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Thanks, and well spotted re the rims. Yes it has 26" x 1 1/4" rims. So I am limited with tyres and simply cannot find any in tan wall! I have some black Schwalbes which will do. If anyone here has any in tan, please let me know! (I have even asked Tim Gunn, who lives near me, and he said, no, none available, you won't get them!) I am reluctant to scrap the original rims which are in good condition just for this reason.
Wakou-
I might have an odd one in the loft. I'll have a look for you to see tomorrow, if you like
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Rims and Tyres
You haven't yet mentioned what your plans are for using your Dawes.
If it is to be a museum exhibit then appearance is crucial, but if it is to be used you need to think about what will work well on the road. Good tyres are probably the most critical factor here, and by good I mean they should be reasonably light and capable of taking fairly high pressure (say at least 80 psi.)
As we all know 26" x one and a quarter is, sadly, an obsolete size. I've done a lot of riding using this size and I feel there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, also I certainly prefer it to 27". Unfortunately the world has moved on and now there is not much available in the way of tyres. The Schwalbe tyres you mention seem to be the best bet, assuming you can find some. They are said to take 85 psi, which is adequate, but they are heavy, and the tread pattern certainly looks out of place on a machine with any pretention to speed.
I have seen some lovingly restored old machines, presented as if in racing kit, but with 26" tyres marked 'max pressure 55psi'. I know from experience that those tyres will be ruined by bulging if the stated pressure is exceeded. So a bike like that is only really suitable for looking at.
I do have couple of bikes which cannot take modern wheels and I'm keeping my very limited supply of good tyres for those machines. Fortunately most frames built long ago for 26's were so gappy that they actually look better with 700's, and they certainly feel a lot zippier on the road. If you look at my posts under ' Sunbeam ' in the Current Projects thread I think you will see what I mean.
Your Dawes would obviously come into this category, so I hope this is food for thought if you intend doing much riding on the machine.
P.S. If you want to look at the Sunbeam thread, search under Silver Sunbeam.
I've just discovered that just searching 'Sunbeam' doesn't find it.
Looking at the pictures again , I'm a bit ashamed the bike looks so scruffy, but I would like to mention it is strictly a hack bike.
jeff80
clubman
'Courier' it is then!
But as I said in my post above, this word was often muddled by people who ought to have known better.
Perhaps the sales people at Dawes thought their machine would suit the messenger market, but I doubt it. An example of this sort of muddling is that some Hercules advertising in the 1950's stated that their bike was fitted with GB 'Courier' brakes, but old Gerry Burgess knew better than that and had actually named them 'Coureur'.
As to the colour, most red flams are pretty much the same, but your photo shows the colour as a bit darker than normal - it might almost be called maroon. I think it's quite possible this is the effect of the passage of 72 years, so you may have to decide whether to make it look like it appears now, but repainted, or take it back to the way it looked when new.
Personally, I would stick to cleaning it and wiping with an oily rag. Had you noticed that the machine in the catalogue picture appears to have 27" rims, whereas I think yours has 26's (the position of the brake blocks in the calipers is the clue)? If you plan to do much riding I suggest you consider changing to 700's, which will enable you to get good tyres and will improve its riding qualities. Anyway, it certainly looks a desirable machine and I hope you have many enjoyable miles with it.