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12-11-06, 06:29 PM
Since there was (about a week ago? More?) an 'in-depth (1)', there supposedly also was gonna be a (2). Or more, who knows.
Anyway, here is installment (2). For the attentive reader, this story might seem the complete opposite of installment (1).
In the book about the life of Riny Wagtmans ('Ongekend') there is a nice story about Riny making big waves to the press (in the TdF) about the terrible handling qualities of his Gazelle. A broken frame, change of at least four different bikes, none of them any good, etc. Now Riny Wagtmans was known for his incredible descending qualities, so handling (everybody knew that) was important to him.
He was quite loud and uncivil about the Gazelle bikes, and publicly too. He called them 'farmer's carts' ('boerenkar', I hope I gave a reasonable translation). The executive director of Gazelle, mr. Breukink (father of later pro Erik Breukink) didn't really like this. Not the kind of publicity his firm needed.
Insiders knew the real story: Wagtmans had his bikes built by Colnago, and resprayed and built up by a Belgian mechanic. The bad handling was true, of at least one bike, because the fork and headset were fitted wrong. The whole row seemed an excuse to break up with Gazelle, and next season Wagtmans rode for Molteni, with Eddy Merckx. Helped Eddy to win the Tour that year, too.
Don't let any of this get in the way of your appreciation of your own Gazelle!
So, let me add a pic of what Riny (and you) could/can do with a Gazelle.
Anyway, here is installment (2). For the attentive reader, this story might seem the complete opposite of installment (1).
In the book about the life of Riny Wagtmans ('Ongekend') there is a nice story about Riny making big waves to the press (in the TdF) about the terrible handling qualities of his Gazelle. A broken frame, change of at least four different bikes, none of them any good, etc. Now Riny Wagtmans was known for his incredible descending qualities, so handling (everybody knew that) was important to him.
He was quite loud and uncivil about the Gazelle bikes, and publicly too. He called them 'farmer's carts' ('boerenkar', I hope I gave a reasonable translation). The executive director of Gazelle, mr. Breukink (father of later pro Erik Breukink) didn't really like this. Not the kind of publicity his firm needed.
Insiders knew the real story: Wagtmans had his bikes built by Colnago, and resprayed and built up by a Belgian mechanic. The bad handling was true, of at least one bike, because the fork and headset were fitted wrong. The whole row seemed an excuse to break up with Gazelle, and next season Wagtmans rode for Molteni, with Eddy Merckx. Helped Eddy to win the Tour that year, too.
Don't let any of this get in the way of your appreciation of your own Gazelle!
So, let me add a pic of what Riny (and you) could/can do with a Gazelle.