Pete Biggs said:An alternative would be a second-hand classic such as a Dawes Galaxy
You may be interested in a review of the Edinburgh Country that I've
written for the Leeds Cycle Action Group newsletter:
A year ago, after the demise of my 1993 Dawes Galaxy (stolen, of
course), I needed a replacement bike for commuting and touring. I bought
a Revolution Country from the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-Op (EBC) shop that
had recently opened in Chapel Allerton. My decision was swayed by
reading favourable reviews, the price tag (£320, including a 20%
discount) and a test ride. So how did this bargain bike compare to the
venerable Dawes Galaxy?
Let’s start with the basics: the frame. The Country has an aluminium
frame (made in Thailand) compared to the traditional Reynolds steel of a
Dawes Galaxy. An obvious difference is the sloping cross-bar on the
Country, supposedly to make mounting the bike easier. The Country is a
similar weight to the modern Galaxy (14 kg compared to 13.5 kg), but
seems significantly lighter than my old bike. The handlebars of the
Country are slightly wider than the Galaxy’s – a welcome difference
giving me a more comfortable riding position.
Having cycled the Country home from EBC I set about checking that
everything was working OK. A problem immediately became apparent when I
tried to attach my Karrimor panniers to the rear rack. Due to the design
of the rack it was impossible to attach the pannier hooks to the rails.
The staff at EBC were surprised to hear about this problem, but quickly
replaced the rack with a new Tortec rack.
Something else that I could tell even on the short ride home was that I
wouldn’t get along with the saddle – a squidgy rubber type which I
replaced as soon as possible with a nice hard leather one. Saddles are a
personal thing, so I wouldn’t expect an off-the-peg bike to have one
that suited me, so nothing to complain about there.
Over the last year the Country has been my regular commuting bike within
Leeds and has performed very well at this task. The Tektro secondary
bar-top brake levers allow firm braking from an upright stance. The wide
chromoplastic mudguards were effective once I had glued an extension to
the front guard. The steel bolts have rapidly corroded (now replaced
with stainless bolts) but otherwise the bike has dealt well with the
rigours of Leeds roads and weather.
I’ve not used the Country with front panniers, but it handles well
pulling a heavy (two-wheeled) trailer or with two stuffed panniers on
the rear rack. However my first tour in the dales did not pass without
incident. While climbing a hill towards Cray the rear tyre exploded with
a sound like a gun shot. On inspection it turned out that the metal bead
had detached itself from the tyre allowing the inner tube to escape,
expand and explode. I considered myself lucky that this didn’t happen on
a descent and had in fact happened within yards of a good pub (if not a
bike shop). As with the rack, EBC gave me a good quality replacement for
the tyre and expressed surprise that the original had been faulty.
After a year I have no regrets having bought the Country. Apart from the
faults described above, it has performed as well, if not better than my
(admittedly rather ancient) Galaxy. There are small things that I would
change (are 24 gears really necessary?), but the bike is clearly very
good value for money.
