Classic & Vintage - What do you know about Gazelles? And is this a good buy?

Hello All,

I am in search of a bike on craigslist and I came upon this: http://chicago.craigslist.org/chc/bik/702479385.html

It looks great to me, but I don't know enough to know if it really is great and whether the price is way out there.

Any input with be appreciated -

Unique Gazelle road bike direct from the Netherlands! Very smooth riding and quick, thanks to a superb frame made from Reynolds 531 steel, a tubing that is the standard for classic high-end bikes. The components are Shimano 600, which is the equivalent of today's Ultegra. Everything works very well on this bike. Don't miss your chance to have a ride like no other!

I don't know much about Gazelles. It's not a top-of-the-line frame, but Reynolds 531 (see the decal on the upper part of the seat tube?) is a good sign. It may not have 531 fork blades and stays, but that's not the end of the world. If it does, the decal will say so, otherwise, it will just say "frame tubes".

The Shimano 600 components are a very good (again, not the highest end) and good-looking too.

As for the price, you might do better if you had a lot of patience, or you might not. The bike looks like it's in excellent shape, and hasn't had a lot of use/abuse. Funny that there are only two brake cable braze-on loops on the top tube; check if one has fallen off.

That is a Gazelle Trim Trophy.
Only the three main tubes of the frame are made of straight reynolds 531, not butted. It is heavier than the butted 531. The frame is not collectible. But it is very strong and stiff. I just one of these frames for over 16 years.
Shimano 600 is, as Charles wrote, very good.
So it is a good groupset on a not so good frame. Here is Holland these bikes go for much lesser than $275.

The price is fairly reasonable. It's not a screaming deal, but it's certainly not bad deal either. Gazelles are fairly rare frames in the United States, but are quite common in their home country. I love the ride of my two Gazelle Champion Mondials, their top model. The Trim Trophy was the next major model down I believe, as paukal says it's main-tube 531 straight gauge. But with the wheels, full component group and everything else, I would have a very hard time buying all the parts and a comparable frame off ebay for anywhere close to that price. For comparison, I just spent nearly that much for my newest Champion Mondial frameset (BB and headset included), and that was before shipping costs.

During the early 70's Raleigh imported and sold Gazelles as mirror images of some of their own Raleigh branded models. At that time, Raleigh was importing bikes under their own badge from Holland, India, South Africa, and I think Nigeria. They were nicely built bikes.