cirpi

I saw that the door was open, so I stepped in to join you. A bit about myself: Age 74, cycling seriously since the mid-1970s, mostly in the Seattle/Olympia areas, but also every other year or so in Northern and Central Italy. Over the years, I have purchased several road bikes including two Olmos, a Dutch Gazelle and three Colnagos, including one with more than 100,000 miles on the frame. All are steel and all except for a Colnago Master purchased in Italy have old-fangled shifters. Racked up 5,000 to 9,000 miles a year in the mid-1980s, but advancing age and a bout with a bum ticker resulted in shorter, but sweeter rides.

cuda2k

cirpi - welcome to BikeForums. Another Gazelle owner here, but I certainly didn't get mine new. Sounds like you bring a lot of experience to the forums, hope to see you around.

cirpi

Thanks for the warm welcome. Gazelles must be pretty rare on this side of the big pond because I've never seen another one like mine, though there was Gazelle track bike I'd see occasionally at the Redmond Velodrome. Mine started with a frame sold to me for $500 by a friend who picked it up in Amsterdam. I fitted it with a Campy Super Record gruppo which I snagged at a great price from another traveler.

East Hill

Hello cirpi, there are quite a few Bike Forums members down in Olympia--FlowerBlossom and ollo ollo that I can think of right offhand. But not too many Gazelle owners .

By the way, feel free to stop by in the Classic & Vintage forum with photos of your bikes, we'd all like to see them.

Welcome to BF!

East Hill

cuda2k

From what I hear they were only imported into the US for the span of about 3-5 years in the early 80's I believe. Only a few shops carried them even then so yes, they are quite rare here in the states. I had my shipped from a fellow BF member living in the Netherlands. Currently outfitted with a mix of campy and shimano, but I am thinking of putting full S.R. on mine as well which I recently picked up on a Serotta. There are a number of members around who ride (and love) old dutch steel and frequent the Classic & Vintage forum.