Lenton58 

THE PAINT ON YOUR FRAME
Lovely bike! Beautiful colour. Gazelle really has had some very pretty paint throughout the years. I suspect that it is was supplied by Sikkens — another 'lowlands' entity — Dutch with its HQ still in Amsterdam. No small wonder really when you cast your mind's eye back to the glorious period of visual arts: Dutch, Belgian and Flemish.

My Gazelle AB has a red finsh on it that dazzles me — not in perfect condition, but repaired original paint. I don't even really relish red, but after a ride as I sit with my drink, I gaze and suck in its splendour — even after all these decades of wear and UV exposure.

More to my point, it is really about how they created "red" (in my case) and other colours. Red is often a very oxidizing coating — but not this one! Red is, IMHO, one of the most vexatious colours. A small difference in hue can either enchant or cause revulsion in a person who is not naturally attracted to the colour. (Personally I tend towards greens and blues.)

And your blue — well — I can see the old masters looking back at me when I look at your frame. Paint is just paint, and I try not to get obsessed about chipping and aging coatings. Professional repainting here in Japan is expensive. So far, I have avoided sending frames out to be professionally repainted. In Sendai — a city if one million and a region capital does not have anyone who specializes in such painting.

Gazelle finishes appear to be special. I suspect that in some cases, repainting them to be the same as the original would be a matter of chance and good fortune — of course and unless you got a Sikkens supplied painter to source a match. Other possibilities must surely be around.
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YOUR TIRES
I may be wrong ... but a question: are those tires Vittorio "Stradas". They look like Stradas, but I thought that they were being produced for the Japan market only.

If they are — how do you like them? I have not glued mine on yet — but anxiously hoping to soon and ride them on my Austrian Simplon single speed. If I like them, my Gazelle AB well get them when the Rallys wear out.