Dawes Venture 1.0 & 2.0 EQ Review (2026): Best-Value Comfort Hybrid?

The Dawes Venture is the cheapest adult bike Dawes make, and right now it's £330.99 for the Venture 1.0 (RRP £374.99) and £410.99 for the fully-equipped Venture 2.0 EQ (RRP £424.99). Both come in cross bar (17/19/21") and low step (16.5/18.5") frames. It's a comfort hybrid: upright, swept-back bars, soft saddle, no pretensions to speed. The question is whether that £80 gap between the two is worth paying, and whether either is a better buy than the disc-braked Discovery sat one rung up the Dawes range.

We've built dozens of these in our Shrewsbury workshop, so here's the honest version.

Verdict at a glance

Venture 1.0: 3.5/5 — light, comfortable and cheap, but six gears on one chainring limits it to flat ground. Venture 2.0 EQ: 4/5 — the one to buy. A full 3x7 triple, mudguards and a rack fitted for £410.99 is proper value for a comfort commuter.

Key specs

The frame and the riding position

Both Ventures share the same 6061 aluminium trekking frame and a hi-tensile steel fork. There's no suspension, and that's a good thing at this price: a cheap suspension fork adds a kilo and a half and does very little, whereas a steel fork on 35mm tyres gives a settled, slightly springy ride that suits towpaths and B-roads. The relaxed geometry, 620mm riser bar with 15° of backsweep and a high-rise 80mm quill stem put you bolt upright with your wrists at a natural angle. It's the position people mean when they say "a comfortable bike".

The low step version has a dropped top tube so you can get on and off without swinging a leg over, and it's the same price as the cross bar. If you'll ride in work clothes or a skirt, or have a stiff hip or knee, go low step. If you're over about 5'10" you'll want the cross bar, which goes up to a 21" frame for riders 6'0" to 6'4".

Gearing: the real difference between 1.0 and 2.0

Here's where the £80 goes. The Venture 1.0 has a single 46T chainring, a Shimano Tourney TZ500 six-speed freewheel (14–28T) and one twist shifter. That's beautifully simple and part of why it weighs just 12.5–13.5kg. But a 46/28 bottom gear is a hard push up any real hill with a laden rack, and around Shrewsbury there are plenty of real hills.

The Venture 2.0 EQ gets a 48-38-28T triple chainset with a Tourney TZ510 front mech and RD-TY300 rear mech, still with a 14–28T seven-speed freewheel and Revo twist shifters. The 28/28 bottom gear is a proper spinning gear for climbing, and the 48/14 top means you're not spinning out on a descent. It's Tourney, so the shifting is a bit agricultural compared with Altus or CUES, but it's cheap to service and every bike shop in the country has the parts.

Brakes, wheels and the EQ kit

Both bikes use alloy V-brakes on rims with a CNC-machined braking surface. V-brakes are fine for this kind of riding and the machined rims stop noticeably better than plain ones, but be honest with yourself: if you'll ride every day through a wet winter, a disc-braked bike like the Discovery will be less hassle. The 700x35C trekking tyres have a reflective sidewall line, which is a small thing that matters at dusk.

The 2.0's "EQ" stands for equipped. You get full chromoplastic mudguards and a steel pannier rack fitted from the factory on proper frame mounts, plus a Dawes comfort saddle. Buying and fitting a similar set yourself costs £50–£70, which accounts for most of the price difference before you even count the triple chainset. It does push the weight to 16kg, so it's not a bike you'll enjoy carrying up a flight of stairs.

Who is it for?

Good for: riders who want a comfortable, upright bike for the shops, the school run, the canal and a flat-to-rolling commute; anyone who prefers a simple bike with cheap-to-replace parts; people who need a low step frame at a sensible price.

Not for: fast riders, hilly daily commutes in all weathers (get the Discovery), anyone who wants to carry the bike regularly, or anyone with off-road ambitions.

Alternatives

• Dawes Discovery 1.0, £439.99 — £29 more than the Venture 2.0 EQ, for mechanical disc brakes, EZ-Fire trigger shifters and 40mm puncture-protected tyres, but no guards or rack. See our Dawes Discovery review.
• Claud Butler Explorer 1.0 EQ, £333.99 — the direct rival: 18-speed, V-brakes, suspension fork, mudguards and a 20kg rack fitted, for £77 less than the Venture 2.0 EQ. Heavier at 15kg and the fork is basic, but hard to argue with on price.
• Something a bit more old-school? The Dawes Cambridge Heritage at £337.99 is a 26"-wheel step-through in Mint.

Final verdict

The Venture 1.0 is a lovely light, simple bike, but only buy it if your riding is genuinely flat. For everyone else the Venture 2.0 EQ is the better bike and the better value: a full triple, guards and rack already on, and change from £415. It isn't the bike to choose for a hilly, year-round commute (that's the Discovery's job) but as a comfort hybrid for everyday life it's about as much bike as £410 buys. It comes safety-checked in our Shrewsbury workshop with free UK delivery, a 12-month warranty and 90-day no-quibble returns, and through Bike2Work or Cycle to Work it can work out at roughly £240–£280.

More from the blog

• Dawes Discovery Review — Is This the Best Hybrid Bike Under £550?
• Best Adult Bikes Under £300 UK (2026)
• We Now Accept Bike2Work — Save 32–42% on Any Adult Bike

Ready to find your next bike?

Check the Dawes Venture 2.0 EQ price → Check the Dawes Venture 1.0 price → Shop all Dawes bikes →

Unsure between 17" and 19"? Ring the shop and we'll size you over the phone.