I recently acquired another Gazelle Kwikstep (nr three, the others have been passed on) as my second/sortoff beater/not afraid to leave it at the station overnight bike, i was going to send it to another user here, but since he doesn't want it anymore i am keeping and modding it. It was really quite cheap so i can just cut loose and not worry to much about it all.

Brown, in good nick except for the Thompson BB which has play. Would have prefered it was not Thompson (Kwiksteps have been produced with both types) but i don't think it is a biggie,.. what do you guys think? Thompson easy to buy? Less or more reliable than other styles? From what i read:

'The Thompson bottom bracket is rare. The design is similar to a typical hub bearing and theoretically supports the load better, but is hard to seal effectively against dirt and water.'

Do you guys concur? All the info seems to suggest it might be a bit of a struggle to get a replacement. However there is a lot of stuff here in NL so i hope i can simply find a BB that fits well.

451 Wheels, Torpedo hub, axles, bearings and headset in great condition, haven't detected any play whatever yet.

My proposed alterations (which i intend to be minimal in terms of costs and bling factor) are these:

Second hand Ideale Leather saddle or my uberchopped B 66.
Fix or replace BB, possibly for a Kinex (i think they have a Thompson model....)
I have some Alu cotterless cranks lying about, might experiment with a 165 length crank.
Likely pedals at some point, probably scavenged on the street.
If i find one and feel like wheelbuilding three speed SA, but not sure since that would mean brakes as well, i have coaster now.
De-bling or spraypaint job.
Possibly a little bit of drivetrain replacement, cheap stuff but decent, but i think the cog and chain are actually quite good still. Might remove fenders alltogether since i won't be using the bike all that much, getting wet 2* a year is no biggie.

A slightly curved MTB style handlebar for lowering the weight and making sure it is easy to fold/store. Maybe just tape, foam or the original hard plastic grips. They are kinda cool, anatomic and with a reflector on the end.
Buy the Abus Expedition-Chain 70/45/6 KS hardened chain that is fairly light and quite strong (not top of the line but beats the yellow Weissenfels..). Cost 16,50.

A few more small things.
My goal is to keep all the mods under a E 100, i think this should really be feasible all things considered.

In a way i would love to sandblast the frame to bare metal and then clearcoat (Mad Max stylee!) or maybe matblack it and then outline the lugs with some flourescent type color, that would be pimp! But i am a little worried that would defeat the whole 'beater' purpose of this bike...

Might even make it into a fix some day, that would be interesting.

I will get some pics up when i can, could be long time as i am a bit slow with this type of thing.

Any thoughts? Suggested mods and 'how to think its'?