed her saddle to a Specialized Women's Ariel Comp very soon after the bikes arrived. She has been very happy with it. Ian started our trip on the standard issue Dawes Comfort Touring Saddle which was anything but. He was struggling with chafing and pressure on the "softer parts" after about 1000 km so bought a Bontrager saddle in Vienna at considerable expense. This is narrower and much harder, allowing weight transfer through the "sit bones".  A huge improvement.

The bikes came with Vittoria Randonnier tyres (32mm). These performed well but Ian needed to replace his back tyre after 4000km as it had worn right through. Ok, the bike was quite heavily loaded, but he weighs only 65kg. We had had quite a problem seating these tyres evenly on the rims after the odd puncture, something we have never struggled with before. The cycle shop in France only had 700 x 35 tyres so we bought one. The ride is definitely more comfortable without losing any performance.

So if Dawes wants to improve their service, we suggest that they become more flexible in the selection of components. The added expense to personalizing the bikes was big. We would happily have bought the bikes without pedals or saddles. We would have liked a choice of crankset and tyre size. We appreciate that these are entry-level touring bikes, but we are not asking for better components.

We were happy with our flat handlebars and the 24 gear Shimano gear system was perfectly adequate and robust for touring. The mechanical disc brakes worked well, but do need tweaking. You do need to understand how they work, and how to adjust them while touring - bike shops are not around every second corner! Ian did have to change the brake pads on the back wheel of his bike once on the trip.

Other equipment is also important. The flat bars require that you have good gloves with sponge (not gel) cushioning to avoid nerve injury of the hands and figures. Ian developed a marked weakness of his left little finger after about 2000km, which improved after buying new gloves. Equally we both needed to buy new cycling shorts during the trip, but maybe that's us showing our age. The racks are fine, and compatible with Ortlieb panniers (the best) without heel strike. The Ortlieb bar bags are great. There are quite a few gripes about the attachment system on the cycling blogs, but we had no problems with them.

So yes, our bikes have been great and we couldn't have wished for a better cycle tour. Can Dawes up their game? Yes, to that too! Will we tour on them again? Yes, definitely!