Sometimes you come across a bucket list bike for such a cheap price you just have to make a trip halfway across the country to pick it up.

Technically maybe too young for the vintage part of the forum but a classic in its own right, the Gazelle Friiik (pronounced as "Freak") was introduced in 2011... and killed off in 2012.



That looks like some generic modern Dutch commuter bike... So why was I so curious about this one?

In one word; GSS, the Gazelle Shifting System. This bike has a fully sealed 7-speed derailleur system in a load bearing aluminum chaincase. Meaning a very efficient drivetrain with low wear. It also has a single sided rear fork, making it very easy to replace the tyre in case of a leak.

Courtesy of TestKees & Fietsersbond

The bike used to cost €849 back in 2012 (about €1000 now) which was about €100 more than a comparable bike using a Shimano Nexus 7. But reviewers loved it and told people to try it before buying the Shimano.

So why did it fail? Well, Gazelle blamed retailers for being too conservative but those in turn blame 4 changes in management in the two years while the Friiik was available. In the end it was forgotten about and never developed further.
From what I've read users really liked it but Gazelle being Gazelle they had a lot of proprietary parts in here. The big issue with these bikes is the bottom bracket. Once they wore out there were no spares available and the manufacturer either stopped making them or went bankrupt. They do use standard industrial sealed bearings but most bike shops don't have the tools and the skills to work on that.

My own example:
So I picked up mine for €75, knowing the bottom bracket was shot. It was pretty bad. When I rode the bike back from the seller to the trainstation I stopped to check whether my right crank arm was loose and about to fall off. It was the bearings.
What I did notice though is that it was indeed a very nice smooth ride that took very little effort to bring up to speed. And that's reasuring with the bike being close to 20kg (44 lbs). This could make for a very comfortable all-weather commuter if I can get it all working again.

As I picked it up from the seller:





From what I can tell quite a few parts need replacing:

• Sprockets. Shifting felt a bit rough at times. Apparently it is a 7-speed system using 9-speed parts. I wonder if I could make it work using 11-speed parts? Maybe using friction?
• Twist shifter. It looks like a standard 7-speed Sunrace shifter with GGS labeling. A trigger shifter would probably be safer.
• Cables. Both brakes were sticky and hard to press. The kind of feeling you get with rusted cables.

The paint on the chaincase was flaking in parts as well and I've always hated those Gazelle kickstands. They tend to corrode and fall off over time. Absolutely stupid design.
I'm tempted to replace the rims with something a bit more sexy, like a black H plus Son Archetype and a Sturmey Archer XL-FDD dynohub in the front but let's focus on getting it working again first. With everything being metal I could even have the whole bike repainted in matching/contrasting colours. A Mondrian setup would be sweet!

But I digress.

It's a fun bit of history and I'm looking forward to digging into the technical bits and pieces. I needed something fun to get a bit more active with this hobby again.
And worst case scenario... I spent €75 on a dud.