Dawes Mono Review

The Dawes Mono is a single speed commuting bike, ideal for all-year round commuting. Dawes are best known for their touring bikes (like the Dawes Galaxy). These have a well deserved reputation for reliability and durability, appealing to the sensible minded tourist who want a good utilitarian bike without being too flash.

The Dawes Mono is their only single speed bike and you feel they are catering for a similar target buyer. The rather subdued grey colour and design doesn’t stand out in the crowd. It kind of says ‘sensible bank managers bike’. But, that’s the Dawes image, there’s nothing wrong with being a sensible bank manager.

The frame is Chro Moly steel and the fork is carbon. This gives a stiffer feel than an all over steel bike, but it is still good at absorbing bumps on the road.

I found the steering a little hard work. At first I thought the headset was overtightened but it took a while to get used to the steering, it felt a little twitchy to what I was used to. The handlebars are also quite narrow.

Practicalities.

Dawes are great at focusing on practical bikes. The clip on mudguards are an excellent extra. I would buy these to put on any commuting bike. The Schwalbe Blizzard Sports tyres offer great puncture protection. The trade off in terms of slightly heavier rolling resistance is worth it, though it does means it’s not built for speed. Also there is scope for putting on a pannier rack (something often missing from fixed wheel bikes)

Fixed and Freewheel

When buying a single speed, the big question is fixed or freewheel? – both have their pros and cons, so it’s a really nice touch to have both options on the same bike. You can just turn rear wheel around to choose different option.

True, it will never have the feeling of a pure, minimalist fixed. But, Dawes are not catering to the real fixed enthusiast. This is a bike for those interested in useful and sensible features.

Other Points

• The Tektro dual pivot alloy caliper brakes are fine.
• The Dawes saddle is comfortable.
• Top Clips – I don’t like toe clips on commuting bikes. I know that for single speed they have an advantage when pulling hard, but having toe clips is too much to think about and when commuting you may need to be ready for a quick dismount.
• The chainwheel is a rather large 48. The sprocket at the back is 18, but I was working a little hard to get the bike moving. However, once you’re away it feels fast enough.

• Overall Weight:       10.4kg
• Sizes:      48cm/53cm/58cm – a little on the limited size.

Overall

The truth is that I’m looking for a single speed bike which looks really cool and exciting, but at the same time I’m also needing a bike with all the practical features for commuting. The Dawes may not score too highly on the first criteria but does very well on the second.

The Dawes is a good single speed with some very nice practical features, but I didn’t realy feel at home riding on bike. It needed something a little more. Also, at £650 it’s really quite expensive for a single speed.

I don’t think you would regret buying a Dawes Mono, but it faces stiff competition from the growing number of single speed bikes on the market.

Dawes Mono Online

• Dawes   Mono Single Speed Road Bike at Amazon.co.uk – upto 60% off

• Dawes Mono 2011
• Single Speed bikes at Evans

Related

• Best Single Speed bikes
• Dawes Mono at Dawes.com