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'?

I am the guy that always come up with "...not expensive but decent stuff...". Altough, after reading your post, the bicycle is going to be "decent" and not so "not expensive". And concerning theft after upgrading the bicycle, I would keet it home overnight, not in the station, just in case! I do not know the Gazelle Kwikstep, so, if you can post a couple of pictures, I think we can help you better.

Hey Cat, thanks for that input, a while ago i made a draft webpage (someday i really still have to work on that one) for Kwiksteps at:

https://www.rhizomes.nl/kwikstep/kwikstep.html

I posted to my two previous Kwiksteps/pictures there, they are beautifull in design i think.
The brown one i have looks at present looks a lot like the green or maybe the black one.

So, any ideas for cheapy mods? By the way, i meant all the mods together! would cost no more than E 100 TOTAL! That's pretty cheap right? I might even manage to do all i want with E 75 but i am not certain. It really helps that i have the Cranks and Ideale Saddle lying around.

As for leaving it at the station, well.. not in hurry but possibly on pretty rare occasions and with a second or third lock. Having a bike that breaks in two halves and only cost about E150 Total/max, well even if it is stolen (not so likely with two beefy locks) it wouldn't kill me. If my Twenty got stolen i'd get an M 16, climb a watertower and solve the overpopulation problem...

nice page vince. They are nice bikes too - I look forward to reading it in a bit more depth. As for cheap mods - erm - bins, craigslist ebay. You probably know more about the bikes than anyone else anyway - maybe pick up a donor kids bike and steal as much as you can re alloy rims, brakes and such.

V1nce

About your website on the Gazelle project I can't see 2 pictures. About the folding mechanism, please could you make a picture so I could understand better how the bicycle folds?

About the cheap components, I would suggest kalloy seat post, cheapest shimano bottom braket cartridge you may find, cheap 28 spoke rims without eyelets, stem and handlebars you know better than I do from your previous Raleigh 20 project, tange headset and that's it.

Good luck and damp on us lots of pictures.

Well since you guys seem to want some Kwikstep Pron, i guess i better get my a$$ in (hub) gear and do the page. Can't promise it will be tomorrow, but soonish. I actually do have quite a lot of nice pics/details on these bikes, i think they are pretty remarkable in their own, reminscent of both BF and Gaerlan.

Thanks for the tips on mods, those sound about right. Will let you guys know what i go for.

v1nce,
I can see why you like the Kwikstep. The frame looks really solid and I like the lines. Is that a light mounted on the front fender, or merely a decoration? Just wondering. As far as mods' go, do you like the look of short, chopped bars? I love the look of short bars and it would save some weight and make it even smaller when folded. Will be looking forward to seeing the final project.

@ Juan, that is not actually my Kwikstep on the page tough it is very similair, and the bit of the front is indeed a fully functioning light.

I have actually already acquired some pretty straight bars (they sweep back a little for comfort) since i intend to take this bike on the Train frequently and to experiment with that bar style. They were light and 5 euro's second hand. I may well chop/shorten them.

My first priority now is the bracket, i am going to have remove it and then go to my LBS so they can measure which replacement would work (best).

Thanks for the input!

I improved and slightly expanded the Kwikstep page. I think all the pictures (quite a few now) work. The page is by no means finished but should give some additional insight into the Kwikstep, it's folding mechanism etc.